McBroom’s over n under smoker build

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » February 25th, 2019, 5:48 pm

I haven’t finished the air intake yet.
DT I did decide against the receiver mount for a few reasons. #1 was the weight being loaded/unloaded. My 2500 Ram is lifted.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » February 25th, 2019, 6:15 pm

Wise decision I think.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 5th, 2019, 8:29 pm

Ok I think I’m finished with the build.

I made its first seasoning burn this afternoon. Fire started quickly and heated the c/c fairly fast (about 35-40 min)
There’s only a couple of issues that I’ve discovered so far.
1- can’t seem to get the c/c to heat above 275* measured at the back wall. The center of the c/c was about 300*.
I coated everything with Crisco grill spray.
2- I need to put a gasket on the c/c door to seal the smoke in. Maybe that’ll help with the temps.
3- I’m gonna get rid of the charcoal basket altogether or build a new one. The one I made don’t really hold enough coals or allow for enough wood to make a super hot fire and maintain it for a decent amount of time.

Some decorations I put on it.
A star on the chimney cap

2- horseshoes on the door

Next up will be a good paint job. I started the fire at 2:00 this afternoon it’s 7:30 now and I have added about 7 splits 6-8” long. oak and bois’de ark. I’m my opinion that’s more than enough.

Qview coming soon. Paint and at least 2 more seasoning cooks before food.

Please provide me some feedback on this smoker and what I can do to improve it.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Post by **Big T** » March 5th, 2019, 10:18 pm

I would say you definitely need to seal the doors based on your picture. The main thing that you can do to improve it in my opinion is to do some testing and see how it responds to different adjustments and amounts of fuel. A lot of guys have knee jerk reactions and start making changes when they build a new pit and it doesn't run like they thought it would. More times than not you can remedy the issues without making major changes if you just do some test fires. I also wouldn't paint it until you figure out whether or not you need to do some fab work to it, it no fun to have to grind off paint before making a small change.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 5th, 2019, 10:34 pm

Thank you very much Big T. I’m gonna get it right before I do much else to it.
How many seasoning/curing fires before do you think before I toss a piece of beef in there??

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Post by **Big T** » March 5th, 2019, 10:40 pm

You only need to season it once and then it's ready to cook. I would make sure that you are confident in your adjustments before you invite everyone over for dinner but you can toss something on there whenever you want.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 7th, 2019, 9:48 pm

Well it’s finally finished and ready for paint.

I used 2 cans of rust transformer to take care of the light surface rust. Sprays clear and turns black...
I found some silver extreme high heat paint that I’m gonna do the fb and c/c with the frame and shelves. I’m also thinking about painting the chimney blue also.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Post by **Big T** » March 7th, 2019, 10:00 pm

It turned out great McBroom!

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 7th, 2019, 10:49 pm

Thanks

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 8th, 2019, 11:01 am

Today’s objective is watching the paint dry.

This is the first coat of many today.
I’m planning on putting 4 coats of Krylon 1200* silver paint and 3 coats of Rustoleum cobalt blue.
More updates coming today so stay tuned...

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 8th, 2019, 4:29 pm

Well I got the Cobalt Blue Metallic Paint laid down and still need a few more coats. The fb and C/C have 2 coats of VHT Silver on.
I’m hoping that it turns out looking good.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Off Road.

Tjam9 · Post by **Tjam9** » March 8th, 2019, 8:31 pm

Looks awesome. Great job.

As far is your temps I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to hit the same temps that I did on mine. The only big difference that I didn't see you do was add the baffle plate. My bp gives good radiant heat to the meat and I believe it slows down the draft because the smoke has to hit the plate then move around both sides of it before it exits the exhaust. Not an expert but my smoker that you design after can hit 475-500 when I tried to get as hot as I could.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 8th, 2019, 9:01 pm

I gotta buy some more plate steel for the bp then it’ll get put in. My air inlet is 1sq inch small but I think it’s gonna do fine as I believe I miscalculated the fb volume.
Thank you again for letting me attempt to copy your design.
I did screw up real good when I set the hinges for the folding shelf. I put the on upside down and it doesn’t fold down completely.
Weather man is calling for rain most all of next week so it looks like probably next Thursday before I can slap a chunk o’ cow in it to find out how well it’ll cook.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » March 8th, 2019, 9:34 pm

Are you using a rattle-can or hvlp rig?

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 8th, 2019, 10:46 pm

Yes rattle can Krylon.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » March 8th, 2019, 11:30 pm

My pointer finger hurts just thinking about it....lol.

Looks like it is going on pretty nice. Keep at it.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 9th, 2019, 10:02 am

Nahh,
It’s only 3 cans of silver and 4 cans of blue.
That’s the only way I can do it. I know it’s not the best but I just have to make do.

I don’t have the spray rig equipment yet.

I built this smoker completely out of scrap metal.
I think I’ve got about $100 in the build and most of that is decorative stuff.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

Tjam9 · Post by **Tjam9** » March 9th, 2019, 6:09 pm

McBroom wrote: ↑
March 8th, 2019, 9:01 pm
I gotta buy some more plate steel for the bp then it’ll get put in. My air inlet is 1sq inch small but I think it’s gonna do fine as I believe I miscalculated the fb volume.
Thank you again for letting me attempt to copy your design.
I did screw up real good when I set the hinges for the folding shelf. I put the on upside down and it doesn’t fold down completely.
Weather man is calling for rain most all of next week so it looks like probably next Thursday before I can slap a chunk o’ cow in it to find out how well it’ll cook.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

It’s a compliment for someone to want to use my design. The guys on here were a ton of help for my first build so glad to help. Keep us updated how the temps and how the cook goes. It :LG:

I kept triple checking my hinges cause I almost did the same thing. Lol

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » March 9th, 2019, 8:39 pm

McBroom wrote: ↑
March 9th, 2019, 10:02 am

It’s only 3 cans of silver and 4 cans of blue.

That’s about what I figured. I absolutely hate rattle cans tho have to do admit that the newer style cap/nozzle is definately a nice improvement. I love the convenience of the cans but tend to look for alternatives if I anticipate anything more than about a third of a can on the project.

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 9th, 2019, 11:03 pm

I couldn’t agree more. I’d rather not do rattle cans but until I get the gun setup that I want I guess it’s shake n shoot
Lol.
Thanks for the encouragement and support.

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 10th, 2019, 3:48 pm

Well it’s finished. I think it looks good but I discovered that the air inlet is a little too small. [emoji46]

2”x2”=4sq” calc said 5sq”.

Now I gotta figure out or what to do for better air. I currently am having to leave the firebox door slightly open...

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

McBroom · Post by **McBroom** » March 10th, 2019, 8:08 pm

QView coming soon. I promise

I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 4x4 C/C
Tradesman Power Wagon

Dirtytires · Post by **Dirtytires** » March 10th, 2019, 9:59 pm

I’m sure you discovered this already but leaving that style of firebox allows a good amount of heat to escape making for a downhill spiral of more air=less heat.

The air inlet size is the measurement of the un-obstructed opening. I realize a picture is hard to tell sizes but that looks smaller than a 2x2 opening. Wouldn’t take much to open thatone up a bit but I would recommend adding an ear intake to the other side as well to better balance the fire.

Tjam9 · Post by **Tjam9** » March 12th, 2019, 4:50 pm

Dirtytires wrote: ↑
March 10th, 2019, 9:59 pm
I’m sure you discovered this already but leaving that style of firebox allows a good amount of heat to escape making for a downhill spiral of more air=less heat.

The air inlet size is the measurement of the un-obstructed opening. I realize a picture is hard to tell sizes but that looks smaller than a 2x2 opening. Wouldn’t take much to open thatone up a bit but I would recommend adding an ear intake to the other side as well to better balance the fire.

What would you think about adding a secondary intake above the one he has. About the same size as he currently has.

Tjam9 · Post by **Tjam9** » March 12th, 2019, 5:01 pm

Something like this for airflow.

SmokerBuilder.com

McBroom’s over n under smoker build

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