Whaaa??? No pics of the food? I must have been preoccupied! The ribs came out fantastic. Some of the best I ever did. I also did a 17 lb brisket this weekend that required two days of cooking. Also very good! BUT, on thing I noticed with this smoker is the cheap shelves. They were really just bugging me. The tiny size of the front shelf and the flimsy, thin sheet metal log rack just weren't cutting it. I mean, wouldn't you think a log rack should drain water, instead of holding it?
So, I did what any red-blooded American male would do. I summoned up that "can-do" spirit, bought a welding machine and some steel, and went to work making things right. I should forward this to Old Country to show them how to improve their smokers for minimal extra cost.
First thing, that dinky, folding front shelf had to go. I wanted something much more substantial. A man can't do any work on the tiny thing they provided. Here, I have the new shelf I built sitting on top of the original just for placement/size comparison.
Then, I cut the old one off with an angle grinder, fit, tacked, and welded out the new shelf.
See that dinky sheet metal log rack on the bottom? Yeah, that ain't gonna work. That's coming off next. I ran out of time, decent weather, and gumption yesterday, but I got the new shelf all cut out and welded up. The frame is always the hardest part when you have limited space, tools, and manpower.
All welded up, waiting to be fit into place, welded out, and painted
Sorry for the different sized pictures. All were taken with the same phone camera, same settings, they just chose to upload to Flickr differently. Meh.
Anyhoo.... next weekend, I'll get that bottom shelf changed out.
