Morning all!!

[Winbro]

Hey everyone, Chad from Canada. I started cooking on charcoal grills when I first got married and couldn't afford a new gas bbq and settled for a Weber. I fell in love with the taste.... and the challenge and never been back to gas. I've built a smoker before out of 16" pipe but really didn't know much about ratios for fire box, throat, air intake etc. The company I work for has a lot of extra large diameter pipe laying around, and I thought I'd snag a bit and build a smoker. I've picked a 36" piece and cut it 6 feet long for the cook chamber. It's over 1/2" thick which has it's pros and cons I'm sure, but either way, its what I've got. I was going to use a 24" piece of pipe 2 feet long for the firebox, but it looks like that wouldn't give me enough heat at 44%. I have some reading to do I think. Thanks for sharing your experience like this, I'm excited to get started and maybe share my own experience on here one day. Cheers folks!

[ajfoxy]

Welcome aboard. Look forward to your build.

[Big T]

Welcome!!

[Pete Mazz]

Welcome

[mp4]

Welcome aboard!

[Dirtytires]

A square firebox is always easier, in my opinion. You can build it to the exact dimensions you need and it is much easier to seal up as well as build. You may find it difficult to get a round firebox big enough and then have it properly mounted with enough clearance to stay off the ground as you move your trailer.

That is a darn big piece of pipe and you will have a lot of work ahead of you with that thickness. Should work great to retain heat but will take forever to heat up so plan on adding 60 min to your cook time. What type of smoker are you building?

[Frank_Cox]

welcome aboard! like dirtytires, my vote is almost always a square firebox. it's great to use what ya got layin around though.

[Winbro]

Building an Offset Reverse Flow. We have a lot of 34" and 24" pipe schedule 30 and 40 from jobs. They intend to send it to the scrap yard so I thought I'd try and see if I can make a go at fabricating sale-able smokers. I'd also like to see if I can start up a food truck or trailer as well, maybe start with some farmers markets or something and see if it goes.

The firebox seems big enough visually but the calculations say it's only 66% for the size of the cook chamber. I don't see how making the firebox any bigger will make any difference, perhaps you can explain.

I find it difficult to post any pictures and perhaps will try the facebook site. Would that work?

[mp4]

Yes - Facebook works too.

Size does matter...

It's all about balance and air flow. A firebox too small requires a hotter fire and you'll hunt to keep a consistent temperature. One that's too big and you won't get good clean combustion and a dirty smoke. Size it right and you'll be sitting at the sweet spot, getting a clean burn and consistent, dependable temps along with smoke quality.

[Tom_Heath]

MP 4 is spot on.

Will it work if the firebox is too small per the calc ??

Yes for sure. Will it be easy to maintain a clean efficient fire ?? No.