Red's Newest Build: A Direct-Heat Smoker/Grill

[seenred]

Awesome looking cook! And great smoker you built!

Ryan

SR, Awesome build and a successful first smoke !!

Thanks Fellas!

Red

 

[Winterrider]

Darn those wings look tasty . I'm seeing complete success in that build thus far. Can't wait to see future cooks.

 

[seenred]

Darn those wings look tasty . I'm seeing complete success in that build thus far. Can't wait to see future cooks.

Thanks Brother! They were pretty good!

Red

 

[Astralogics]

The build and the cooks just look so lovely! I would love some of those wings rn!

 

[seenred]

The build and the cooks just look so lovely! I would love some of those wings rn!

Thanks! Sorry we at them all lol!

Red

 

[DRKsmoking]

Nice cook , and seems to be running well. Is it all you hoped it would be.

I have to get my WSM mini out so I can do a cook like this soon. Maybe on the weekend.

David

 

[seenred]

Nice cook , and seems to be running well. Is it all you hoped it would be.

I have to get my WSM mini out so I can do a cook like this soon. Maybe on the weekend.

David

Thanks David! So far I say it's great!

Red

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Today was test burn day!


First off, I'm kinda driving this thing blind...since I've never run a direct heat cooker like this before, I was really just wingin' it. I started with about half a basket full of lump charcoal. Used my weed burner torch to light up a good amount of the coal.

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I didn't take any time at all and the temps had jumped to mid 500s. I placed 2 probes. Probe #1 in the back, over the hot zone, and Probe #2 in the front, over the cool zone.

Right off the bat, I learned a lesson here: I started with too much charcoal, and only should have lit one corner of it and let the fire burn from side to side and front to back. Would have been easier that way to manage temp control.


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After fiddling with the dampers for maybe a half hour to 45 minutes, I began to get control of the temps. My understanding is, low-to-mid 300s is where most people cook on these. So I'm getting ready to throw on a rack of BB ribs.

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I added a single small split of hickory to the coals.

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On go the ribs.

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She's humming along, making nice smoke!

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This is pretty much the temp range she cruised in most of the afternoon.

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Every 30 minutes, I turned the ribs and gave a spritz of apple juice.

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It only took about an hour and a half until they probed at close to 200 IT between the bones, so I foiled them for about 30 more minutes - just to allow them to get a bit more tender.

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That's all the pics I got. Late in the day, the boss lady got to rushing me. We have to drive over to Tulsa tonight to watch one of the grandson's little league baseball game.

But the ribs tasted great! My only critical comment is, I got them way to tender for my liking. They were definitely FOTB...which the women in my love, but I prefer firmer bones myself. I figure it'll take me a few cooks to figure out fire and time management for different meats. But I'm calling the maiden burn a success!

That's all for now...she's hollering at me to get in the car - time to get to that ball game.

Later guys!

Red

I did a 2nd test cook today. One thing I've been excited to test with this type of cooker is Wings. I figured a direct cooker would slay some chicken wings! So that's what I cooked this afternoon.

Mrs. Red bought a 4 lb. bag of wings a couple days ago. These were really big wings! I started with around half the bag - which will be plenty for the 2 of us.

Took a paper towel and patted them all dry, then laid out on a cooling rack and into the fridge for an hour or 2 to air dry.

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Learned some lessons from the last cook - started with much less charcoal. I have about 2/3 of a chimney of coal in the starter chimney...plus maybe nearly that much left in the coal basket from the last cook.

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Once I got the hot coals dumped in the basket, she climbed quickly up to near 350*, and that's pretty much where we stayed the whole time. I added one double-fist sized chunk of hickory to the coals, then...

In go the wings! Rubbed with a homemade chicken wing rub and a little cooking spray to help them crisp up. I'm also cooking a couple chicken breasts for another day. Probably will make fajitas out of those some time later this week.

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I flipped them at the 20 minute mark. This pic is about 40 minutes in, and they're already basically done. Time to mop them with some sauce!

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I like spicy buffalo sauce on my wings, but Mrs. Red doesn't care for buffalo sauce. So I made 2 mop sauces. My standard spicy buffalo, and a sweet chili mop sauce for her wings.

Spicy on the left, sweet on the right.

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I let them roll for about 10 minutes to set the sauce, then pulled them off. The breasts were probing at 175, so I pulled them at the same time. Total cook time was less than an hour.

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My plate - half a dozen Spicy Buffalo Wings with a side of cheesy tots!

I did brush a little more of the buffalo sauce on mine after plating.

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Verdict: Outstanding! The wings were juicy and flavorful, with just the right amount of smoky flavor to go with the spicy, tangy mop sauce.

And as a bonus, Mrs. Red raved about the sweet wings! A true compliment, because she won't say she likes something just to make me feel good lol. If she says it, she means it.

So with 2 successful test cooks behind me, I'll get this build wrapped up this week. Not much left to do: I have a few minutes of welding left do, on the side table and the coal basket heat shield...then get it prepped and ready for paint. Oh and I still need to go to the hardware store for a bolt and lock nut for the exhaust damper assembly.

Thanks for stopping by Friends!

Red

Sorry to be late to the party here my friend… but you are really getting that dialed in! Loving the Q pics and making me want to place an order for one of those cookers.

Ribs and wings both look delicious!

 

[seenred]

Sorry to be late to the party here my friend… but you are really getting that dialed in! Loving the Q pics and making me want to place an order for one of those cookers.

Ribs and wings both look delicious!

Hey Justin - thanks Buddy!

Red

 

[Elf@shore]

HI RED!
You are the only reason I joined here ! Been watching Yur Build since the start : Direct Cooker
Why ? I was looking @ Backwoods smokers and saw Yur amazing ability to create an absolute masterpiece from scratch !?
Still!? Totally amazes me Yur Talent and neutral feedback.
You should be very proud and I hope Mrs RED gives you a BIG HUG! AMEN !

 

[seenred]

HI RED!
You are the only reason I joined here ! Been watching Yur Build since the start : Direct Cooker
Why ? I was looking @ Backwoods smokers and saw Yur amazing ability to create an absolute masterpiece from scratch !?
Still!? Totally amazes me Yur Talent and neutral feedback.
You should be very proud and I hope Mrs RED gives you a BIG HUG! AMEN !

Hello E Elf@shore . Thank you very much for all the kind words!

Why a direct heat cooker? I really chose to build this one for only one reason: I had been seeing some guys cooking on cookers like the Chud Box and the Hasty Bake Roughneck...and was intrigued by the design and with that style of cooking. I had no other experience with direct heat cookers, but just wanted to try it. It's been a fun build!

Thanks again for the comments!
Red

 

[seenred]

I finally have pics of the finished smoker! I have to admit that I've procrastinated a little - mostly because painting is my least favorite part of the whole smoker building process. But I prefer the look of a painted pit over the rustic bare metal look...so I finally got around to prepping and painting. Anyway, here's the finished pit:

The last thing I finished fabricating was this heat shield. This was an idea I stole from Hasty Bake Grills. All their charcoal grills come with something similar. It is removable of course, so if you're doing direct heat cooking you can take it out. But when you want to do indirect, low and slow smoking, just slide this in over the coals to provide a heat shield.

Top view of the heat shield. It can slide forward or back as needed to provide indirect heat.

The cooking grate is 22 1/2" x 23 1/2" for a total cooking area of about 529 square inches, and it slides out for easier access.

One of the features I believe makes this cooker most versatile is the ability to move the coal basket up to the top rails - 5 inches directly under the cooking grate. This turns it into a searing and grilling machine, for steaks, burgers, etc. And the coal basket and cooking grate are big enough to make a 2 zone cook. You can confine the coal to 1 side and leave the other side as a cool zone.

4 x 4 square tubing exhaust stack with a swivel cap/damper on top.

Pinwheel dampers on both sides of the cabinet.

Heavy duty 3 inch double locking swivel casters on all 4 legs.

So I'm calling this project complete! IMHO, it has turned out better than expected. I'm real happy with the whole build. I appreciate all of y'all who have followed along from the start.

And I hinted at this in earlier posts, but I'll go ahead and make it official - this pit is for sale.

The only place I have room to store my outdoor cooking gear is in my garage...which I prefer anyway because I've never liked leaving expensive cookers outside in the elements. I just don't have the extra room in the garage for another cooker...so something has to go! I'm thinking of advertising my big gravity feed smoker as well, and see which one sells first - and keeping the other one.

If you've watched my previous builds, you've heard me say that, while I'm never looking to make a profit, I do try to get back my expenses for a build...which allows me to fund the next project. So that's what I'll be doing with this one too. I'll make a post over in the classified ads, but I've spent right at $700 on steel, hardware, paint, and welding consumables on this project. So that's what I'll have to get to sell this.

Look for the posts for both smokers over in classified ads if you're interested!

Thanks again guys!
Red

 

[civilsmoker]

Red, that is a top shelf cooker all around! Well done and hope it moves quick for ya!

 

[JckDanls 07]

hope it moves quick

A build of that quality and function and price... I would have to believe it's sold already...

Red, brother... That is as civilsmoker said... "TOP SHELF" ....

Been messing around myself with a couple of projects...

 

[JckDanls 07]

seenred .... Looking at the ash catcher/coal basket... Can the ash catcher be slid out first and then coal basket over the top to catch ashes outside of the firebox ??

 

[seenred]

Red, that is a top shelf cooker all around! Well done and hope it moves quick for ya!

Thanks Brother! I'm hopeful that folks will see it as a lot of cooker for the price, and it sells quickly.

A build of that quality and function and price... I would have to believe it's sold already...

Red, brother... That is as civilsmoker said... "TOP SHELF" ....

Been messing around myself with a couple of projects...

Appreciate it Keith! And if your working on something that cooks, I'll be waiting to see a build thread!

seenred .... Looking at the ash catcher/coal basket... Can the ash catcher be slid out first and then coal basket over the top to catch ashes outside of the firebox ??

The ash pan doesn't have it's own rails - it just pushes in and sits on the floor of the cabinet. But I expect that with the narrow distance between the ash tray and the coal basket, it might stay in place if you pull out the coal basket and rest the back of the ash tray on it.

Red

 

[Brokenhandle]

That turned out to be a beautiful smoker! An awesome job on another smoker!

Ryan

 

[seenred]

That turned out to be a beautiful smoker! An awesome job on another smoker!

Ryan

Thank you Ryan!

Red

 

[JLinza]

Wow, Red. That's a thing of beauty. Great work for sure.

 

[chopsaw]

That's one heck of a build with attention to detail .

hopeful that folks will see it as a lot of cooker for the price,

I see features that would be options on any other smoker . That base price is a gift .
I do the same with wood projects . Sell them to fund the next one .
Really nice work bud .