smokers Mini Smokey Joe Smoker

dont like your Smokey Joe grill?

here is an idea to turn it into a smoker that is cheap to build and cooks some great Q.

what it looks like when finished.


the parts you will need:

$10 - Smokey Joe
$18 - Tamale Pot (32 quart from Target, made in china)
$5 - deep fryer thermometer(walmart)
$1 - painters tape
$3 - terracota plate(10")
$8 - replacement grill for smokey joe
$6 - high heat engine enamel
$2 - misc nuts & bolts
------------
$53 total

Smokey Joe



the pot



cut hole in bottom of tamale pot with a jig saw, snips or what you have on hand. Cut it about 1 1/2 - 2 inches from the bottom edge of the pot


i used these to do the job.


Cut a circle,approx 2 inches from the edge of the bottom of the pot.Rough cut but you can file the edges to clean it up



Next drill some holes in the side of the pot for grill supports.. i measured 2 inches down and 3 inches across from the handles. A total of 4 holes.
If you desire another rack you can eyeball where to drill the next set of holes. For me, i do not need another set as of yet, i am using the natural lip in the bottom of the pan as a second rack.





If you want to paint the outside, you can tape the handles if you wish.

Terracotta Dish and Turkey Deep Fryer


Wrap the plate with heavy duty aluminum foil for easy clean up and place as shown.
The plate is used as a heat sync & smoke diffuser.
Place it directly on the original grill if you do not wish to make a support of sorts.



I will be using the original steamer plate from the tamale pot. i think it will make a good ABT rack, if it doesnt work out i will move things around until it works.

You can make a charcoal ring for longer cooks out of expanded steel.Not my picture but you get the idea.You could probably use a piece of 10" black stove pipe cut down to approx 3-4 inches in height. Drill some holes in the side of it for air ciruculation. If you want to eliminate the bottom grill and save yourself some money, you can run a couple of pieces of steel rod or angle iron across the bottom to put the tarracotta on directly.



To keep ash from choking out your airflow, a can 2" tall and about 4" wide. course one end is cut off. i then cut a bunch of holes near the uncut end which now becomes the top. place this over the vent and it works great. the coal grate will actually hold the can in place. Like this:

Wow that's a nice right up. I think I had one of those POS a long time ago and only used it for dogs since everything else would end up burnt! Now i'm considering getting a new one just to set this up! It would be nice to have a "little" smoker instead of dragging my WSM every time I go camping!

Congrats on a creative way of building a smoker. i'm laughing because my wife would kill me if she saw a pictuire of how a tamale pot was being used to smoke food. Points to you my friend!

richoso12 said:

Congrats on a creative way of building a smoker. i'm laughing because my wife would kill me if she saw a pictuire of how a tamale pot was being used to smoke food. Points to you my friend!

Click to expand...

once you paint it, it doesnt look like a tamale pot anymore..lol

your safe Rich...Btw i remember you from another board we were on...Smoking Meat...old name was teacup13 there and jtwisted13 on Brethren

great tut Bam - I'll have to keep this idea in my back pocket -

I laughed when I saw that tamale pot and imagined what my wife would do if I turned her tamale pot insert into a smoker mod. She just spent the better part of 2 days making about 12-15 dozen tamales. Very creative Bams. If I do that tamale mod, I will definitely go out and buy a cheapo and not touch her sacred kitchen utensil. I already turned the coffee grinder into a chile grinder and replaced it with a nicer burr grinder before I was thrown out on the street. Just joking...she wouldn't really do that.

my tamale pot is the cheapest you can find...bought it at target for $18...

but it sure makes some good bbq