Relative newbie with a question on an ECB

[1chaos52]

Earlier this year I inherited an ECB smoker from my parents who no longer use it. After doing a lot of research, I have done many of the mods that people recommend on this smoker and Have done some pretty good meals with it. So far I have done the charcoal pan mod with the holes in the bottom and the grate in the bottom which has helped out, but still having issues with keeping my temps stable.

On the site that I found for doing the mods, the guy had put in charcoal rails and I was considering doing this if it might help. I found some weber charcoal baskets that work just like the rails, but am wondering if anyone has had any experience with these at all and if they might help.

I plan on keeping the ECB as my only smoker for a little while so I would like to get it working well. Any help would be appreciated

 

[peculiarmike]

My ECB is a '75 model and has the original firepan which has a 1" hole in the center of the bottom. This is how they were made before some numb brain used his on a 2nd story wood deck and burned down an apartment building. They stopped putting holes in the pan after that.
I do not use any type of grate in the pan, just fill it rounded up with charcoal and light it with an electric charcoal starter. It works fine.
You won't have rock solid temps. through the complete smoke, temp. will vary a bit. Ambient temp. and wind play a big part. You may need to come up with a windbreak. Make sure your water pan is full, or fill it with sand.
Play with it. The more you use it the more you learn and the better you will be at smoking with it.

 

[deejaydebi]

I just put my fuel on a grilling tray with lots of holes in it and shake the dust off once in awhile.

 

[stonez own q]

Chaos

Welcome to the forum.... It is indeed the best out there for whatever kinds fo foods you want to smoke.

I have and ECB that I have mdified with info from the following site. Works well for a small investment of time and material.

http://www.randyq.addr.com/index.html

Charles

 

[1chaos52]

I modified with most of the same things on that site, I am still working on putting holes in the lid though. He also put in some charcoal rails but did not talk much about it and I was thinking of doing the same, but I found these baskets that work exactly like the rails and was looking to see if anyone had tried them. I will probably try them out anyway just to see, and if not I will go to rails.

 

[blackhawk19]

Here's a thread of mods I did to my Gourmet model, I didn't like the looks of his vents so I used a thin piece of aluminum and cut this out, I added one on the other side later.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ead.php?t=5688

 

[cstott]

okay, this is my first of many questions to come. this maybe stupid.

if you make the mods to you ECB, then will you need to cure it? and what is the process of curing one's smoker. is that where you need to cover the entire inside with veggie oil and bring the temp really high? (i'm getting this notion from the user manual of a brinkmann vertical smoker)

 

[Deer Meat]

All you need to do is brush on some EVOO or spray it with pam on all surfaces of the inside fill the water pan and try to regulate the temperatures like you were smoking, and toss in a chunk of wood or 2. Use the seasoning process to get a feel for your smoker and how it works.

 

[richtee]

Depends on the mods. Holes in the lid? naw... but any mod that exposes/installs raw metal inside I'd say yeah..re-season, just like Deer meat advised.

 

[cstott]

cool, thanks guys.

 

[flash]

Only for loooonnnggg smokes would I fill the pan with water. Many times for 2 to 3 hour smokes you can go 1/2 to 3/4 of a pan. I would also use Playbox sand for higher and more stable temps. Doesn't evaporate like water

 

[1chaos52]

In trying to maintain the airflow to the charcoal, I ordered and tried a few things. I ordered some weber charcoal rails and they worked ok, but were loose and the charcoal still seemed to egt smothered by the ashes.

I also ordered the weber charcoal baskets, which are two stainless half round containers to put your charcoal into and they have vent holes in the side and in the bottom. The ones I bought were too big, but I modded them to fit correctly in the ECB pan on top of a grate. There is about 2 inches between the two containers when they are in the pan.

Let me tell you, this made one big difference. Because I do not have any kind of airflow control device setup yet for the holes drilled in the bottom of the charcoal pan, the temp actually got too high. I think this is better than too low since now all I should need to do is control the airflow and I should be golden. I would highly recommend trying this to any ECB owenrs out there who are having trouble with temps being too low.