New Member from NC

Tell us a little about yourself!
Post Reply
A_Stubbed_Toe
beginner
beginner
Posts: 7
Joined: January 14th, 2018, 1:59 am

New Member from NC

Post by A_Stubbed_Toe » January 14th, 2018, 11:27 am

Hey everybody,
just a new member here from North Carolina here dropping in to introduce myself. I am in Gastonia, NC and have been smoking meat for under a year, have two briskets on as we speak, and have fallen in love with the art of low and slow. Given a decrepit, old, and rusty New Braunfels smoker from by Father-in-law, I immediately put it to use. I would like to imagine that I took to it like a duck to water, but my first results were mediocre at best.

I have quickly gotten noticeably better at fire management, although it is difficult for me in the cast off piece of yard metal that I cook in at the moment, but I have an eye to upgrade my "unit" and thankfully stumbled on this forum. I am in the process of designing the smoker that I will build and hopefully I can leverage the incredible amount of experience and knowledge that all of the fine members here have to build my dream smoker.

I have a thousand questions swirling through my head about design concepts and the finer points of thermodynamics, but I will find the appropriate sub-forums to post those questions. I have one question though which I have not found an answer to in the terminology section, what is a shadow plate?
What are the differences between a shadow plate and a baffle plate in RF smokers?

Thanks for everything guys


Top
Sign Up For SmokerBuilderU
User avatar
ajfoxy
Expert
Expert
Posts: 2364
Joined: April 12th, 2016, 8:07 pm
Title: Neophyte Smoker Bldr
BBQ Comp Team Name: Not competing yet...
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Re: New Member from NC

Post by ajfoxy » January 14th, 2018, 5:02 pm

Welcome to the crew.


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
Top
User avatar
Pete Mazz
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 3399
Joined: February 16th, 2013, 8:19 am
Title: Meathead
Location: Bucks County, PA

Re: New Member from NC

Post by Pete Mazz » January 15th, 2018, 5:17 am

Welcome!

A shadow plate sits under the BP at the throat to alleviate excess heat near the FB. It is typically 12" or so and sits an inch below the BP.


If it's tourist season, how come I can't shoot 'em?

Don't speak the language? Try this: Smoker Terminology

Try my SmokerBuilder Calculators
Top
User avatar
mp4
Expert
Expert
Posts: 1263
Joined: September 2nd, 2014, 6:28 pm
Title: Independent Thinker
BBQ Comp Team Name: Just a few backyard for fun competitions.
Location: Central Wisconsin

Re: RE: New Member from NC

Post by mp4 » January 15th, 2018, 5:24 am

A_Stubbed_Toe wrote:What is a shadow plate?
What are the differences between a shadow plate and a baffle plate in RF smokers?
A shadow plate is basically a baffle plate for the baffle plate. It is typically 1-1/2" below the baffle plate on the fire box side. Its whole purpose on life is to prevent a hotspot on that side of the cook chamber. The total length of it depends on how big your smoker is. I don't know that Pete has a calculator for it yet but I would guess it is in the 20-30% range of the total length of the baffle plate.

Welcome aboard - good luck!



Too much is just right!


Top
User avatar
Rodcrafter
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8488
Joined: July 21st, 2012, 5:46 pm
Title: Member
BBQ Comp Team Name: Not competing yet...
Location: Orlando, Florida

Re: New Member from NC

Post by Rodcrafter » January 15th, 2018, 8:27 am

:welcome:

Welcome to the crew!

Yep they are correct.


Current Smokers: Backyard RF Offset and Hybrid RF Offset trailer rig with Cowboy cooker and fish fryer, always room for more........
Top
User avatar
Big T
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 6897
Joined: September 1st, 2013, 2:40 pm
Title: Go Getter
BBQ Comp Team Name: Backyard Boys
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: New Member from NC

Post by Big T » January 15th, 2018, 8:23 pm

Welcome aboard!!


Measure Twice.....Cut Three Times.
Top
User avatar
Squiggle
Expert
Expert
Posts: 2611
Joined: December 19th, 2015, 5:04 pm
Title: Reformed non-smoker!
BBQ Comp Team Name: Not competing yet...
Location: Mole Creek, Tasmania

Re: New Member from NC

Post by Squiggle » January 18th, 2018, 1:38 am

:welcome:


Formerly known as "Hey you there in the bushes!"
Top
User avatar
Dirtytires
Expert
Expert
Posts: 3845
Joined: November 24th, 2015, 12:36 am
Title: It ain't broke...yet
BBQ Comp Team Name: Dont compete...cook for events once in a while
Location: Phoenix, Az

Re: New Member from NC

Post by Dirtytires » January 20th, 2018, 1:10 am

Don't listen to those guys. A shadow plate is where the pit master puts the perfect little "nuggets" of perfectly smoked meat so he can enjoy them himself after the company goes home. We call it a shadow plate cause we don't want anyone to see/find it so usually hide it in the back corner on the prep table...under something.

We all do that......right?

No? I'm such a bad person.


Top
Cole
SmokerBuilder Addict
SmokerBuilder Addict
Posts: 154
Joined: November 7th, 2017, 8:20 pm
Title: Member
BBQ Comp Team Name: Not competing yet, Family and Friends!
Location: Ohio / Michigan Border

Re: New Member from NC

Post by Cole » January 20th, 2018, 9:40 am

Welcome, great crew and many lesson buried in this site!


Top
User avatar
The Czar
Expert
Expert
Posts: 8334
Joined: May 22nd, 2011, 9:30 am
Title: Spam Hammerer
BBQ Comp Team Name: Team SmokerBuilder- Competition BBQ Team
I'm Certifiable
Location: Missouri

Re: New Member from NC

Post by The Czar » January 20th, 2018, 4:50 pm

Welcome aboard!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....


AKA= The Czar
Top
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Introduce yourself!”