Restoring Another Offset Smoker and Pork Butts

alaskanassasin

Looks great man, family effort very cool.

dbCooper

@WeberWho

Thanks for your update.  Impressive talent from you and your relatives.  Nice!

lousubcap

As above, thanks for the update and equally impressed with the skill-set displayed here.  First cook is gonna be great.  

JethroBodeen

Nice work!

Foghorn

Yep.  Looking great.

rifrench

Looks real nice!  It's wonderful to have all that knowledge in your family.

WeberWho

Let's update this zombie thread......

The smoker restoration has sat idle for the last year for no good reason other than trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a heat deflector. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with tuning plates or a convection plate. Tuning plates would be the easy way but I was concerned about the plates moving/shifting around if I were to load it into the back of my truck. So I ultimately decided on the convection plate. I planned on picking up a 3/16 plate and making one myself. I couldn't find very clear directions on the specific sizing of the holes as they gradually grow bigger from the firebox to the exhaust. So I just kind of put everything on the back burner. I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Horizon convection plate from The Kansas City BBQ Store. (The Old Brinkmann Cimarron I have is rebadged Horizon smoker. So finding a convection plate was easy.) The KCBBQ Store I ordered it through was great! I ordered the convection plate Thursday afternoon and it was at my door Saturday. Hard to hate that!



Since I had the convection plate on hand, I figured it was time to season the smoker. I hit everything I could see/reach inside the smoker with Pam. 



Once the internals were covered with Pam, I Iit the smoker with my small KAB full of lump and a couple of small splits. Just enough for a small fire to season the smoker and cure the paint on the outside of the smoker. 



Some pics of the smoker after restoring it. 



Just sitting back now with a beverage and watching it cook nothing. I'm still able to watch the smoke roll out. I plan on throwing some ribs on it tomorrow and see how it actually works. Tonight is just throwing lump and small splits of wood in the KAB for curing/seasoning the smoker at a low temp. Tomorrow will be the real learning experience. I'll have to build a real fire and find some blue smoke. 

Tonight's smoke. 



I'll get a few pics tomorrow of the actual cook. Tonight I'm just having a little fun....

Photo Egg

Beautiful clean work buddy.
what do you think of the convection plate?
I bought one for mine and just happened to fit my local custom pit perfectly.

WeberWho

Photo Egg said:

Beautiful clean work buddy.
what do you think of the convection plate?
I bought one for mine and just happened to fit my local custom pit perfectly.

Hey Thanks!

You almost have to have some type of heat deflector with this size of smoker since the whole cooking chamber is so close to the firebox. I've read that it's a 50 degree difference from side to side without some type of heat deflector. I'd almost bet that it's greater than 50 degrees. 

I'm hoping to get to ribs tomorrow with the smoker but I'm not sure how long the learning curve will be to get temps stable with clean smoke. I bought a couple tubes of biscuits this afternoon to see where hot spots might pop up with the convection plate. That will be the first test tomorrow. I'd love to have something less than 10 degrees from side to side. I'd take that any day with this size of smoker. 

Photo Egg

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

Beautiful clean work buddy.
what do you think of the convection plate?
I bought one for mine and just happened to fit my local custom pit perfectly.

Hey Thanks!

You almost have to have some type of heat deflector with this size of smoker since the whole cooking chamber is so close to the firebox. I've read that it's a 50 degree difference from side to side without some type of heat deflector. I'd almost bet that it's greater than 50 degrees. 

I'm hoping to get to ribs tomorrow with the smoker but I'm not sure how long the learning curve will be to get temps stable with clean smoke. I bought a couple tubes of biscuits this afternoon to see where hot spots might pop up with the convection plate. That will be the first test tomorrow. I'd love to have something less than 10 degrees from side to side. I'd take that any day with this size of smoker. 

Looks like the same one I bought. http://www.horizonbbqsmokers.com/accessories-1/20-convection-plate

But the price has gone up $20 bucks in 2 months.lol
I need to do the biscuit test with mine.

lousubcap

@WeberWho - Great work right there.  You definitely succeeded with the restoration project.  Hope you get to run the inaugural cook later today.  

alaskanassasin

Good show @WeberWho

dbCooper

@WeberWho All your work looks to have paid off.  Great job!

WeberWho

Photo Egg said:

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

Beautiful clean work buddy.
what do you think of the convection plate?
I bought one for mine and just happened to fit my local custom pit perfectly.

Hey Thanks!

You almost have to have some type of heat deflector with this size of smoker since the whole cooking chamber is so close to the firebox. I've read that it's a 50 degree difference from side to side without some type of heat deflector. I'd almost bet that it's greater than 50 degrees. 

I'm hoping to get to ribs tomorrow with the smoker but I'm not sure how long the learning curve will be to get temps stable with clean smoke. I bought a couple tubes of biscuits this afternoon to see where hot spots might pop up with the convection plate. That will be the first test tomorrow. I'd love to have something less than 10 degrees from side to side. I'd take that any day with this size of smoker. 

Looks like the same one I bought. http://www.horizonbbqsmokers.com/accessories-1/20-convection-plate

But the price has gone up $20 bucks in 2 months.lol
I need to do the biscuit test with mine.

I took way too much time researching between convection and tuning plates. One of the few benefits of scrounging through old Brethren posts is that I did find some indepth discussions on the convection plate. I found a post mentioning that they were still getting different readings from end to end with the convection plate. I want to say it was something like 15 degrees. Someone chimed in and said they use tin foil to block off the gaps on the left/right sides of the convection plate and inner walls of the smoker. I took a picture of the gaps and highlighted them for you.



I can't vouch for this as I haven't tried to see if it makes a difference but I do plan on plugging the gaps with tinfoil this evening. I could only imagine it would help even out the temperature. 

WeberWho

lousubcap said:

@WeberWho - Great work right there.  You definitely succeeded with the restoration project.  Hope you get to run the inaugural cook later today.  

Thanks!

I'm hoping to get some ribs on this evening. I'm not sure if I'll get enough time as I want try the biscuit test and try to get temps dialed in first. If not today with the ribs I'll for sure get them on tomorrow. I'm not sure how much playing around with the smoker I'll have to do to get things dialed in. I guess that's part of the fun trying to get things figured out!

WeberWho

alaskanassasin said:

Good show @WeberWho

Thank you!

WeberWho

dbCooper said:

@WeberWho All your work looks to have paid off.  Great job!

Thanks dbCooper! 

FarmingPhD

Looks great and way to finish the project!  Looking forward to the rib cook.

Foghorn

So, I have one of those convection plates for my offset.  I got it in an effort to reduce the temperature gradient across the grid in the cooking chamber - which is the reason to get it.  

However, I have recently cooked on several offsets of varying size, including one with a single tuning plate and one with a reverse flow design, and - based on a discussion with a friend - looked at the pit designed by Aaron Franklin.  

I've come to the conclusion that there is more to play here than just temperature.  It's also about the direction of the heat and air flow.

When the pitmasters at the big BBQ restaurants cook a brisket, they put the meat well away from the firebox and in an environment where the hotter air is up high and the cooler air is down low - and they cook with the fat side toward the heat (fat side up).  They get great and consistent results cooking in the area where the air is flowing horizontally.

I recently realized that convection plates and tuning plates just push the heat down the cooking grid before it rises onto the bottom of the meat.  So, I've wondered if it would be appropriate/best to cook a brisket with the fat down in most backyard offsets - because the heat is rising from below.  I've also wondered if the best adaptation for an offset would be a vent to direct the hot air out of the firebox directly to the top of the cooking chamber.  To this end, the Aaron Franklin smoker supposedly gets the air to swirl in a way that keeps the heat from going directly onto the bottom of the meat.

I'd love to hear the thoughts of others who cook on and/or refurbish offsets.  Am I just making stuff up?

lousubcap

@Foghorn, I will add my observations from cooking on a RF Lang 36.  The 36 is the smallest Lang makes.  I always run with a water pan up close to the fire box wall.  I also use four cheap but accurate enough Rubbermaid analog oven thermometers spaced top and bottom on each side of the chamber.  
I generally give it a good hour to come up to temperature.  I find the hottest spot (other than right next to the fire box) is the top left side where the heat/smoke rises and heads back across to the stack.  
Over time the rig temps will get fairly close (top and bottom) across the chamber (10-15*F variance) on a good day.  If cook volume allows I will cook as far from the firebox as possible.  I also try to keep the fire forward in the box.  
I have not seen any radiant heat issues with the heat/smoke running below the lower grate as they are about 1 1/2" above the plate.  
Any observations from your experience with the reverse flow rig?

WeberWho

I also imagine a bigger firebox and stack will help with a better draw. I've seen a few people use these smaller smokers with an elbow duct attached on the bottom of the exhaust to help keep the draw towards the bottom of the pit. (I'm not really sure if it helps with anything or not)

The convection plate is almost needed with this size of smoker. The firebox and cooking chamber sit so close to one another that setting the fire back further or trying to keep the meat further back won't do a whole lot with this size of smoker. Hot spots won't help much either with a smaller pit this size. Hot spots can be beneficial in bigger traditional smokers but not so much this size. So the convection plate is trying to keep things as even as possible. With the bigger traditional offset pits you can just move the food around or further back. Unfortunately it's not much of an option with this smoker. The convention plate almost has to be a "must have" or you're going to be constantly rotating things away from the firebox to keep things cooking evenly. 

WeberWho

FarmingPhD said:

Looks great and way to finish the project!  Looking forward to the rib cook.

Much appreciated FarmingPhD! 

Foghorn

Yes, @lousubcap, the reverse flow smoker was a little hotter closer to the firebox.  The second warmest spot was on the opposite side next to the rising hot air.  It was coolest in the middle of the cooking grid.  With that said, even in the hottest spot next to the firebox, no item ever seemed to cook more on the bottom than on the top.  The hot air was flowing horizontally across the food in all locations where we placed food to be "smoked".

With that said, we did finish some of our chicken thighs by placing them on the grate furthest from the firebox where the hot air would rise directly onto them - so in that location they cooked more on the bottom - but we just played that to our advantage.

In general, I try not to look at temperature variations across a grill/smoker as a bad thing.  If I analyze the situation correctly and use the knowledge correctly I can play it to my advantage.

But I don't want to cook brisket in an offset with the bottom surface getting more heat than the top surface...  It's a pet peeve...

WeberWho

I lit four splits about a half hour ago to get a good base going. I was pleasantly surprised to see the thermometer dialed in at 250. 

Foghorn

Boom baby!  Throw some meat on that bad boy.

WeberWho

I'm tempted! I'm going to try and get a nice base going and throw on some biscuits on to see what I'm working with in the next half hour or so. 

Foghorn

I'll be interested to see if your biscuits cook more on the bottom or the top...

nolaegghead

Very nice, my kind of thread (where you're makin' stuff).  Didn't notice this one before.

WeberWho

nolaegghead said:

Very nice, my kind of thread (where you're makin' stuff).  Didn't notice this one before.

Thanks! Nothing real crazy. It was more or less just a little road trip and a destination. It has been fun trying to figure out what to do with it. The table looks way out of proportion but it's really not that bad in person. Big enough to set bowls up on it. 

nolaegghead

I figured out how to make wood last a long time for applications like your shelf.  (and still look great)

I've done this a few times.

Make sure wood is dry.

Soak in epoxy, a low viscosity epoxy.  Saturate the wood.  Let cure.  Sand.  Cover wood with one sheet of light-weight fiberglass and epoxy.  Sand.  Then 2 or three coats of a good spar varnish (urethane).  I'm still amazed that I have some stuff that looks great after a years.   You can combine the first couple of steps.

When the spar starts looking bad depending on environmental conditions, might be 2-7 year, sand lightly and re-apply the spar.  Until you get a leak into the inner wood through the fiberglass epoxy shell and if you can protect the epoxy, which is susceptible to UV damage, you can keep it looking good forever. 

The fiberglass "disappears" with the finish - you can't tell it's there.