Reverse Flow Cabinet Hybrid Smoker

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MatRussell122

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 27, 2020
1
2
Hey guys im new here so first of thanks for letting me join the forum. Im new to smoking meat but been fabricating stuff for years. This will be both my first smoker build and first smoker. I have been reading a good amount of the build threads on here and came up with a basic reverse flow design that im fairly confident would work. But then my cousin who is really big into smoking told me i should figure out how to add a pellet hopper to it and try to have the best of both worlds. So that is where I am at now is trying to determine how and where to add a smoke daddy pellet hopper.

The dims of the picture below are 50h x 28d x 26w with 2" insulation all the way around. The exhaust is a 2" x 5" box tube that is just barely larger than a 3.5" pipe from a volume standpoint.
2x2x0.065 box tube frame
1/4 inner fire box wall and water tray/drain tray
12g inner cook chamber walls
14g outer walls

1580157203558.png
 
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I would suggest you have a conversation with smoke daddy on btu output vs the chamber size as well as the needed air flow (both in and out). Most pellet smokers are not reverse flow but rather convection flow, so it would be interesting to hear their design input. I can see it working well as a non-reverse flow but worry the reverse flow may have too much back pressure for the fire pot and horizontal pellet auger to work properly.

As a non-reverse flow, I would suggest you incorporate a ash pan into the fire box then have the top of the fire pot sit 1 -2 inches ish below. Then have 3 ish inches between your ash pan and the bottom of the fire box. This should insulate the horizontal pellet auger while using the fire box. That way you can simply remove the ash pan and fire box to run the pellet. The deflector plate will need to be self draining so the oil doesn't collect and create nasty smoke or cause a fire when using the pellet. You may just want build a sloped bottom water pan to just sit on the deflector pan for when you want that heat sink using the coals. It would be best to have the sloped deflected plate drain the grease to an out side reservoir (ie fire danger). This has the potential to work pretty slick if it is designed right!

You may also have to have two intakes, one at fire box coal level and one @ the pellet pot level. These will have different inflow needs. You may also have to add an insulated plate under the ash pan if the pellet auger gets too hot. Ie you don’t want the pellets to flame up!

Just one last thought for you. On the smoke stack, I would suggest having the opening @ about the 20% level when measuring from the top. This should keep a positive air flow while keeping a the convection flow alive for both cooking styles (kinda the hybrid RV). This is a similar placement that is used in horizontal pellets.

Post what you come up with as I’m interested in the concept cause my pellet is going to need a rebuild sooner than later and this could be a fun build....
 
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