Welcome to the Brick Smoker page!

[wes w]

Im looking forward to this section. Wes thanks for taking the lead to get this done.

Thank you sir for giving us a chance.  

I am also looking forward to  seeing everyone's creations.   Now, if I can get all the people that have PM me about info to start a thread,  we'll be in business.  :-)

As stated, there isn't a lot of info in the web about brick smokers.   What better place to put the info then on the best smoking forum on the web.

 

[portsmokers]

How did you make your shelves . Cause i started mine . Did you cut it or used the whole brick .

 

[jim williams]

Wes,   I have my 40" wide X 7' 4" long X 36" DEEP (frost in Lincoln, Nebraska is 36" deep) dug and ready for form work and it will have a 10" thick slab on top to bear the center mass of weight with 3/8" rebar every square16".

You had my vision and I found yours on this forum, I thank you truly for the tips!!! We will be in touch

DISNEYLAND 2014 072.jpeg

• jim williams
• Oct 20, 2014

DISNEYLAND 2014 086.jpg

• jim williams
• Oct 20, 2014

 

[wes w]

How did you make your shelves . Cause i started mine . Did you cut it or used the whole brick .

Good evening Port.

The shelves are a whole firebrick layed down.   I exposed them 1 1/4 in.  Plenty of room to set the rack on.    Make sure when you make your racks that you leave a little wiggle room.  I almost got mine to tight.    Just a note.  Make sure whatever size rack you use that you can get it in the door.  I have to turn mine sideways to get them in.  Almost to tight.   An over site that could have been bad. 

IMG_8764.JPG

• wes w
• Aug 22, 2012

 

[wes w]

 
Wes,   I have my 40" wide X 7' 4" long X 36" DEEP (frost in Lincoln, Nebraska is 36" deep) dug and ready for form work and it will have a 10" thick slab on top to bear the center mass of weight with 3/8" rebar every square16".

You had my vision and I found yours on this forum, I thank you truly for the tips!!! We will be in touch

DISNEYLAND 2014 072.jpeg

• jim williams
• Oct 20, 2014

DISNEYLAND 2014 086.jpg

• jim williams
• Oct 20, 2014

Jim, I love it!   Now why didn't I think of a chimney cap like that!   Awesome!    Love your design.   When you get started on this thing in the spring, start a new thread and let us all watch this  beast go up.  

And I thought digging 24in. down was bad.  :-)    Great start to a great smoker!  

 

[portsmokers]

Whats your lenth of doors and wenth

 

[portsmokers]

Like the steel part for the doors and angle 3" you using right.

 

[wes w]

Whats your lenth of doors and wenth

The smoker door openings are 16 X16.  The firebox I think was 16 tall and 20 or 21 wide. 

 

[moikel]

Frost down to 36" 

 Hard for an Aussie to get his head around.

IMG_0148.JPG

• moikel
• Oct 20, 2014

Thats my wood fired oven ,to late to retro fit it as a smoker.Internal 1m x 1.2m x .7 

Wes W is right about the wriggle room for the internal fittings. 

If I had my time again I would have made the door wider by 6''.

External brick is pre 1900 hand mades that match my house.Good thing when the town planning clip board warriors turned up to take issue over building in a heritage area without a permit. Same tile ,same roof pitch as the house ,I won the argument.

I may be able to help with some tips just on the masonry .Good luck.

 

[wes w]

Like the steel part for the doors and angle 3" you using right.

Yes, the frame was made from 3in. angle.   That makes it wide enough that the tops can be used as the lentle for the brick over the tops.   As a note,  as most know, my brother built my doors.  He also welded tabs in the frame  on brick work.  In other words, the tabs lay in the brick joints.  That way, there is no way these doors will ever come loose without bringing the whole thing down.

 

[wes w]

 
Frost down to 36" 

 Hard for an Aussie to get his head around.

IMG_0148.JPG

• moikel
• Oct 20, 2014

Thats my wood fired oven ,to late to retro fit it as a smoker.Internal 1m x 1.2m x .7 

Wes W is right about the wriggle room for the internal fittings. 

If I had my time again I would have made the door wider by 6''.

External brick is pre 1900 hand mades that match my house.Good thing when the town planning clip board warriors turned up to take issue over building in a heritage area without a permit. Same tile ,same roof pitch as the house ,I won the argument.

I may be able to help with some tips just on the masonry .Good luck.

Outstanding!     Love the old brick.    

Moikel,  we're all here to learn.   I'm no pro by any means.  I use the knowledge my brother taught me about bricklaying.    Any suggestions or comments are always welcome. 

Love your Country!   My dream vacation that will never happen. 

 

[portsmokers]

Tabs is for better support . I made a mistake cause i didnt build it with the doors made . Not like you where you building it around the doors. . But i think if you bolt it to the brick and motor it around it should hold.

 

[moikel]

Sydney is the oldest city here,so there are a lot of buildings made from old bricks & sandstone still standing. 

The convict chain gangs put a symbol in the them wet so the makers could be identified.Hearts,diamonds,shamrocks etc.up to about the 1850s then they went to a regular dent in the top up until 1900 when German compressed brick machines arrived here.

They are soft & irregular by todays standards but I love the history even though they are hard to work with.You can see the burnt specks in them where the sawdust,horse hair etc incinerated.Lovely mottled colours,distinctive "old world" look.

I am a very rough mason ,no formal training,slow & messy.

 .

I think the advantage with a smoker is you don't run them anywhere near as hot as a wood fired oven & you dont need to pack so much insulation on to them to give you the thermal mass.

Your dollar will get you about $1.14 here. Spring now ,going to hit 28c this week thats 82f,never say never

 

[thx1138]

Guy's,

Are these all brick specific smokers, not wood fired ovens??

Can you turn a wood fired oven into some sort of smoker without the second level??

Cheers,

Phil

 

[moikel]

Guy's,

Are these all brick specific smokers, not wood fired ovens??

Can you turn a wood fired oven into some sort of smoker without the second level??

Cheers,

Phil

I have thought about making a dual purpose unit. But struggle with how to get the smoke from the chimney to the smoking chamber.
I was taught that you need a decent chimney on the oven to get it to draw.So does that mean you build the chimney way over size with an access point to load meat in or you build an off take & run the smoke to another unit?
How far off the ground does that make the chamber?

 

[portsmokers]

Well you see all that wood where you have yours wood take that out and build a firebox there . Then make. Or cut in the middle of the second section where you cook your pizza . Cut some concerte out or make some sort of a vent where ths smoke from the bottom could go in threw to give you that smoke. .

Can i see how your pizza oven looks like inside hope that could help or give you an idea

 

[moikel]

Well you see all that wood where you have yours wood take that out and build a firebox there . Then make. Or cut in the middle of the second section where you cook your pizza . Cut some concerte out or make some sort of a vent where ths smoke from the bottom could go in threw to give you that smoke. .

Can i see how your pizza oven looks like inside hope that could help or give you an idea

I cant retro fit on that oven. Oven floor is 4'' refractory concrete with rebar then firebrick laid on that. Its over engineered ,refractory concrete built over the brick dome,temp gauges, I got carried away.

 If I build another it will be less material & more pizza oven style.

I will get you a photo if you like its 4 arches then necked down to the door.Its a "village bread oven" thats been modified.Related to a west coast sour dough bread oven. I will do something in it over spring & post it. Maybe a lamb or small pig.

I think there is a way to make a multi function wood fired unit from scratch but it might not be me that builds it. I might sit on the sidelines & give advice

 

[portsmokers]

Well i think you should take all that wood out from the opening. And also take two or three pictures of the openings and well we all go from there to help you get what you want. Like a smoker/ would burn oven in one

 

[wes w]

Any oven I've seen always has the chimney in the front.   I've look and studied plans for an oven.  I really want one.   From what I can gather, an oven runs around 500F.  Once hot you push the coals-fire to the back.   The dome is more  for reflective heat.  The chimney outlet is lower then the top of the dome allowing the heat to stay in but the smoke will go out before it contacts the pizza, bread, etc.   

I know its not smoking, but If anyone has detail plans on building a oven,  I'd love to have a look at it.   I'm kinda old school.  I don't want a kit,  I want to build it from scratch.   Interesting topic.  

LOL, I have a neighbor who says she has a great pizza dough recipe.  I ask her for it.  She said when I got an oven she'd give it to me.   Of course these are the same neighbors who have to smell my smoking...  :-)

 

[moikel]

 
Any oven I've seen always has the chimney in the front.   I've look and studied plans for an oven.  I really want one.   From what I can gather, an oven runs around 500F.  Once hot you push the coals-fire to the back.   The dome is more  for reflective heat.  The chimney outlet is lower then the top of the dome allowing the heat to stay in but the smoke will go out before it contacts the pizza, bread, etc.   

I know its not smoking, but If anyone has detail plans on building a oven,  I'd love to have a look at it.   I'm kinda old school.  I don't want a kit,  I want to build it from scratch.   Interesting topic.  

LOL, I have a neighbor who says she has a great pizza dough recipe.  I ask her for it.  She said when I got an oven she'd give it to me.   Of course these are the same neighbors who have to smell my smoking...  :-)

Wes I have detailed plans that I bought as a package from Ovencrafters in the USA. There is a great wood fired oven section in the masonryheater site. The book that I have has the full how to build in it.

I will post a photo of the cover when I get home. I cant remember the exact details of the site but it cant be hard to find.There were a heap of different builds step by step with photos.

The door has to be 64% the height of the dome,thats what I was taught.It created the roll back so the smoke exits & draws out & up the chimney.

Mine is insulated with a big block of refractory concrete + a shed load of vermiculite so it stays hot.If I shut the fire off at say 10pm at 220c ,the next day its holding at 180c.So the village baker didnt have to start from cold scratch each day,it could be used to dry beans,cook a stew overnight,sterilize duck/goose feathers for pillows & quilts

Pizza ovens heat up fast & cool down fast & run hot. I wanted something more general purpose.

The fire bricks & cement aren't cheap. I saw one on the net that was sort of half a barrel shaped with the door in the centre that looked a way easier build than my effort. It sat east west & the forms to do the arches looked easier to build.