The Fleet is Complete

[Craig Ward]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share with you guys my finished fleet of barrel smokers. Had a blast building them, took alot more work than I thought it would. Followed the basic plan and made a few of my own changes along the way. Let me know what you think!

 

[hardcookin]

Have you smoked on all 3 of them? Which one you like best?
Not sure that is enough exhaust.

 

[hoity toit]

bottle opener is a nice finishing touch.

HT

 

[desertlites]

look real nice but I have to agree on the exhaust.

 

[Craig Ward]

I've only cooked on the silver one, just burn Ins on the other two. It's the standard 8 1/2" holes, use magnets to 'open/close' the exhaust. On a full charcoal basket, which is about two big bags of charcoal each, they all held 230-260 for 24 hrs+ with just the bottom air intake open.

 

[Craig Ward]

Definitely always open to suggestions on improvements, each one is a bit different already due to changes

 

[Bearcarver]

All Look Beautiful from here!!
Nice Jobs

Bear

 

[fivetricks]

I liked the torched wood shelves. Did you end up buying that expanded from home Depot? Looks just like the squares of they sell.

 

[PoukieBear]

Wow, those looks cool!
What changes did you make as you built them?

 

[Craig Ward]

I bought the expanded metal in a 4 x 8 sheet from a sheet metal supplier. Seemed like the way to go, enough metal for 6 baskets for $97CAD.

 

[Craig Ward]

I'm trying to figure out a heat baffle and then still messing around with getting everything nice and sealed up, I used alot of self tapping screws which I'm going to swap out with nut and bolts, and then I think I'll add some feet to keep them a couple of inches off the ground.

 

[fivetricks]

So for my "temporary" baffle I cut slits in the corners of two aluminum deep wall pans (think like half lasagna pans) and bolted the two pans sandwich style to keep them together. Drilled like two or 3 holes in the middle for grease to drip down through. It's worked great for me.

Was only meant to be a stop gap solution until I did something more permanent, but I've used it for like a year so far. I think I'm going to stick with it because those pans (that baffle) get TRASHED from all the drippings. With the aluminum pans being quite flexible, I can just flex them or bang them on the ground and all that burnt material just pops right off. Plus it's almost zero cost to replace when I feel I need to. But after a year, they're in the same shape as they were when new

 

[Craig Ward]

Are you talking like the disposable pans you get from the dollar store?

 

[fivetricks]

Yep. Here's a pic of it. This way you can see what I mean, plus how I cut the corners to fan it out. Works great.

 

[pc farmer]

I used a pizza pan and drilled more holes in it for a baffle. 8 (1-2) holes is enough exhaust thats what I have.