Trying something new

[jbellard]

so I just got my large side firebox smoker and have only cooked on it twice.
I had some challenge in keeping it from fluctuations more than 40-50 degrees. Food still came out great but I’ve got a competition next Friday and then cooking 300lbs of pork butt the following Thursday.
So I asked my welding buddy to make me a grate out of thick grating and then adding some expanded metal on the bottom. I got it today and hope to play with it tonight or for a cook tomorrow.
I also am waiting patiently for my new fireboard to arrive by UPS this afternoon.
Here is the grate and I hope to get some more even temps with the better airflow that comes from using this.
It is 18 by 20 and will sit about 4-5 inches off the bottom of my firebox.
I’ll let y’all know how it works.

 

[kit s]

View attachment 361276 View attachment 361275 View attachment 361273 View attachment 361274

so I just got my large side firebox smoker and have only cooked on it twice.
I had some challenge in keeping it from fluctuations more than 40-50 degrees. Food still came out great but I’ve got a competition next Friday and then cooking 300lbs of pork butt the following Thursday.
So I asked my welding buddy to make me a grate out of thick grating and then adding some expanded metal on the bottom. I got it today and hope to play with it tonight or for a cook tomorrow.
I also am waiting patiently for my new fireboard to arrive by UPS this afternoon.
Here is the grate and I hope to get some more even temps with the better airflow that comes from using this.
It is 18 by 20 and will sit about 4-5 inches off the bottom of my firebox.
I’ll let y’all know how it works.

Hope it works the way your wanting too.
Ship decking would be great for this or Q-ing it is made like what you have without the expanded metal. Resist the heck out of warping. Been trying to snag me some, but no luck so far.

 

[jbellard]

Got a little fire going in the smoker.
Fire board working wonderfully. Nice to know that temps on smoke stack side are pretty close to the Teltru which is in the center. About 25 degrees warmer by firebox side.

 

[Gwanger]

View attachment 361279 Got a little fire going in the smoker.
Fire board working wonderfully. Nice to know that temps on smoke stack side are pretty close to the Teltru which is in the center. About 25 degrees warmer by firebox side.

Doesn't your Teltru have an adjustment screw for adjusting your thermo on back

 

[wimpy69]

Your buddy made ya a really nice rack there. Plenty of room for drop out, but more than enough air to feed fire. Good luck with it.

 

[SonnyE]

Looks Grate to me!
I've used decking like that for lots of stuff. But mostly for a boot scraper.
I think the expanded metal will help reinforce it in the heat.

 

[motocrash]

Nice grate! None of your pics show the vents in the door,what are your intake/s?

 

[daveomak]

Door intakes like this work awesome......

 

[jbellard]

I went Aaron franklin with no door vents. I just keep the door open a bit. Have fun it without the grate but had the material and a willing friend so wanted to try it out.
Liked how it worked. I’ll be cooking some spare ribs tomorrow night and will see how it works on a little longer cook.
I did love the fireboard thermometer! It works great and was really nice to be able to set min and max temp alarms so I don’t have to walk outside to know when it’s time to add wood.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks like a great mod!
I'm sure it will work fine with the air getting under the fire!
Al

 

[jbellard]

Thanks Al! Trying it out on some spares today.
Also I really appreciate your review of the fireboard. I know there were several that gave you a rough time but I thought it perfectly helped me decide to get it. I used it to map my grate temps last night and to my surprise and joy, the side away from the fire is about the same as the middle where my TelTru is, meaning I can gauge that the smoke stack end is about the same as gauge reads and can use my ambient probe for close to where the fire comes in so it doesn’t get too hot. Great review though.