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

[DRKsmoking]

Coming along nicely.

Your shop seems well organized. Now if it was my shop and I thought I had another spool of wire . It would probable be there , just hidden until I bought another one . Than it would show up lol

looking good Joel, i'm talking about the cabinet

David

 

[sandyut]

Looks great! Impressive work for sure!

 

[seenred]

Coming along nicely.

Your shop seems well organized. Now if it was my shop and I thought I had another spool of wire . It would probable be there , just hidden until I bought another one . Than it would show up lol

looking good Joel, i'm talking about the cabinet

David

Thanks David! I try to keep the shop fairly clean and organized - a messy workspace drives me crazy (probably some OCD on my part lol). But you know how it is...I get in the middle of a project, and I spend less time cleaning and more time cluttering!

Looks great! Impressive work for sure!

Thank you David!


Red

 

[Winterrider]

Coming along nicely. Great fabrication skills !

 

[Fueling Around]

Thanks John! And heckle away when I have it coming LOL!

Red

A quick update tonight! Today's progress was cut short, because I ran out of welding wire. Irritating...I thought I had another spool of wire, but no. So I'll order wire in the morning and hope it's here by Friday so I can get back at it.
...

Heckle 1

Outstanding build up to now. Looking forward to the finish and first couple of cooks.

My last ... uh senior moment was getting ready to smoke a pork cushion for pulled pork last year. I could not find my ThermoWorks Signals that I swore was packed for the trip south.
Gave the Homer "Doh" and ordered a Smoke (in my defense it was on sale). 1 guess what I found after the Smoke arrived and was used for the cushion?
Yeah we all deserve a "heckle" now and then

 

[radioguy]

Looking Great Red! A friend on mine owns a Humphreys. Pretty similar to you build

RG

Humphrey's BBQ Smokers The Qube'd Box - GEN23

Humphrey's The Qube'd Box - GEN23: wide build for better airflow, large cut capacity, and dual smoker/grill functionality. Perfect for serious BBQ enthusiasts.

bigpoppasmokers.com

 

[seenred]

Coming along nicely. Great fabrication skills !

Thank you sir!

Heckle 1

Outstanding build up to now. Looking forward to the finish and first couple of cooks.

My last ... uh senior moment was getting ready to smoke a pork cushion for pulled pork last year. I could not find my ThermoWorks Signals that I swore was packed for the trip south.
Gave the Homer "Doh" and ordered a Smoke (in my defense it was on sale). 1 guess what I found after the Smoke arrived and was used for the cushion?
Yeah we all deserve a "heckle" now and then

Ha!! Yep…we’ve all had those moments! I know for sure I have!

Thanks again!

Red

 

[seenred]

Looking Great Red! A friend on mine owns a Humphreys. Pretty similar to you build

RG

Humphrey's BBQ Smokers The Qube'd Box - GEN23

Humphrey's The Qube'd Box - GEN23: wide build for better airflow, large cut capacity, and dual smoker/grill functionality. Perfect for serious BBQ enthusiasts.

bigpoppasmokers.com

Thanks man! I’m hoping it’ll do everything those Humphreys will do and then some!

Red

 

[JLeonard]

Oh man! I been missing the good stuff! Looks great so far Joel. Need some moving around help? I'm what, an hour away now!

Jim

 

[SmokinEdge]

A quick update tonight! Today's progress was cut short, because I ran out of welding wire. Irritating...I thought I had another spool of wire, but no. So I'll order wire in the morning and hope it's here by Friday so I can get back at it.


Started working on fabricating the fire/coal basket. Here's the top frame. This will be the slide contact point with the rails inside the cabinet.

View attachment 714743


Tested it to make sure it'll fit on the rails and slide in and out easy.

View attachment 714744


Fits good, slides good!


View attachment 714745


Then went to work finishing out the basket's frame. Ran out of mig wire before I could finish it - it'll have expanded metal and a reinforced bottom...probably round bar or angle iron.


View attachment 714746

But I got it close enough to check again for fit. And I'm real happy with the fit so far.

View attachment 714747



View attachment 714748


And I was able to check and make sure there was good clearance for removal of the ash pan...plenty of room to slide the ash pan out without removing the coal basket.

View attachment 714749



I hope I'll have more finished by the weekend - depending on getting more mig wire.

Red

Following along here Red. Quick question.

At one point I was looking pretty hard at a LSG direct heat cabinet smoker. What I liked about it besides direct heat was the coal basket was set as a maze. So you could fill the maze with charcoal or briquettes and wood chunks and light just one end or both for more heat. This seems like much better fire control. I’m not sure but curious of your thoughts on a maze set up fire box?

 

[seenred]

Oh man! I been missing the good stuff! Looks great so far Joel. Need some moving around help? I'm what, an hour away now!

Jim

Hey Jim! Thanks Buddy! Yep - you're barely an hour away. It's all good so far...This cooker ain't nearly as big - or as heavy as the last cooker I built! Hmm...trying to remember what happened to that smoker...



Appreciate the offer of help, Jim - and ya never know...if I really need you, I'll give you a holler!

Following along here Red. Quick question.

At one point I was looking pretty hard at a LSG direct heat cabinet smoker. What I liked about it besides direct heat was the coal basket was set as a maze. So you could fill the maze with charcoal or briquettes and wood chunks and light just one end or both for more heat. This seems like much better fire control. I’m not sure but curious of your thoughts on a maze set up fire box?

To be honest, that's a feature that hadn't occurred to me. But I can see the merit in a maze...sets up a big, open coal basket as a modified snake method. But there's a major difference between the pit I'm building and those more traditional charcoal cabinet smokers like the Humphreys, the Backwoods, and those LSG cabinets. This style is designed so the space between the fire/coals and the single cooking grate is intentionally open. The distance from the coals to the cooking grate is the key. The fat from meat is supposed to drip directly on the coals, creating smoke and flavor. My understanding is, the more traditional charcoal smokers have a welded-in baffle plate between the fire box and cook chamber, and they all have multiple levels of cooking grates. They are technically low-and-slow cookers, while a true direct-heat cooker is more hot-and-fast. If you're not sure what I mean, do a search for Chud Box, or SmokeSlinger Direct Heat cooker. My plan is to end up with a pit that is a bit of a hybrid between one of these and a more traditional charcoal cabinet smoker like that LSG.

Sorry that kinda rambled a bit. I hope it'll all make more sense when I get it completed.

Thanks for checking it out my friend!

Red

 

[SmokinEdge]

Hey Jim! Thanks Buddy! Yep - you're barely an hour away. It's all good so far...This cooker ain't nearly as big - or as heavy as the last cooker I built! Hmm...trying to remember what happened to that smoker...



Appreciate the offer of help, Jim - and ya never know...if I really need you, I'll give you a holler!



To be honest, that's a feature that hadn't occurred to me. But I can see the merit in a maze...sets up a big, open coal basket as a modified snake method. But there's a major difference between the pit I'm building and those more traditional charcoal cabinet smokers like the Humphreys, the Backwoods, and those LSG cabinets. This style is designed so the space between the fire/coals and the single cooking grate is intentionally open. The distance from the coals to the cooking grate is the key. The fat from meat is supposed to drip directly on the coals, creating smoke and flavor. My understanding is, the more traditional charcoal smokers have a welded-in baffle plate between the fire box and cook chamber, and they all have multiple levels of cooking grates. They are technically low-and-slow cookers, while a true direct-heat cooker is more hot-and-fast. If you're not sure what I mean, do a search for Chud Box, or SmokeSlinger Direct Heat cooker. My plan is to end up with a pit that is a bit of a hybrid between one of these and a more traditional charcoal cabinet smoker like that LSG.

Sorry that kinda rambled a bit. I hope it'll all make more sense when I get it completed.

Thanks for checking it out my friend!

Red

Thanks Red. That makes perfect sense. You are making a hot and fast charcoal grill not so much low and slow smoker. You could make it both if you wanted. But I’ll just watch how this turns out. I have a direct charcoal cooker made from a 30 gal air tank. It is very useful, but your design has much more flexibility.

 

[seenred]

Thanks Red. That makes perfect sense. You are making a hot and fast charcoal grill not so much low and slow smoker. You could make it both if you wanted.

Thanks Brother - and that's exactly my plan. I pulled the idea from a Hasty Bake Legacy. They are basically hot and fast grills...but they also provide a heat shield that drops over the coal basket when you want to turn it into an indirect, low and slow smoker. I'm still drawing it up in my head...but that's what I plan to do.

But I’ll just watch how this turns out. I have a direct charcoal cooker made from a 30 gal air tank. It is very useful, but your design has much more flexibility.

I hope so...that's the plan anyway! We'll see how it turns out.

Red

 

[civilsmoker]

I'm a bit late, but watching now...... I like it so far!!! The hanging coal basket is just cool!

Oh just a suggestion to weld some "feet" or a 1/8'-1/4' tab on the bottom of the ash tray so there is a air/moisture gap.... prevent it from rusting in. Some rebar grab handles would also be a nice touch to help removal and dump for longer cooks when it is hot.....

Oh and by the way having the "dripping" onto the coals is exactly what happens with my open fire X-Fire grill, it is a huge and I mean HUGE flavor bomb!!!! Needless to say, I'm loving your concept!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks Brother - and that's exactly my plan. I pulled the idea from a Hasty Bake Legacy. They are basically hot and fast grills...but they also provide a heat shield that drops over the coal basket when you want to turn it into an indirect, low and slow smoker. I'm still drawing it up in my head...but that's what I plan to do.



I hope so...that's the plan anyway! We'll see how it turns out.

Red

Excellent as always Red. I’m just thinking out loud and tagging along.

 

[seenred]

I'm a bit late, but watching now...... I like it so far!!! The hanging coal basket is just cool!

Oh just a suggestion to weld some "feet" or a 1/8'-1/4' tab on the bottom of the ash tray so there is a air/moisture gap.... prevent it from rusting in. Some rebar grab handles would also be a nice touch to help removal and dump for longer cooks when it is hot.....

Oh and by the way having the "dripping" onto the coals is exactly what happens with my open fire X-Fire grill, it is a huge and I mean HUGE flavor bomb!!!! Needless to say, I'm loving your concept!

Thank you my friend!

I like the feet on the ash pan idea! I want to keep enough clearance between the ash pan and the bottom of the coal basket so the ash pan will slide out without needing to remove the coal basket...but if feet on the ash pan won't mess up that clearance, I'm doing that for sure.

Red

 

[seenred]

Excellent as always Red. I’m just thinking out loud and tagging along.

I appreciate it man - keep those ideas coming! Part of the fun for me doing these builds is, I get plenty of good ideas from you guys. I'm not too proud to borrow a good design idea from a buddy!

Red

 

[seenred]

I got some mig wire yesterday, and made quite a bit of progress today!


First thing I did was finish the fire/coal basket. All welded out, and the expanded metal reinforced with 1/2" round bar in the bottom.

Just making sure it still fits on the rails and slides in and out like it should.

So with the bottom basically done (except for mounting and hinging the door), I started working on the top end.

I cut out a cove in the front, to provide easy access to the cooking grate.

Tacked in the top rails for supporting the cooking grate.

Here's one of the things that I believe will make this cooker versatile. I designed the coal basket so that it would drop into the top rails. Once I get the cooking grate finished, it can sit right on top of this...to make it a high-heat searing grill. The coals will be about 5 inches below the cooking grate in this configuration.

Got the cooking grate framed out.

Again, just double checking that it still fits on the rails.

Cooking grate is finished. It measures 23 1/2" x 22 1/2", making the total cooking space 528 sq. inches. Maybe enough room for 8 racks of spare ribs, or 6 pork butts, or 2-3 nice big briskets...or a whole mess of chicken parts!

When the top door assembly is complete, there should be about 7 inches of head space above the cooking grate.

Here are a couple shots that show the coal basket dropped in the top, with the cooking grate slid in on top of it.

Gotta look close, but you can see the coal basket under the cooking grate.

That's it for today! I'm fairly happy with how it's going so far. Unless I hit a major snag, I should have it ready to build a fire in it pretty soon!

It'll be a couple days before I get back in the shop...my 7 year old grandson is on spring break this week, and he's coming tomorrow to stay with us for a couple days. So Grandad will be too busy playing to get any work done until he goes home Monday night!


Red

 

[Fueling Around]

A bit rusty on my metal training, but I believe 1" flat would make a stiffener for your meat tray.
Next build to consider.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Looking great so far...

May I suggest some kind of handle on the ash pan to lift it up over the lip and slide it out...