Reverse flow questions...

[Big T]

[Rodcrafter]

Doing great

[Mmmmm]

Not much progress today. Just a latch on the FB door.

[Puff]

Hey Mmmmm,

You trailering this smoker? Just thinking out loud but I discovered that I should have added a few security tie-ins to my doors and latches around the smoker. I need to use a bunch of bungees until I get to changing those areas. I saw Gizmo did do exactly that on egor. My immediate thought was that people might try to breakin to the cooker. But heck, that sounded dumb after I said it and realized it was to prevent stuff from coming loose under travel

[Mmmmm]

Not sure. This one might get parked behind my shed near my woodpile and just reside there. Or, I might haul it around. Or, I might find a tiny trailer and just mount it to the trailer.

I gotta see if it works and learn how to operate it first and see what kinda luck I have finding suitable wood.

[Puff]

I was in Ketchum Idaho back in the 1970's. While the mountains were right on the road, I didn't see much tree coverage on them...out here right now, wood runsabout145-165 per cord. Delivered. Usually oak and mixed hardwoods. If you were buying it.one guy nearby has 50 cord shrink wrapped!

[Mmmmm]

We have a fair amount of orchards in the area so I shouldn't have any trouble with apple at least. I know where there are a lot of dead apple trees so I can prolly go make a cord or two of my own some Saturday.

[Puff]

Well worth the efforts

[The Czar]

Dude you are kicking in high gear....it's looking sweet!

[Mmmmm]

Been too busy to work on this thing lately. Got a bit more done today. I quit because I am needing to sandblast the inside of the CC out prior to installing the BP and it's rainy today so no blasting for me.

It's starting to look like a smoker now.

[Grabber70Mach]

Looking good.

From infinity and beyond

[Mmmmm]

Life got in the way. I'm finally back at it.

Getting really close.

[Mmmmm]

I've changed my mind about the vertical WC. It may happen yet but with this thin tank I've about had my fill of readjusting the stack to vertical and refitting the door every time I spot a weld anywhere on the thing. I am going to build a large folding shelf that folds flat against the fire box. It'll be about the same dimensions as the side of the FB for aesthetic purposes. Thinking I'll have to stand it off the hinges a couple inches with flat strap to keep it from absorbing too much heat from the fire. Don't wanna burn the sauce in the bottle lol! All that's really left is building a fire basket, sandblasting the remainder of the paint inside the CC, and mounting toggle clamps, thermometers, and gasket.

[Big T]

You'll be smokin' in no time.

[Rev.Mike]

[Smokeone]

I can almost smell the smoke.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

[Rodcrafter]

Yep getting close now, nice work


Making memories.

[Mmmmm]

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

Very nice

[Big T]

That should come in real handy.

[Puff]

I like that idea.... A warming shelf !

[Mmmmm]

I like that idea.... A warming shelf !

I'm hoping that the outer edge will be cool enough for use as a shelf, and closer in I can warm glass bowls of sauce, etc.

A few cuts and it's gone if it doesn't work out.

[The Czar]

Nice and shiny!!!

[Mmmmm]

Well, laydeez and gennumen, I've gone and done it. I finished my reverse flow offset around noon today, hauled it home, and fired it up.

I've never used a stick burner. Ever. I've never even been around one when it was running. So I was absolutely lost. I have read guys use charcoal to start the fire. OK, I can do that. How much? No clue. One full chimney should do it. Check. I filled the chimney and lit it, and while waiting for it time ignite I sprayed the entire cooking chamber and grates with cooking spray.

Now to add splits. First of all, what is a split, anyway? How long is it? How wide of a wedge? I just guessed and cut some seasoned apple wood into approximately 12" long pieces and split them into nice wedges that looked dimensionally like normal pieces of firewood only smaller. I tossed about 3 of these on the coals and as soon as they ignited I slid the fire basket in. I had wondered if this thing would draft correctly but my wonderings were quickly allayed when the chimney started emitting smoke almost before I shut the fire box door.

I didn't know how much to add how often so I just started keeping an eye on the bed of coals and trying to stay ahead of the game and keep adding splits in time that they would be ignited before the last ones burned down too much. I'd guess every half hour to hour I was chucking some wood in there. Sometimes it was just one big one, sometimes it was a couple small ones.

After lighting I kept the vents wide open and let it rise. I had about a 40° differential left to right on the lid thermometers. Once the higher one hit about 260° I started playing with the vents and found a setting where the differential closed to only about 8-12° and it maintained 250° plus or minus a few. I was absolutely amazed at how simple it was to run. As long as I added a split every so often it just ran steady as a rock and hardly even wiggled, the left thermometer reading about 245° and the right about 255°. I noticed that if I opened the door to the cooking chamber it seems to take awhile to climb back to temp, so all I did was opened the exhaust damper all the way and opened the fire box door for like one minute and it would shoot right back to where it was before. Close the door and reset the chimney damper and there she sat til the next time. I'll say it again, I am amazed at how controllable this pit is. You seasoned offset guys are probably laughing at me but I honestly expected some trouble learning to run this thing and I had no trouble at all.

I ran for a total of 5 hours. I cooked a whole package of bacon to drip fat and splatter it around and season the pit. My wife got excited and whipped up some moinks and ABT's and I did them next. I asked my brother in law to bring some ribs and he showed up with something called "boneless beef country style ribs." Never heard of them but I cooked them too. By tonight the pit is a nice greasy dark brown / black throughout and I'm ready to cook something real, like a butt or brisket.

All in all it was very fun. Very hands-on. It's a thrill to cook food in something made with your own ten thumbs and that adds to the enjoyment.

Stay tuned. I'll try to remember to post when I actually cook some Q in this pit. For now, here's a couple shots I took when the thing was just getting going.