T style smoker questions

[spowell]

Hello to all. I just received a 200gal propane tank it’s 29” x 46 in. I already have a 500gal offset so i was looking at designs. What is the pros cons of T style over offset? How do you direct the smoke to keep from having a hotspot especially on a long cook as the steel takes heat? Any help appreciated. Whatever i do i will start a build thread. Thanks Stiver

[dacolson]

I haven’t built one but most of the builds I’ve seen are reverse flow - center feed - designs. Your firebox throat is in the center and directly above it you have your baffle plate which is open at the far right and left ends. You put a single stack in the center. Heat and smoke go into the CC below the baffle plate and go right and left around the plate. Then back over the meat and up the stack. You get a lot of radiant heat off the baffle and good smoke coverage across your meat. Do a search here for center feed smokers. There are some really comprehensive write ups.


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[spowell]

Awesome. I tried googling T pits but not much at all out there. I didn’t think about it being called center feed. Thank you.

[dacolson]

You’re welcome. And welcome to the forum!

[mp4]

The biggest concern I would have with the t style builds is the importance of balancing how it will flow. It would be critical when setting it up in each location that the baffle plate is level side to side and front to back. If it's not, it will cook different every time.

[tinspark]

Also use a shadow plate below the baffle plate, and if you have the room add a slide damper in the throat to choke the heat down. Without a shadow plate the flame will roast the BP. Also a slide damper works good along with the SP below the BP. I am not sure how I would manage the heat as easily without one.. I went 6" past the opening each way and that was about right for mine. The CF design is so heat efficient, thing get hot very quickly. Which makes fire management critical. Also divide the BP opening from the calculator in half and have BP openings on both ends. Both should add up to the normal BP opening size as on a regular RF.