Smoker build with problem

[Daddy388]

I built my smoker based on the plan I saw on this sight a couple years back by a user named atcnick. Here's the link to his original project photos:
http://s286.photobucket.com/user/atcnick/library/Smokehouse Build

Anyway, my project came out very similarly:

My problem now seems that the wood pieces which lay across the stove pipe, which are intended to be used as firewood storage, get charred on the underside from the heat of the stove pipe, and nearly caught fire one day as I was smoking a boston butt. I pulled up the boards, and put out the fire, but am at a loss as to how to combat this problem. I thought maybe I would put an aluminum "tent" over the stove pipe, to help direct the heat down, but that would only do so much. I also thought about possibly encasing the pipe in sand or gravel. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks.

 

[daveomak]

Your fire and firebox are getting too hot... You need a way to cool the smoke and firebox...
Your firebox is probably 700-800 degrees... you want your smoker at about 80-170...
Adding cool air and regulating the fire temp are necessary...

Here is how it is done in a steel smoker....
... ...

Here are several ways to make the adjustments...



Having an air adjustment in the bottom of the firebox door is needed to regulate the air to the fire...
An air adjustment in the top of the firebox door is used to sweep the hot air and smoke to the smokehouse, lowering the temperature in the firebox....
additional adjustments may be necessary...

 

[gmc2003]

You can always put a piece of cement board on top of the pipe, and under your wooden slats.

Chris

 

[daveomak]

Your door may have an air adjuster in the bottom but I can't see it...
Install an upper air adjuster in the top of the door... I would recommend, to start, drill a 1.5" hole in the top of the door.. install some sort of swing or slide damper over the hole...
Drill the hole first and run the smoker like that, and check the results... then if a slide damper is needed, add it...

 

[chopsaw]

You can always put a piece of cement board on top of the pipe, and under your wooden slats.

Chris

Cement board is a non rated product . The core has foam pellets in it to reduce the weight .

 

[Daddy388]

Your door may have an air adjuster in the bottom but I can't see it...
Install an upper air adjuster in the top of the door... I would recommend, to start, drill a 1.5" hole in the top of the door.. install some sort of swing or slide damper over the hole...
Drill the hole first and run the smoker like that, and check the results... then if a slide damper is needed, add it...

Yes, it does have an air vent on the bottom of the door. I can try to drill one in the top to create something like in the diagram, and thank you for the quick response.

 

[daveomak]

Drill from the inside of the door... drill as close to the inside flange to get it "high" on the door...
You may need to grind the words flat to get the adjuster to work properly...
Cast iron should be soft enough for a hole saw to work.... Plasma works well on cast iron... step drills should also work well... totally depends on the cast iron and what they threw in the pot to melt into it...

 

[hoity toit]

way to hot in the smoker. I have a similar smoker made of wood basically just like yours. I have run mine as high as 350* to finish off whole poultry without catching the thing on fire. Most everything I smoke is done between 120-225/240 max. You might consider making a smaller fire in something else and shoveling the coals in as needed to maintain the temperature. My 2 cents on it. Good Smokin !

HT

 

[indaswamp]

Cement board is a non rated product . The core has foam pellets in it to reduce the weight .

True for Durarock, but not Hardiboard.

 

[chopsaw]

Non-combustible is different than fire rated . Hardiebacker is the sub-base product . It transfers heat to whatever its attached to . Depending on the UL test design and the ASTM number it can be used in a fire rated assembly as long as the rest of the structure is rated .