Wanting to learn about best smoker designs

[Meatisneat]

I am wanting to learn about smoker design, what designs make the best meat taste and how the sizes of the chamber and fire box and stack all affect performance. What designs work best vertial horizontal center fire reverse flow ect. What do you like and not like in a smoker design. I have fabbed lots of other things but never a smoker. Thinking about it but dont want to make a bad one. Please help with advice and options on like and dislikes of overall design and even small details. I am very interested in your thoughts .

[Big T]

Welcome aboard!! All of the above mentioned smokers will work great if they are correctly sized and built. There’s a few questions that need to be answered before you decide what’s best for you. How many people do you normally cook for, do you like to feed a fire, do you have access to a lot of wood, do you like different temperature zones ? Also what materials do you have available, are you going to treasure hunt for them or is budget not an issue (haha) I normally build using repurposed materials so that sort of leads the direction of my build. As far as what makes the best flavor bbq, I believe that comes back to the pit master himself and your personal taste. I’ve had Q cooked in aUDS that was amazing and I’ve had Q from a $10,000 smoker that wasn’t fit to eat. If you want a design that has been tested and performs perfectly then you should check out smokerplans.net once you figure out what style smoker you want to build or you can design it yourself and we’ll help.


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[ajfoxy]

There you go... BigT nailed it.

[Dirtytires]

BigT covered this and gave you a lot to think about.

Personally, 2 factors drove my build (offset, reverse flow, huge warm chamber that doubles as cook chamber). I love to tinker so tending to the fire every 40-45 min is ok by me. Kinda forces me to have a "at home" day and relax. Second was size. I cook for 3-5 most often at home but always want leftovers to freeze/ for neighbors. Twice a year, however I cook for 30-50 guys so need the expandable room of the warmer box to do that.

I'm getting the cart in front of the horse tho...you need to answer those questions for yourself and we will guide you to a perfect project. They all cook great and produce a wonderful product if you operate them properly so their is no wrong answer.

[Meatisneat]

Does the baffle plate in a reverse flow need to slope slightly up hill from the fire box or does it stay level with the cooking cylinder? Should there be a bend or angle iron welded diwn thec the middle of it to collect the grease and channel it to the drain ? How big does the opening on the end if tge baffle plate to the end if the cooking cylinder need to be ? The article I found that was on smokerbuilder.com was seemingly cut short at the end. Will there be more articles about airflow and sizing and shapes and such ?

[Big T]

The BP is level front to back and end to end, flat plate with no angle iron (unnecessary) with a 2'' grease dam at the end and a 2'' drain. The BP gap is the same size as the throat or up to 25% smaller than the throat. I make mine the same as the throat and haven't had any issues. I'm not sure about the articles that you're referring to but you can use the search bar to look for key words that you're wanting to know about and it should bring up the topic. There's a recent thread somewhere that Frank posted a ton of technical information in that may be what you're looking for.

[Dirtytires]

Back a step....you first need to decide what kind of smoker you want....the science is a bit different for a vertical vs an offset.

[Meatisneat]

So if the fire box volume is 30 percent of the cooking chamber volume what is the ideal throat sq in ? How is this determined and how is chimney stack diameter determined ?
Also how thick of steel is best to make an offset reverse flow unit ? How thick is too thick? How thin can you go without having performance issues ?

[Rodcrafter]

Welcome to the crew!

[Big T]

So if the fire box volume is 30 percent of the cooking chamber volume what is the ideal throat sq in ? How is this determined and how is chimney stack diameter determined ?
Also how thick of steel is best to make an offset reverse flow unit ? How thick is too thick? How thin can you go without having performance issues ?

Check out the pit calculator http://www.smokerbuilder.com/pitcalc/ It'll give you all of your dimensions. The minimum thickness is 1/4'' and I wouldn't use anything over 1/2'' because of the weight and the amount of time it takes for the pit to stabilize in temperature.

[mp4]

I've built a reverse flow and a gravity fees so far...my UDS is on the shelf waiting for time.

I personally think the reverse flow delivers the best flavor (with properly seasoned wood). It was my 1st build and my entire family salivates at the thought of me firing it up. It can be time consuming to tend the fire and if you loose track of time it takes a bit to get it settled back in.

I like the gravity flow because it is relatively low maintenance and delivers a good charcoal smoked taste that can be supplemented with any wood you choose. It is way better than the electric models that are becoming popular that let wood chips smolder (in my opinion).

Given my choice of which one I want to eat from...reverse flow all day long. Which one do I cook on the most...my gravity feed because it still does awesome and I don't have to worry about feeding it regularly.

Too much is just right!

[Meatisneat]

I am thinking probably reverse flow ofset type unit. I am checking into local scrap yard to see what I csn find to make it out of. Its going to get heavy and probably pricy too. Not sure how a gravity feed unit works or exactly what they even are. I dont think I would mind tending a fire , kinda sounds fun to md to me. If I wanted it super easy I would just microwave a frozen dinner. I think I want the ultimate taste and kinda making a project out of it sounds like something I would enjoy .

[Dirtytires]

Highly recommend checking out the smoker plans on the website....great information and easy to follow.

[Pete Mazz]

Welcome

[Meatisneat]

Well I bought a plan for the 24 x 48" pipe reverse flow horizontal pipe from smokerplans.net and found a local source for some 24" 5/16 wall pipe. Excited to get started but have to finish some other work first. Thinking about making the bottom of the fire boxbox angled like a hopper and making a swinging trap door on the bottom so I can just put a bucket under it and dump the ashes really easy. Maybe put the air inlets as low as possible too. Possibly put the inlets on the sides of the "hopper" on the base of the fire box but not sure if this is a good idea ? Has anyone tried this before ? I hear that a fire burns hotter and more clean and efficient if the air comes from below the fire so that was my train of thought there with wanting the inlets low as possible without getting into the ash pile.

[Dirtytires]

I built the same one. Absolutely love it.

I put and ash pan in mine. Just collects the ash and I pull it out and dump it. Easy as that. Be careful about adding too many trap doors as it is all just another area that air can get in and make the fire uncontrollable. However, custom build means make it how you want and it is an interesting idea. My air vents are on both sides at the same level as the bottom of the log rack and the ash pan is below that. I would be careful getting the vents too low as you don't want coals/sparks on the ground for safety reasons.

[Big T]

I have a 24''x48'' that I built using the calculator and it runs like a dream.

[Meatisneat]

How do I post pics or video here ?

[Big T]

Check this out viewtopic.php?f=50&t=1874

[Meatisneat]

Just for kicks this is a little bbq revolver all stainless I built fof my welding truck. Made another much larger one out of steel years ago its on YouTube search "revolver BBQ" its a 49 second clip of the 5 foot tall 13 foot long version. Kinda fun buildd but not really intended to make a contest winning meat, more just for fun and looks. I now want to build a smoker that is just meant to make amazing tasting meat.

[Meatisneat]

Video of the stainless revolver

[Meatisneat]

Apparently I am missing something about uploading pics and video looks like nothing came through.

[Meatisneat]

I heard a guy saying that lowering the smoke stack pipe into the cooking chamber a few inches works well and keeps hot air at the top of the cooking chamber hotter at the top and insulating the top of the cooking chamber. What do you think of this ? Its it all just a bunch of hot air ? (pun intended) or is there any validity to this ?

[Big T]

The top of the CC will be a little hotter than the rest of the CC because heat rises. I mount the stack as high as possible on the CC and I haven't had any issues.

[Dirtytires]

This issue comes up--- a lot--- and very few seem to report good results with dropping the smokestack into the smoker chamber.

Take that for what it's worth.