Truck Toolbox Smoker Build

[jackassalex]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to your forums and to custom smokers. I've used basic store bought smokers and i'm an avid BBQer. I recently went to a BBQ and checked out the caterer's home built smoker. I was impressed and interested in building something myself.

Basically I have an aluminum diamond plate pickup truck toolbox that I thought would make a great smoker. I was impressed by your forums and everyone's creativity and thought it would be great to not only document my progress in the forums, but to be able to get some advise and suggestions from people who know a ton about smokers.

My toolbox is very similar to the one posted below. My idea is do stand it up on end, and open the door like a refrigerator. Then I plan to have a charcoal setup with air intake at the bottom with a chip bowl directly above that and multiple shelves. I also have a rotisserie setup I'd like to add for use when I want to and of course a chimney at the top. I also have a couple ideas for making it work with both propane and charcoal.

I'm starting this weekend with cleaning the toolbox, removing any unwanted hardware, and designing some sort of stand with swivel casters for it to roll on. I'd love to hear any ideas, suggestions, concerns, or criticisms along the way as I post about my progress. I'll hopefully have pics of the actual toolbox and my first few steps on Sunday. I look forward to hearing from everyone!

Alumiknox_truck_toolbox_open.jpg

• jackassalex
• Oct 5, 2012

 

[davidhef88]

Welcome. Looking forward to seeing pics of this project.

 

[jackassalex]

This is the toolbox I started, needs a little cleaning, but not in bad shape.

photo(3).JPG

• jackassalex
• Oct 11, 2012

I was lucky enough to find this stand in the scrap dumpster in my town dump. Cost: $0

photo(5).JPG

• jackassalex
• Oct 11, 2012

The metal box at the bottom seemed perfect for charcoal with all the holes, so I cut and bent it to fit inside the toolbox. I am adding legs so will stand off the base of the box, and be easily removable.

photo(4).JPG

• jackassalex
• Oct 11, 2012

With a couple cuts the stand was ready to mount the toolbox. I  had to add a spacer at the bottom to allow the door to swing freely.

photo(2).JPG

• jackassalex
• Oct 11, 2012

I have all the brackets attached for the shelves. I'll be making shelves with weekend, setting up intake and exhaust, doing a final scrub down, and hopefully doing a test run.

I have wheels ordered for the base and fireplace rope is on the way to seal the door. I also have a digital thermometer to mount. Any other suggestions?
 

 

[gatewood iron]

my only suggestion is "hurry up". This is going to be cool.

 

[roller]

Never say you can`t find anything to build a smoker out of....very interesting...

 

[jackassalex]

smoker.jpg

• jackassalex
• Oct 14, 2012

So this is the finished product. (I know, not very pretty) I have some mods planned, but I wanted to get it up and running first.

- 3x 3/4" intake on the back (2 Cap, 1 Ball Valve)

- 2x 1" exhaust ports on top

- 4x grates

- Steel charcoal basket at the bottom

My first smoke was a fail, I'm looking for tips from someone with a similar style. I went with a brisket for my first smoke. I had two issues that I know of that made it hard to maintain the temp. First, there were air leaks around the door which let too much air in at first. I was able to address that with a bar clamp and reduce the leakage. Second was my charcoal basket. The holes are too small and the ash clogged them easily. Even with 100% of the intakes open I couldn't break 210 degrees.

Could anyone point out a place to look up different burning methods also? I did with this what I used to do on my old smoker. I got a good heat going with the charcoal, then added soaked hickory chips on top of the charcoal. When the heat was too low, experimented by adding dry chips the next time I added charcoal. this gained me a few degrees, but did not appear to be a solution.

Any Suggestions on mods or burning methods would be greatly appreciated.

 

[linguica]

Necessity is the mother of invention. I believe who ever said that was a Q'er and a Smoker. No one here can leave their smokers and cookers unaltered.

                  

 

[shoneyboy]

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Nice, that's unique. And good find , dumpster diving is not so bad , I'm always looking and find some very interesting things . Someone gets a toy and get frustrated and tosses it,to my good fortune.

Welcome and ...

 

[pgsmoker64]

I would raise up your charcoal basket and open the holes in the bottom - Maybe use an old weber grate - so that the ash can fall through after it burns out.  One of the best designs to copy would be the WSM.

Great idea by the way!  I'm sure it will get better as you go.

Bill