Stainless Vertical Insulated Rotisserie Woodburner

[Furrylittleotter]

Greetings meatheads, I’m converting a giant Hobart rotisserie HGFR-12 into a firebox smoker. Will probably add a second spit and mount a wood stove (standard fireplace insert I got off craplist) in the bottom. Will add a top cover and rockwool insulation.


It’s big. It’s heavy. It should be fun. I plan to smoke butts, chickens, ribs, possibly piglets and brisket.

The unit has two catalytic gas burners in top, one “show” burner in bottom rear. It also has a light and circulating fan.

I plan to smoke with wood only, as God intended.

I have a stoker fan already and ordered two smokeware stainless adjustable chimney caps.

I am considering using a controller to regulate the stoker fan

Unit has a stainless floodable drip pan I will probably lower and retain.

I may add a stainless lp burner in the woodstove for a log starter.

I have built a firebox with a “snorkel” to transfer the heat and smoke into the cooking chamber.
It is on wheels and I can roll it out when cleaning the cooking chamber.

The rotating meat and possibly using the circulating fan should ensure even cooking(?)

I will probably add slide in racks to increase versatility.

I have added a “bypass” flue stack with damper to isolate as needed.

Unit will be attractive and not look “cobbled” or homebuilt. I want something I can be proud of, will be efficient enough to cook just a few birds at a time if I want.

In other words, I know it is big but I want to make it efficient enough to cook small as well.


Any suggestions are appreciated.

Neil

 

[Furrylittleotter]

 

[Furrylittleotter]

So far I strippped the unit down to its frame, removed the gas heaters, lights, controls, etc. I removed the water pan and lowered it to its lowest level.
I completely reconfigured the woodstove into a firebox with snorkel to feed heat OVER the drip pan (previously water pan) and will cover the snorkel with a piece of stainless to keep it clean.

The firebox is on wheels and I can roll it out when I clean the cooking chamber.

I bought rockwool to insulate and have collected enough stainless to wrap the insulation so it will be stainless inside and out.

The doors are glass, I may try to seal them if I can.

I may build an insulating blanket to cover the doors.

I may build an insulating “skirt” or removable insulating panels to try and contain some heat from the firebox.

I have two sets of rotisserie “wheels” one hold 7 spits, the other holds 8.

One is regular, one is a “planetary gear “ setup where each spit spins individually.

I have some round spits and some chicken bars, I want to buy or build rotisserie baskets

 

[motocrash]

WOW!
You should make some trays like a Rib-O-Lator.
Watching this one.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

WOW!
You should make some trays like a Rib-O-Lator.
]

Thanks. Yes there are a lot of trays and baskets available.

Unfortunately good ones aren’t cheap and don’t maximize space so it appears I will have to make or modify something.

This photo is a good example.

 

[one eyed jack]

Great looking project. I'm signed on for updates.

 

[SmokinAl]

That is going to be quite an impressive unit!
Al

 

[Rings Я Us]

applause-smiley-emoticon.gif

• Rings Я Us
• Aug 30, 2017

Nice project for sure

 

[ab canuck]

Wow, Lots of progress made.... Looks like quite the machine, great craftmanship. Nice job so far.

 

[gmc2003]

That's quite the undertaking. Looks good so-far. Keep us up to date.

Chris

 

[Furrylittleotter]

As you can see here I have massive amounts of stainless I have accumulated over time. Some from craplist, some from the side of the road.

I am thrilled to not be welding and grinding for the first time in several days. It’s fun at first but gets old fast with crappy tools and seaming scraps together.

I got the firebox done and that was quite an accomplishment.

Now onto sheet metal...

Neil

 

[weev]

Wow Neil I guess you took the saying go big or go home to heart on this one! looking great

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Wow Neil I guess you took the saying go big or go home to heart on this one! looking great

Thank you! I made a video so I don’t have to sit here and type out why I’m building this!

Neil

 

[indaswamp]

I'm in for the ride! Nice looking build!

 

[weev]

Thank you! I made a video so I don’t have to sit here and type out why I’m building this!

Neil

Nice video

 

[Furrylittleotter]

I made a little more progress on the smoker. I had to cut apart the “shaft mounting collars” that attach the rotisserie wheels to the shaft on the 8 spit wheels They were stainless and the bolts had all welded themselves together so out came the angle grinder and I purchased steel hubs for a go cart I can replace them with.

I haven’t made any other progress because I needed access to a strong 48” brake. My 36” harbor freight is no match for 16g stainless.
I just started a new job that gives me access to one and a plasma cutter which should make quick work of the sheet metal work I need to do.

Maybe I can do that this week and then I will be ready to start smoking.

I spent the entire weekend burning the huge soaking wet waste pile the previous homeowner left me. I did it by attaching a long 4” steel vent pipe to the rotisserie fan. This created a huge stoker for the burnpile. It still took forever but I’ve never seen soaking wet wood and brush burn so hot!

I was doing the wrong kind of smoking but wow what a sense of accomplishment to have that eyesore gone!

I also picked up a $150 riding mower so I can cut our acre in less than an hour, that leaves more time for smoking and smoker building!

Neil

 

[Furrylittleotter]

I made some more progress this weekend I got the rotisserie shaft, wheels and spits modified to go in. I’m going to start using the eight spit wheel version first. This unit was originally a 7 spit rotisserie. With the 8 spit setup I can run 8 spits up to 7” deep or 4 spits 14” deep. I cut down the spits that I have to the proper length and then riveted them back together. I also moved the mounting hole location for the mainshaft to maximize the available space. I fabricated some aluminum blocks to use as bearings. I had to drill a lot of holes in the stainless metal and that is a major pain in the ass. It is extremely difficult to machine stainless using handheldpower tools. I got it done though. Then I cleaned the cabinet with oven cleaner. It was absolutely disgusting. I painted the firebox with supposedly heatproof paint. Will post more pics soon.

Neil

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Oops this just happened. This came up on craigslist for free several weeks ago and he finally returned my email and here it is. It’s a Welbilt brand, in excellent condition, almost completely stainless inside and out. Polished stainless inside.

I will make this a woodburner as well.

Should be fun.

Neil

 

[Furrylittleotter]

I made more progress: I made a bracket and mounted the gearmotor, which ran for a day and a bearing failed. It ran about 6 rpm at the rotisserie and drew 5 amps. I then made a new (Black) bracket and mounted the 30:1 gearmotor which draws .5 amp And turns the rotisserie at .9 rpm, which is slow enough to load and unload racks while turning so, while I do have the option of changing sprockets, I might just leave them be! I believe I am going to run 4 racks to start: 14”x36” chrome “Metro” style shelves modified to hang from skewers. May have this thing cooking next week! Neil

 

[motocrash]

Coming along nicely! What was the rpm of the stock unit,6?
You must be getting pretty excited.