The Journey to a Bell Fab Smoker

[Alphonse]

Thanks for the write up, a fun read. You ended up with a mighty nice looking pit! Look forward to some feedback on cooks.

 

[fowldarr]

Thanks for the write up, a fun read. You ended up with a mighty nice looking pit! Look forward to some feedback on cooks.

It works really well, rather than constantly updating this thread, I've created new ones for the stuff I cook on it. Check them out, the food has been coming out really good.

 

[E's Smokin]

Your smoker looks like a tank, its beautiful
I have 1 question, with the split doors, it looks like there is a gap between the doors, do you lose much smoke & is there an option for a single door model
Thanks & best of luck with your new smoker

 

[fowldarr]

I'm sure that he would do a single door, There is very little smoke loss actually, you would expect more, but it seals up nice. If I went with a single door i would make sure that there was a counterweight added, even split, these doors are heavy. (It's made out of 3/8" steel)

 

[Omnivore]

Great write up - I know nothing about offset smokers and it was a really interesting read!

If you ever have to ship another smoker again (which I doubt!), check out a company called uShip. You post what you need moved, and regular people with trailers or trucks bid on moving your stuff if the required dates work out for everyone. I had a 600 pound used Viking stove moved from middle of California to the top of Oregon. It was really affordable and I didn't have to deal with any commercial shipping services.

 

[sawhorseray]

A great write up and read, your new Bell Fab is a thing of beauty, a real beast. RAY

 

[fowldarr]

Bell used a company called e-ship that basically does the same thing, but for commercial businesses. The shipping ended up being fairly reasonable from a cost standpoint, but the length of time was ridiculous. Not anyone's fault but the shipping company. The important part is that it is here now.

 

[fowldarr]

Here she is freshly seasoned sans thermometers. The brinkmann in the background moved to a friends house (she got a little jealous and needed to go somewhere else to get some attention)

 

[gary s]

Nice

Gary

 

[Displaced Texan]

Brand new to the forum. Had settled on the OC Brazos from Academy after also considering the Yoder Loaded Wichita and Horizon 20" Marshall. Saw this thread and several others dating back to 2009 on this forum.

Emailed Craig about an hour ago, and he called me back within about 20 minutes. I'm on the list, and he says he can have a 24x36 or 24x48 ready by Thanksgiving. Thinking for the little bit of extra money, I should go big with the 48 inch.

Great threads and discussions on this forum. Hope to be able to contribute as well.

 

[dannyklaus]

View attachment 431430 Here she is freshly seasoned sans thermometers. The brinkmann in the background moved to a friends house (she got a little jealous and needed to go somewhere else to get some attention)

How do you like your cooker? Anything you would do differently on the build? Thanks!

 

[Displaced Texan]

How do you like your cooker? Anything you would do differently on the build? Thanks!

You can see mine in my avatar as well as search for some posts and threads I have made, as well as those by TNJAKE .

I had him do the triangular exhaust. Honestly, I don't think it needs out, as this unit really has great draw and convection.

The grease drain in the cook chamber on my pit was not flush with the bottom, so it was not draining well. No big deal, I got a little grinder from Harbor Freight and fixed it. But, I would ask him to grind that flush.

I would have him include some tuning plates.

Definitely would recommend the two doors. Heat loss is very minimal. It isn't a pressure cooker, but a bit of gasket seal would easily solve that. I have zero problem keeping the temps up in this beast.

He will do an insulated firebox, trailer, four wheels, basically just talk to him and tell him what you want.

 

[pineywoods]

How do you like your cooker? Anything you would do differently on the build? Thanks!

Here's a link to a newer thread about the Bell Fabs
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/bell-fabrications-smoker.310479/