Centre feed reverse flow build (for Metric meat only)

[The Czar]

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[PetesMeat]

I just drew the smoker out to see what it would look like.

It looks like a victorian factory.

Oh and its nearly 7 feet tall. The charcoal chute is 1250mm long caus thats how wide standard steel sheets are so its very easy to get strips cut that long. The plan is to burn it and if it manages 30 hours or something stupid on the tall chimney, il cut it down to make it shorter, I want about 18 hours out of it.

I also plan to put a glass window in the chute so we can see the fuel drain and im going to mark on the window the charcoal height for whatever burn time you want, so if you want 12 hours, you fill with charcoal to the 12 hour mark.

The firebox is shown here at 250cube, which is 10 inch. The basket is 200x200 square by 75 high (thats 8x8x3 inches). This means theres only a one inch gap around the basket. I think im going to have to make my firebox bigger.

Also the chimney wont fit on top like that, caus of where the door is. It also cant go in the end caus thats where the charcoal chute will be. I may have to have it exiting at the back, which I don't want. Il have to see how it all sits once its there. I want the chimney to exit in parallel to the charcoal chute, it will look nicer that way...

Pete.

[Smokeone]

[Big T]

how are you planning on dealing with the ashes ? Seems like it wont take very long to fill the void in your FB.

[Gizmo]

A couple thoughts fwiw….

Nothing wrong with putting the stack out the flat top section of your door. Tape a straight piece of cardboard where the edge of the stack pipe would be and gently raise the door until it contacts the back of the CC to check the limit on how high you can raise the door. Might be it will act as an automatic prop rod for the door.

I'm concerned any window in the coal chute will only be clear a very short time before it's blacked out by the coal dust. You might consider measuring your charcoal going in so you know your chute capacity then run different length burns and see how much you have to add back to get it full again. In no time you'll be able to dump in just what you want and run it nearly out each time - or cut it off to just hold what you think will be the max you will ever need. A #10 can with a handle works great for this.

just my ramblings….

[PetesMeat]

Just started making the hanging basket.... Been using a map gas torch to heat the stainless rod up to glowing and then bend it and tap it all straight.

I need 7-8 ribs (not sure how many yet) and after four, the gas ran out. Gonna get more and finish off tomorrow.

[Rodcrafter]

What is the hanging basket for? Your not making a FB are you? GF doesn't use a fire basket, I'm thinking.

[PetesMeat]

My GF does.

Im blazing a trail lol. Rather than having the coals fall onto a plate that has an open bottom and one open side, im having the coals fall into a basket that's open on all sides. I feel that this way more air can flow through into the smoker. If it dosnt work I can always wall it off inside the firebox. It has an added bonus of being able to slide out midway through a cook which effectively extinguishes the fire, as you remove the unlit fuel from the fire. With a normal GF you cant really do much but let it burn out...

With regards the window, I quite like the idea of having it simply so you can see the coals inside, it would be a nice decoration. Il see how it goes....

[PetesMeat]

In answer to Big Ts comment about ashes, having looked at stumps, stumps clones and the Viking smoker, they all show a very low ash output. I dunno why, maybe it gets burnt, maybe it gets blown into the smoker, i dunno... There's a good space for ash in this smoker though, 250x250x125mm or so (10x10x5inches)

[Big T]

I'm not very familiar with the GF design and it just seems like my bbq grill with charcoal has a pretty big ash pile when I get done grilling. It might have something to do with the controlled environment that it's burning in vs my open pit. It's looking great and I'm sure you'll figure out all the details.

[PetesMeat]

This video seems to suggest that his 14lb bag of charcoal lumpwood ends up a handfull of ash at the end...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXdBw564_Ps

Its no great shame if i have to clear the charcoal out midcook, ive gotta have SOMETHING to do whilst this thing runs.

Also the chute on this cooker is about 4x4inches or so. Makes me wonder if my 8x8 inches is over egging it slightly... I guess if it burns too hot (after all, my CC is not insulated and its not vertical and its bigger than the one in the video) I can always just close the dampers down so it burns slower....


Pete.

[PetesMeat]

I started on the basket properly today. Made a wooden clamp to hold the ribs straight, and then welded together. Looks like a robots rib cage.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

[bluecatfish]

Great idea on the wooden clamp.

[PetesMeat]

I've beefed up all the joints and it looks sufficiently basket like. Need to cut it down to height then weld the boarder on and then need to put the bars on the ends and it will be done.

[Big T]

I checked out the video and it looks like you'll be fine with the ashes.

[Gizmo]

Mighty fine work!

[PetesMeat]

Hi everyone,

Been ages since I updated this. It's cold and windy outside (TIG in the wind is not fun) so the cabinet remains untouched, but I have done the hanging basket for my gravity feed system I've come up with. It's made of 8mm stainless rod and it's 200x200mm square and 75 deep (8x8x3").

Next is the charcoal chute, then the firebox which I'm going to insulate, to try and reduce heat loss from the firebox.

Pete.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

[PetesMeat]

Hi Everyone,

I have decided to dump the gravity feed and go back to centre feed. I did a 12 hour cook in my small RF offset yesterday and I dunno why but its made me loose all faith in the gravity feed system in a side firebox format on a horizontal smoker that large... Id love to make it but theres a good chance it wont work and I cant afford to spend the time and money building something that might fail.

So, ive decided to go back to my original plan which is to make an Edgar style centre feed.

With this in mind, I just did a drawing showing the size of the whole device, and id like you to critique it, particularly gizmo as hes one of few that have made a centre feed in this kind of layout (that I can find anyway). The basket I already made will be used for something im sure. The cabinet can stay as is, as I never started work on the gravity feed bit yet.

All dims in mm (of course). To help the translation,

500mm = 19.6"
1250mm = 49.2"
100mm = 4"
200mm = 8"

The cooking chamber is 500mm deep, and the firebox will probably be about 100mm shallower so the cooking chamber over hangs it front and back by a small amount.

[bluecatfish]

That is the beauty of smoker building! It's not finished until it's finished. You can always make changes!

[Gizmo]

That design looks great. If you run it through the pit calc (prolly have to convert) and your critical numbers are close then you should be fine.

Question: Are those "pillars" holding up the shadow plate?
If so fine. If they're walls then you might have a circulation problem.

Also - can you explain further about the water and is it removable?

I ask because I don't think you'll need it.

[PetesMeat]

Hi Gizmo,

Yes, pillars holding up the plate. I want the top cooking chamber to be easily separable from the base, so that assembly with the pillars will likely be part of the cooking chamber, with just a plain hole in the firebox for the cooking chamber to sit on.

The water pans will most likely be cheap roasting tins just sitting ontop of the baffle. I dont like the idea of built in water pans, especially when the lift out assembly including water pans would be 50-60kg or so.

Why don't you think il need it?


Pete.

[Gizmo]

On every cook of any size on Edgar I had water dripping off the weather cap on top of the chimney and landing on the top of the cabinet. Had to keep wiping it up since it was smoky (black) water spots on his red finish. Very unsightly.

I figure if there's that much moisture in the CC then I just can't see adding any to it. The time I did try it the results were'nt any better. …. fwiw

I'm not sure if it's the same around your part of the world but around here the meat processors pump the meat full of colored water to add color, weight (price) and moistness to their product. Maybe that's what I'm seeing.

[PetesMeat]

Well over here you can't get boston butts from anywhere (or briskest and ribs are hard to get too) so the only option is to go to a butcher and get him to cut It off the animal for you, so no added anything (other than cost, one 3kg (about 7lbs) Boston butt is about 15 quid, so about 23 dollars lol

Slightly worried my bbq firebox base will weigh too much to be able to lift it into the truck....

Hmmm,