Vertical Reverse Flow Build (picture heavy)

[Scottyice67]

I’m finishing up my very first smoker build, no welding or metal working experience at all, but everyone on this site seems to make everything look so easy I thought why not. (Man was I wrong!!!) I started out by reading and researching every build I could find and decided on vertical reverse flows. Once I had a design in mind I started getting my metal and tools to get started. For the fire box I went with 7/16“ plate and the smoking chamber is 1/4“ plate. The frame is 1“x1” square tube, insulated with 1” mineral wool high temp from Zoro, and the outer skin is 16 gauge. This thing ended up being a whole lot larger than I though, but I have had a great time building it. Lots of sweat, bleeding and burns, but in the end I’m pretty proud of what it turned out to be.

 

[tag0401]

Nice rig!! Ready to see what it can do!

 

[SmokinAl]

Nice build!
You are quite talented!
Al

 

[Scottyice67]

Thanks for the kind words Adam and Al.
I’m having issues trying to figure out how to get the heat to stay steady. It‘s a lot of metal so it takes a while to get it heated up, but when it does I’m having trouble with it getting to hot. It‘s also getting a 30 degree swing from top to bottom. Anyone got any ideas on how I can get the heat out faster so it doesn’t get get so hot, but also keep the reverse flow concept?

 

[kmmamm]

Nice looking build! A 30 degree swing in an empty smoker wouldn’t surprise me at all. Have you experimented or measured temps with the racks loaded? It is surprising what well placed product can do to the internal temps. Sometimes it is a lot easier to leverage the cooker’s “quirks” rather than fighting to “eliminate” them. You indicated the smoker tends to “run too hot”? Most likely you are getting “behind” the fire. Think of tending fire on a stick burner like wing shooting ducks....if you aim at the duck, you will only kill air where the duck has been. If you aim ahead of the duck fat enough, your shot and the duck will meet at the same point. Try “leading” the fire a bit by shutting down the firebox inlets 10-15 degrees before it gets to your target temps...likewise, open them a bit before they start falling off. Make sure the cooker is always heat soaked and fire is stable before adding product (sometimes it can take an hour or more). Keep practicing, you will get it figured out.

 

[Scottyice67]

Thanks Kmmamm for the help. I love the analogy. I've tested it a few more times and think I'm getting closer, I just have to have patient and wait on the internal temps to level out in the SC. After a couple of hours bring the temp up nice and slowly, it looks like the temps are much closer to one another from top to bottom. I made a few adjustments in the fire box by welding up some dividers that separate the FB into a maze, and added a water pan in the bottom of the SC. I also added a BBQ Guru Ultra Q that is hooked up to the 2" ball valve, but once the SC gets to temp it's of no use, until I can get a better control on the high temps. I'll put some meat in it this weekend and see how much of a difference it makes. Thanks again for the help and I will post some pics of the results.

 

[Mandel gagnon]

Question what is the valve for on the side

 

[babydocsmoke]

Question what is the valve for on the side

Grease drip?

 

[chp]

On the insulated vertical smoker I had, the ball valve was an air inlet for the firebox. I also had the challenge of running at low enough temperatures. I ended up selling the smoker before I got any good at temperature control. What is the flow path? Front of the firebox then exiting towards the back and low in the cook chamber?