Starting my first Reverse Flow Build

[hambone1950]

man , you knocked the crap outta that project !

that looks great . brother.

 

[swechef]

That's one nice build. I like the trailer and sled! And the Q looks great!:yahoo:

Cheers /Wes

 

[weedeater]

Thanks SWECHEF and HAMBONE 1950 for the kind words.

QVIEW - Her are some pics of the ribs. They were very good!

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• weedeater
• Mar 2, 2013

This is what is left over out of 6 racks of ribs.

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• weedeater
• Mar 2, 2013

Here is some of the sliced up Brisket. It was also very good.

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• weedeater
• Mar 2, 2013

Been a long day! Ready to take a nap myself. Getting too old for these all nighters but it was good and the smoker has far exceeded my expectations. The temps stayed real constant throughout the night except for when I screwed up one time. My fault not the smokers fault. Used about 3/4 of a wheel barrel of split oak for a 15 plus hour smoke counting warm up time.

 

[daveomak]

Weedeater..... Looks great... I think you have your smoker under perfect control.....  So, was it easy controlling the heat with 2 inlets to the firebox ??   Sounds pretty efficient in wood consumption....   Dave

 

[rasimmo]

Now I am hungry, Thanks.

How hot does the top of the firebox get? I am thinking about inlulating mine. Just the width of the connection point to the cook chamber and wrapping it around to the top of the door. Do you think that would make much difference?

 

[weedeater]

Now I am hungry, Thanks.

How hot does the top of the firebox get? I am thinking about inlulating mine. Just the width of the connection point to the cook chamber and wrapping it around to the top of the door. Do you think that would make much difference?

It gets pretty hot on the top of the firebox.  You could not hold your hand on it for more than a second or two.  I use the area to preheat  logs that are going into the fire next.  I have also found that my firebox is deep enough that if I keep the fire as close to the cook chamber as possible I can keep several logs inside the firebox close to the door to preheat.  In a long cook like last night when it was 32 degrees, the wind gusting to 25 to 30 mph, and light snow all night (no accumulation) it helped to stage my logs.  2 or 3 logs on top of the firebox which moved just inside the firebox as the one in there was moved back into the fire and repeating that cycle all night.   

I am considering putting a flat top on top of my firebox which would hold logs easier and would also serve as a place to warm water or other things.  Nothing very complicated.  Probably just angle iron and wxpanded metal.

Weedeater..... Looks great... I think you have your smoker under perfect control.....  So, was it easy controlling the heat with 2 inlets to the firebox ??   Sounds pretty efficient in wood consumption....   Dave

It really is pretty easy to control.  The vent under the fire provides more than enough air to support a roaring fire if needed.  I keep it closed down to about 25% most of the time and use the vent on the door as open as I can most of the time to keep the TBS rolling.  If I let it sneak up on me and die too much before putting more wood in I can open up the bottom and door vents and get it up to temp in a matter of minutes.  You can just about make it act like a blast furnace if you want to as long as you have a bed of coals to work with.  Thanks for all your help and advice during the build.  I, like many others, have seen comments and responses in other threads from you or someone else that I just kind of filed back to use later.  Still a couple of those ideas running around up their somewhere.  Keep doing what you do!  Joe

 

[disturbed1]

Great looking build and Q
 

 

[ribwizzard]

It really is pretty easy to control. The vent under the fire provides more than enough air to support a roaring fire if needed. I keep it closed down to about 25% most of the time and use the vent on the door as open as I can most of the time to keep the TBS rolling. If I let it sneak up on me and die too much before putting more wood in I can open up the bottom and door vents and get it up to temp in a matter of minutes. You can just about make it act like a blast furnace if you want to as long as you have a bed of coals to work with. Thanks for all your help and advice during the build. I, like many others, have seen comments and responses in other threads from you or someone else that I just kind of filed back to use later. Still a couple of those ideas running around up their somewhere. Keep doing what you do! Joe

Im glad to hear that some one else has seen the advantage to duo vents on the fire box, Blast furnace is a good discription of what you can make a firebox do with both vents.

Note on insulating firebox: Ive found that by just inserting a double plate under the top plate with about 3/8" to 1/2" gap between them makes a huge difference.

Good luck to you and Happy Smoking

 

[weedeater]

Im glad to hear that some one else has seen the advantage to duo vents on the fire box, Blast furnace is a good discription of what you can make a firebox do with both vents.

Note on insulating firebox: Ive found that by just inserting a double plate under the top plate with about 3/8" to 1/2" gap between them makes a huge difference.

Good luck to you and Happy Smoking

Ribwizzard,

I am a firm believer in the advantage of the two vents.  I think the best arrangement of all is to have a vent directly under the fire primarily to support the fire and a second vent at or slightly above the fire in line with the tank to allow for maximum air flow to keep the smoke clean.  My last smoke was an all nighter with temps right around 30 degrees all night and wind at a constant 20 to 25 mph and gusts to 35 mph.  Temps were rock solid all night even in these conditions and it is my believe that the vent configuration was the main reason.  I have considered insulating the firebox but I think for now I like the idea of using the heat on the top of the firebox as a warmer.  I am even thinking of closing the sides in to trap and funnel the heat like a stove top burner.  We will see.

 

[ribwizzard]

Dead on on the vents,  couldnt explain it any better.

I get what your saying about the top of the firebox is a great warmer. I used to cook my beans there.  Now its got just enough heat to keep them warm. The double plate does cut down on heat loss, which uses less wood and keeps my temperatures more even as the fire burns.  I quess it could be made as a slide out instead of welded in.......just weld two pieces of 3/4 angle to each side of the fire box and cut a 1/4" or 3/8" plate that could be slid in when wanted.......Just a thought......anyway, we are all here to share ideals, right.

Thanks for sharing your build.

 

[navyjeremy]

Weedeater nice looking smoker you built there.  Just wondering where in NW Georgia you from.  My parents live up in Blairsville

 

[weedeater]

Weedeater nice looking smoker you built there.  Just wondering where in NW Georgia you from.  My parents live up in Blairsville

Navyjeremy,

I am in the Rome,GA area which is about 2 hours SW of Blairsville.  We have relatives who have a second home at Blue Ridge which is about 20-25 miles from Blairsville so we have been in that area a lot over the last ten years or so.  Really a nice area. 

 

[weedeater]

Worked a little more on the smoker today for the first time in several weeks. 

Closed off the angle iron on the end over the firebox and put

some expanded metal on it to make a warming rack over the

firebox.  It is just the right size for the full sized bread pans. 

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• weedeater
• Mar 16, 2013

Also added in a couple of small stainless shelves on the front

to have some space to set utensils, spritzer,  gloves, etc...

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• weedeater
• Mar 16, 2013

Still have some more work I want to do to the trailer but it will have to wait for a little while.  Hope to add a tongue box to the trailer and some other flooring for LP tank, wood box, etc..

 

[weedeater]

Cooking today for the Seniors at church.  Just put on (4) eight pound Boston Butts for pulled pork early this morning.  Here are a few pics of them going on this morning.

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• weedeater
• Apr 6, 2013

Here they are going on the smoker at 5am this morning.  Stay

tuned for more pics throughout the day.

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• weedeater
• Apr 6, 2013

 

[JckDanls 07]

WOW... 3 days in and not done yet ?

 

[weedeater]

WOW... 3 days in and not done yet ?

Sorry forgot to post the Q-View picks over here. I had started a thread called "Boston Butts for Pulled Pork" under the "Pork Grilling Forum" and posted the pics over there and forgot I had initially posted it in this Forum also.  That's what happens when you get old, get up at 4:00 in the morning and post the pics at 10 or 11pm that night.  For some reason my body does not handle those kind of days like I used to in my college days. 

Here is a copy of that post:

They finished up about 3:30pm and went for about an hour nap before pulling. They were litterally fall apart tender. The bone just fell out when you picked them up. Sorry for being so late in getting the pics up but I was without internet and dealing with little or no service. Couldn't get the pics to load due to the slow connection speeds.

Heres a couple of the butts before pulling. Good bark on

them that I really am fond off.

smoke 4-6-13 001.JPG

• weedeater
• Apr 6, 2013

Here is some of the finished product. It really had a good flavor

and was enjoyed by all. The good news is that there were left

overs to come home and go in the freezer for later.

smoke 4-6-13 002.JPG

• weedeater
• Apr 6, 2013