Turning offset into RF type smoker

[JJS]

So I have had a chargriller offset for.... well idk how long but quite a while, having cooked on it countless times I am well aware of the the pros and cons in the factory configuration.
My son has convinced me to bust it out and modify it so I have some ideas I wanted to throw out and get some feedback on. Main purpose will be brisket, pork butts ribs etc.

Plan on a charcoal basket, adding another air intake to the fire box and sealing the whole thing up. Adding thermometers at grate level

The not so normal:
1)I was kicking around the idea of making it into an RF type by adding angle inside and adding fire bricks most of the way across to get heat/smoke to the opposite side as well as add some thermal mass to the smoker...

2) moving the vent to the fire box side and possibly adding a dampered vent on the fire box to dispose of unwanted heat if need


Sorry for the long post just throwing some things out there to get some input.

 

[daveomak]

Is this the smoker you have ???... A RF won't work worth krap... The air leaks around the lid are VERY hard to seal up...
A deflector plate will only heat up the FB more...
A bigger, taller exhaust stack might help your smoker a bunch..

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like Dave has you covered!
Al

 

[JJS]

Here’s the beast. With a thick gasket and adding latches similar to the ones pictured do you think it would seal up enough?

 

[Berettaclayshooter]

The lid design on the Char-grillers leaves much to be desired in that it leaks like a sieve. Latches won't help that the lid over laps the body with a large gap between them. The best thing you could do is as Dave suggested is to extend the stack height to get more draft.

 

[JJS]

The lid design on the Char-grillers leaves much to be desired in that it leaks like a sieve. Latches won't help that the lid over laps the body with a large gap between them. The best thing you could do is as Dave suggested is to extend the stack height to get more draft.

It has been modified, I’ll post some pics of what was done when I get a min. To swing back over to it. It now runs 3-5 degrees difference from one side to the other.

I did 25#s of pork butts and 10#s of chuck on it Friday night and it worked pretty well

 

[Berettaclayshooter]

Awesome!

 

[JckDanls 07]

The only good way that I can see to seal the CC door on these is to.... First, attach angle iron (1" x 1" x 1/8") to the sides and the front on the bottom half of the smoker so that it is about an 1/8" - 1/4" below the lip of the door when it's closed... now get some 1/4" thick x 3/4" wide x length needed to glue/rivet to the top of the angle ... now when the lid closes it sits on the seal (instead of trying to seal up in between the two pieces ..

As for along the backside (hinge side) ... I was thinking of gluing a piece on the bottom half (flat side to the wall with the edge pushed up tight against the hinge on the top.... it will/should stay sealed/touching to the hinge part of the lid no matter if lid is opened or closed ...

you might could downsize the size of the angle and the width of the flat seal if ya wanted to just so it doesn't stick out as much

That's what I seen when I looked them over... my wife's son in law just bought a new one and when looking it over I could stick all my fingers up inside the lid/door on both ends when it's closed ... they can be bent in to fit tighter but it will never seal good enough ...

 

[JJS]

Sorry for the pic delay, due to my work schedule it’s going to be next Saturday before I can get back over there to get some pics.

I’ll be sure to fire her up and include some Qview to make up for the delay