Stick burner help

[Tfrank778]

Last Summer I had purchased one of the original Oklahoma Joe's that was made in Perry Oklahoma. It 1/4" and the welds on it are impeccable. The smoker itself is in great shape and has no rust what so ever. One thing that I am having problems with is the heat distribution across the grate. I have a baffle plate installed and the temperature difference was over 100 degrees from side to side. Tried lowering the exhaust with aluminum duct and the same result. When the smoker is ran without the baffle plate the temperature on the firebox because over 300 no matter how small the fire.

I'm running out of things to try and was wondering what your inputs would be on how to fix this? I'm almost at my wits end and want to sell it, but I don't want to downgrade if I do. Any help is much appreciated.

Also on the pictures excuse me for how dirty it is... It hasn't had its spring cleaning yet...

 

[old sarge]

My old Brinkmann, while not as robust as your, always got the job done. Took some tending though. Ir was always hotter at the firebox end. So, I would rotate the meat every so often and try to keep a small but hot "fire" going. I kept the temp between 275 and 300 and checked often. Did that for years. Always has mighty fine results. When I turned 62, I went electric. Call it lazy or whatever. Still enjoy the food. But seriously, cooking with fire will always take a fair amount of tending or babysitting. I reckon pellet smokers/grills are the closest to traditional wood fired smoking without all the work.

 

[Tfrank778]

I’ve gone from electric to pellet to charcoal to this. I am going to continue to use stick burning and never turn back. I just can’t figure out how to even up the temps. 100-135 degrees is just not acceptable

 

[bluewhisper]

I put a baffle in my offset (see sig) and it helps to even out the heat.

 

[SmokinAl]

That seems insane to have a fluctuation like that especially with the baffle & the stack extension. I'm sure you did this, and I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, but did you put a therm at each end of the smoker & did you check both of them in boiling water & ice water to make sure they are accurate? I put a pan of water on the grate next to the firebox on my Lang & it keeps the temps even across the grate.

 

[Tfrank778]

That seems insane to have a fluctuation like that especially with the baffle & the stack extension. I'm sure you did this, and I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, but did you put a therm at each end of the smoker & did you check both of them in boiling water & ice water to make sure they are accurate? I put a pan of water on the grate next to the firebox on my Lang & it keeps the temps even across the grate.

Yes I have my two probes on my fire board at each end of the smoker. They read pretty dead on in boiling water and ice. It’s almost like the pit doesn’t draw enough air and all the heat just stays on the firebox side.

 

[daveomak]

Tfrank, morning.... If you are up to doing some re configuring on that awesome built smoker, here's what I would do...
First I would reposition the tuning plate so it is at the top of the FB opening... The way it is situated now it is holding the heat in the FB and not allowing for a free air flow... You will need to have 2 straps welded to the side of the Cook Chamber, at FB opening height and wide enough, to support the diffuser plate...
Second I would shorten the exhaust stack extension... The food grate is blocking the air flow... Cut it off so it is approx 3" above the food grate..
Third, I can't see the FB door area, but I recommend an upper and lower air inlet... The lower, allows air to the fire to adjust the FB heat.... The upper allows for the heat in the FB to be moved to the CC WITHOUT adding air to the fire.... many members have used this combination with some very good success......

....The deflector plate is blocking air flow...


... an image of the proper position of the tuning plates....

 

[Tfrank778]

So should I try to use hard duct to move the exhaust?

Also the intake is a standard pin wheel damper.

 

[daveomak]

Plug off the top half of the damper or change it... It's important for it to only feed the fire...
Put a 90deg. dryer elbow in the existing exhaust.... If need be, cut it short of the food grate.....

 

[Tfrank778]

Plug off the top half of the damper or change it... It's important for it to only feed the fire...
Put a 90deg. dryer elbow in the existing exhaust.... If need be, cut it short of the food grate.....

If I plug the top vent wouldn’t I need to increase bottom pin wheel to make up for the loss of airflow?

 

[daveomak]

Did you calculate how big the air inlets have to be ?? 0.004 X Cook Chamber volume in cu. in...

 

[daveomak]

Take a picture of the FB end... where the door and pie vent is located....

 

[Tfrank778]

Take a picture of the FB end... where the door and pie vent is locat

ed....

Here’s a pic of the vents

 

[daveomak]

Here's what skifreak did with a smoker like yours...
One thing you will find is if you open up the CC to the FB by eliminating that deflector plate, you will get even heat to the CC...


And how he did it.....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/side-burner-air-intake-butterfly-modification.129311/


...........

 

[Tfrank778]

Here's what skifreak did with a smoker like yours...
One thing you will find is if you open up the CC to the FB by eliminating that deflector plate, you will get even heat to the CC...
View attachment 386298

And how he did it.....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/side-burner-air-intake-butterfly-modification.129311/



...........

So shall I just ignore the previous suggestions or try them with the damper mod?

 

[daveomak]

Pick your poison.... Start with the deflector and plate realighment... above the FB/CC opening...
If you have the skills and tools, I would opt for the lower and upper air inlets... The pie vent modification was a very good option, but not the best fix....
Oh !!! The elbow on the exhaust is a definite must-do...

 

[Tfrank778]

Here's what skifreak did with a smoker like yours...
One thing you will find is if you open up the CC to the FB by eliminating that deflector plate, you will get even heat to the CC...
View attachment 386298

And how he did it.....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/side-burner-air-intake-butterfly-modification.129311/


...........

So I had an idea what if I basically made a design where it was half of the butterfly that’s in there now. Attach one to the firebox on the inside and the outside. For the fire and one for air intake. Tighten the original bolt down enough to hold either one open and be independent of each other.

Thoughts?

 

[daveomak]

That should help... Also, the deflector plate, it is important to remove it... It is blocking air flow.... When you get the other ideas into play, it will all come together.....

 

[Tfrank778]

That should help... Also, the deflector plate, it is important to remove it... It is blocking air flow.... When you get the other ideas into play, it will all come together.....

So I I made some adjustments and will try it out tomorrow. I made the two separate dampers and made my own tuning plates out of some flat bar 3/16”. Fingers crossed and thanks for the help!!

 

[daveomak]

Cool... The results will be interesting....