Smoker Size and Fuel Consumption

[Canada-Q]

Hi All,

I've recently purchased plans for a 48" by 24" diameter reverse flow smoker. However, I am starting to think I may have sized it a little bigger than I need, as I will mainly be using it for weekend family BBQ's feeding about 4-8 people at a time. I plan on cooking all cuts of meat (ribs, brisket, pork shoulders, etc.) but I'm wondering if anyone could let me know if this might be a bit over sized for my needs?

Also, just out of curiosity, if I plan on running it on charcoal with wood chunks added for smoke, what volume of charcoal should I be expecting to use over the course of say an 8 hour cook?

Thanks for all the help!

[Rodcrafter]

First things first.



Welcome to the crew!

Now about the size;
I would say if there were never going to be an addition number of people you could have gotten a bit smaller size. But if you were cooking ribs you will like having the extra room for side dishes and such.

jm2cw

As for the charcoal, in my experience I only use it to light my offset RF smokers. The main fuel is sticks, a couple of fist sized splints every 1.5 hours and so on.

[Big T]

I have a 24''x48'' that I do all of my cooking on. I usually throw in a pan of beans and a few ABT's to snack on while I'm waiting on dinner to get finished so it's nice to have a little extra room and it really doesn't take much wood to keep up temp.

[Squiggle]

I definitely think it's better to have slightly larger & not need it(good for adding extra stuff too) than having to cram everything in a smaller one even just once.

I start with charcoal & run on splits too.