smokers Horizontal smokers?

BamsBBQ said:
it doesnt take 4-5 hours to warm up a smoker.lol

my big pit only takes 1 hour in cold temperatures..

for his smoker/bbq heres a general use guideline

-make a charcoal basket
-extend the smoke stack to grate level with a dryer pipe
-add a deflector plate by the opening
-google more mods

-start a full charcoal starter with charcoal and let it burn down until there is no more black showing. or try the minion method inside of the charcoal basket

let it warm up

the biggest thing is to keep playing with the smoker, nobody is going to get a perfect cook without little problems right away
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Got any pics of the above mods that you use?
 
Pepper Belly said:
Got any pics of the above mods that you use?
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why yes i do..lol

The mods for this cooker generally are:

1) Move the thermometer to just above cooking grate level (requires drilling) but if you get a remote thermometer, you wouldn't have to do that.

2) Extend the smoke stack down to grate level. This is easily done by getting some aluminum roll type flashing about 10" wide. Cut a piece that you can roll up, push up into the bottom of the chimney, allow it to unroll inside, put grate back under the chimney and pull flashing down onto grate. Now the heat and smoke will be drawn from grate level....helps to even out temps.

3) Get a piece of steel and make a baffle from your firebox into the cooking chamber. This will allow the heat to travel further into the chamber instead of just rising as soon as it exits the fire box...that makes for a very hot area. The baffle helps to spread out the heat a little more...it will still be hotter nearest the firebox, but the baffle will settle it down a bit. Heres what I'm talking about.

baffle-copy.jpg


4) Also, I've found that a coal basket works really well with this cooker too. This is one made is just using some expanded metal, angle steel braces, and nuts and bolts (all purchased from HD)

coalbasket001-copy.jpg


these are just basic mods. you can also put "tuner" plates like the big smokers use and get more even heat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVt4Po7BWn8&feature=player_embedded

A couple more things: the charcoal grate sits too low in the fire box so it doesn't allow enough air underneath, turn it sideways and it will sit higher in the box allowing for more air underneath. And purchase a welders blanket. This cooker is far from air tight, and the metal is relatively thin by comparison to the more expensive cookers out there. The blanket in cold weather will help keep cooking chamber temp stable and on windy days will help cut wind ingress into the chamber as well....which will play havoc with temps.

heres another site that gives detailed info on how to modify your bbq

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/offset_smokers.html
 
Wow thanks Bams I consider myself educated now........Will definitely be paying the hardware store a visit.

I love this website, thanks for providing it TheHotPepper.
 
Hey Bam...
that last link you posted is great!!! For even smoke and heat distribution you definately need to use baffles and tuning plates! That is spot on with the info!!! Ya know I never thought of lowering my themometer to the grate level...but that makes perfect sense!! You want to know the temp at cooking level who cares how hot the open air above the cooking surface gets...

oh ya and as proven somewhere else in another thread.... never trust the supplied thermometer....test it against at least 1 or 2 others...
 
Update:

I am smoking a roast, and BBQ ing some chicken, got a welders blanket, didn't make the basket but did put my fire higher using the same metal y'all pictured, also put in the damper. the heat is constant and smoker is working fine. Thanks everyone and especially to Bam Bam. Also put a can of water in there as suggested on one of the links you provided. I let you all know how it tasted later.
 
BamsBBQ said:
good to know that it is working for you.. but we need pics..lol
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I'm cooking right now when the meat is off I'll take pics of the mods. The welding blanket is helping a lot. It was so fun using this today I went and got more meat :)
 
POTAWIE said:
Hey Bam, do you know anywhere to buy a decent horizontal smoker in Ontario?
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depends on what you want to spend

they have a smaller one at canadian tire. its not very big but it will work

33030-Large-Horizontal.jpg


$369.99

http://www.bbqs.com/smokers-horizontal-smokers-c-26_91.html

i believe homedepot and lowes sells them

you can also look for the GrillPro Vertical Propane Smoker (31845). They are sold at Ontario Gas, HomeDepot, and Home HardWare

you might want to check out all your fireplace and bbq places around your area. they will either be able to help you out or lead you in a good direction.

if all else fails you could build a nice one for fairly cheap, let me know the size you want it to be and i will draw something up or find something for you.
 
Thanks for the links. I have the cheapo Canadian tire/homehardware grillpro model, but I'm looking to upgrade sometime soon.
 
POTAWIE said:
Thanks for the links. I have the cheapo Canadian tire/homehardware grillpro model, but I'm looking to upgrade sometime soon.
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how big are you looking to go and how much are you looking to spend.

do you want to build one? i have other plans that are not listed here as of yet. we want to start making some kind of bbq/smokers commercially in canada as there are limited bbq resources here. the products we get here now are grossly overpriced for the quality that you are paying for.

ok enough of my canada ranting..lol
 
I'm not really sure of my needs right now, I just love using different smokers and I know I'd just love a better horizontal type with all the mods for summer BBQing. I'd also like a horizontal where I can hang sausage , but am also thinking of doing a box smoker with a simple smoke generator.
Thanks for all the info. Where in Ontario are you again Bam?
I'm starting to become a heavy smoker now, its very addictive:)
 
thehotpepper.com said:
If you want to step up in quality, check out: http://www.horizonbbqsmokersstore.com/servlet/the-373/16"-Classic-Backyard-Smoker/Detail
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yup those are nice cookers. but to get it into canada before duty/shipping/broker fees with just the taxes is $1187 canadian(with todays exchange rate).

by the time we get something like that shipped here, the price is usually double if not a little more than shown on the sticker price.

yes you pay for quality but we are going broke in the meantime..lol

i need to start building some heavy duty smokers..lol
 
The thing I like about Horizons is they are 1/4 inch steel! But yeah, the shippping to Canada will kill you.
 
thehotpepper.com said:
The thing I like about Horizons is they are 1/4 inch steel! But yeah, the shippping to Canada will kill you.
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they are good quality cookers. i have heard nothing but good about them.

the smokers/bbq's/cookers we are thinking about marketing locally are all going to be constructed of 1/4" steel as well unless otherwise ordered.

i have a place that i can get old 250gallon propane tanks and also can get new ones at cost.
 
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