Staring the new build "Smokin Reefer"

[cdarnell]

got it fired up to season as I need to cook some brisket Saturday night, still need to paint it but the rest is done

[Big T]

[Rodcrafter]

That is very nice.

What did you have to do with the door? I'm guessing you had to strip the inside and add insulation and a new inner panel to keep it from getting too hot on the outside.

[Rev.Mike]

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

[cdarnell]

That is very nice.

What did you have to do with the door? I'm guessing you had to strip the inside and add insulation and a new inner panel to keep it from getting too hot on the outside.

yes, the original door skin, was a fiber board, I replaced the insulation and cut a new skin out of 16 GA stainless.

I cooked 100lbs of brisket yesterday, it did good, but it is so well insulated the temp is a little high, and the lower shelf is about 50 degrees hotter than the rest, I think I might build a insulated box 20x14x1 insulate it with mineral wool and put it above the diffuser plate to see if that will reduce the temp on the lowest shelf. I also might need to move the temp probe to get the temp down a bit, I have the dwell on the auger set to the longest time, it dumps 15 sec of pellets out of every 120 secs based on temp. but that is the longest I can set it. at that setting it is running about 250 on the 225 setting.

so I still have some tweaking to do, any thoughts from you guys?

Damn I forgot how much fat comes out of 8 full packer briskets... LOL

[Rodcrafter]

That is what I was guessing on the door. I don't have a pellet pooper myself, but a lot of these guys do. The thing I hear most is a well insulated cabinet sort of works against the process. It holds the temp almost too well. You may consider putting an air inlet down low on the same side as the auger to pull in cool air as well. The defusing plate could be bigger too, which may even it out.

Brisket sure does dump a lot of fat.

[cdarnell]

That is what I was guessing on the door. I don't have a pellet pooper myself, but a lot of these guys do. The thing I hear most is a well insulated cabinet sort of works against the process. It holds the temp almost too well. You may consider putting an air inlet down low on the same side as the auger to pull in cool air as well. The defusing plate could be bigger too, which may even it out.

Brisket sure does dump a lot of fat.

yep I think it will just take some fine tuning, I am thinking about making the dufuser plate out of some 1/4 plate and larger like you mentioned to see what that does.

the 8 briskets filled a full hotel pan about 3/4 full of fat...

I might also look to slow down the blower fan into the fire pot that thing blows like a mother.

[Rodcrafter]

That was a very bold move trying to cook all of those briskets on the first cook. I would have been nervous as heck.

[Smokeone]

Wow 8 packers, now that's a cook!
On my cabinet style pellet cooker, I have basically a double diffuser. The first one is just a small piece of metal bent over the fire pot to deflect the flame and cause a little turbulence. The second is a diffuser/drain pan. It is full width of the cooker with about a 1" gap front and back. Mine runs pretty even on temps. When I first reach temp it has a 10 degree or so variable top to bottom. After 10 or 15 minutes it stabilizes and is within a degree or two top to bottom.
http://www.smokerbuilder.com/forums/vie ... 108&t=1316 here is the link to my build. (Diffuser pics on page 4)

[cdarnell]

That was a very bold move trying to cook all of those briskets on the first cook. I would have been nervous as heck.

I kept an eye on it, I figured go big or go home, LOL plus I could have always moved them to my stick burner if I had a problem so I was not too worried.

[cdarnell]

Wow 8 packers, now that's a cook!
On my cabinet style pellet cooker, I have basically a double diffuser. The first one is just a small piece of metal bent over the fire pot to deflect the flame and cause a little turbulence. The second is a diffuser/drain pan. It is full width of the cooker with about a 1" gap front and back. Mine runs pretty even on temps. When I first reach temp it has a 10 degree or so variable top to bottom. After 10 or 15 minutes it stabilizes and is within a degree or two top to bottom.
http://www.smokerbuilder.com/forums/vie ... 108&t=1316 here is the link to my build. (Diffuser pics on page 4)

I think I will try a second diffuser with the smaller gaps to see how that does, what thickness is yours? looks like it might be 12-14 gauge, thx for the info

[cdarnell]

S1, question where did you mount your temp probe? how is the smoke level with the exhaust out the top? I ran mine out the side to increase the smoke dwell time.

[Smokeone]

It is 14 ga. My temp probe is mounted center of the back wall. I don't see much difference in the smoke flavor, over my UDS. We have talked about putting a piece of metal on an angle on the back wall and on the door. This would serve two purposes, create turbulence in the smoke and heat, and to force the moisture to the drip pan, thus avoiding the baffle gap. I haven't had a problem with the second part, but I haven't had the cooker full yet.

[cdarnell]

It is 14 ga. My temp probe is mounted center of the back wall. I don't see much difference in the smoke flavor, over my UDS. We have talked about putting a piece of metal on an angle on the back wall and on the door. This would serve two purposes, create turbulence in the smoke and heat, and to force the moisture to the drip pan, thus avoiding the baffle gap. I haven't had a problem with the second part, but I haven't had the cooker full yet.

the angle is a good call... with it full I made a mess in the bottom there it missed the drip pan, damn the fat in big packers, LOL.

thx for the info I am going to try what you have done and see how it helps the temp

[cdarnell]

Just an update once I built the diffuser plate with only an inch of gap front and rear it is rock solid.

I have cooked on it about a dozen times now and it holds within +/- 5 degrees. it cooks great and I love the set it and forget it at times I need sleep... LOL

it is handy to load it up at night and go to bed and have happy food in the AM!!!!!!

[Rodcrafter]

Nice


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