welcome aboard!
If I'm understanding what your saying you want to do, a larger firebox is going to lead to large temp swings and more fuel usage than necessary for the size cook chamber.
what size cook chamber are you wanting?
I want to use the firebox as my primary cook surface. And the smoke box as a smoker. A 15.5 gallon beer keg is about the perfect size for the smoke box for me.
so that would be a very small firebox. 107% on the pitcalc is the prime spot for performance. I personally prefer to have a separate grill and smoker. it is hard to make both in one unit and have both function 100%.
here are the dimensions I would do for a pit that size.
Well I figured out a way to get everything I wanted. I built the grill how I wanted it and then added a smoke box to the side opposite of the air intake. So I can grill for a crowd if I want or drop in the reverse flow plates and smoke for a crowd.
The firebox is a little smaller than what the calculators call for, but I imagine it will work fine.
It’s not quite done. But I’m rocking along a couple evenings a week.
We weld in out baffle plates to seal out air leaks and ensure a good airflow for even temps. Just setting it in is going to create gaps and uneven temps. Add in undersized firebox and you may have trouble getting up to temp. What size throat did you end up with?
From a charcoal grill standpoint, I assume you are going to put your charcoal directly in the main cooking chamber as your firebox will be no use for grilling. Good hot coals for searing a steak need lots of air. Any air vents for that will also need to be sealed up tight for smoking.
I’ll be using mesquite and pecan wood to cook with. Depending on my mood.
I’ll get some pics of th details.
The pit is setup to build a fire in the box to smoke. There is an air gate on the opposite end so I can build a fire In the cook chamber to grill.
The fire box is about 75% of what the calculator says it should be. I’m thinking worst case I just have to pull the 3rd reverse plate out and effectively have a smaller smoker.
I could weld the first plate in permanently without messing with my grilling, it’s thick metal about 14”. The rest are thin stuff.
I went out and measured. Under the plates is 13” wide and 2.5 above the bottom of the tank. The hole tank to tank is an oval that’s on the big side of 5”x8”
Not many places that I'm aware of a person has access to pecan and mesquite.
I'm in the Phoenix area....you wouldn't happen to be local would you? I ask this cause I just got a cord of pecan last week and stacked it next to my mesquite.
Ahhh dirtytires, maybe your secret stash is not so secret...
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
North central Texas. Mesquite for days, pecan is the most popular residential tree next to mulberry. I cooked yesterday on the dead limbs that fell out of the trees. Oak is east of me. I have access to some fruit woods, couple family members have small family orchards.
Mesquite is a mainly southwest tree and with the overlap of pecan I had you at southern CA, AZ, NM or TX. Seems I'm not too far off. Thanks.
I tend to use pecan almost exclusively. It has never let me down and is pretty consistent. I may need to come out your way to pick up my next load of it however as the local wood from the pecan farms is getting tough to get. I had to settle for some pretty scrappy logs this time.