Smoker Build

[elvis]

I had a guy come to me to build a heavy duty reverse flow smoker. I figured I should put a build thread together. Should have it finished Sunday or Monday. I had been thinking about building myself one so it was good timing. I picked up a 42" piece of pipe for my personal smoker and I haven't had a chance to build it yet.

Build specs:
2'x3' Schd 20 pipe. 3/8" end caps and firebox. 5/16" round stock for the food grate and 2 levels of cooking space.

Lessons learned so far:
-He wanted to supply most of the odds and ends and brought me a 3' length of FBE pipe. DO NOT start with this. It is a huge pain to remove the epoxy coat. Took me several hours to do so. It was still cheaper for the customer rather than buying clean pipe, but that was his call.

-I ended up using some laser cut 1/4" hinge tabs that pull the lid away from the cook chamber as you lift it. This is a nice feature over using barrel hinges. I would definitely use these again. They have a 3/8" hole for a bolt but I am going to use a piece of hot rolled round as a "hinge pin" instead, mostly for personal preference.

-I CNC plasma cut the end caps and firebox pieces and this was well worth it. Faster than hand cutting and easier to piece together. Also, for the firebox I designed it so that each corner was a v-groove type deal and the welds have full penetration in one pass. It also gives the corner a 45* angle and I think it looks nice.

Ok, enough words, on to pictures.

[mking7]

Yep. Those are the hinges. I recommend them. Makes it easy. I used barrel hinges for the firebox but I like the cam hinges better.

I have been using barrel hinges for everything because I couldn't find these. I'm going to use them for my doors for sure, may even try them on my firebox. That company, Trinity Expedition Outfitters, seems like good people. I got the product last night and it's perfect. On top of that they noticed that I live in West, TX where the fertilizer plant exploded and sent me a nice note and some freebies. Just wanted to give them a plug. I'm a customer for life after that.

[elvis]

Yep. Those are the hinges. I recommend them. Makes it easy. I used barrel hinges for the firebox but I like the cam hinges better.

[Mr2race]

Looks great

Smoking is all about Low heat 165 -185 deg.F. Slow and smokey for long cooking times.
Say 7-8 hours over moisened Oak smoldering flame.

[mking7]

Did you make those hinges or buy them? I've been trying to find some but no luck. The cook chamber door hinges I mean.

I ramped up my search today and actually found some. Posting the link here just in case anyone coming along behind me is having trouble finding some.


http://www.teoutfitters.com/Outdoor-Cooking_c_24.html

[mking7]

Thanks Lance.

Yes that is a ton of metal. Some people use propane setups for the initial heat up. I'm going to make another one out of 1/4" for personal use. Cheaper and lighter plus it is thick enough to hold heat nicely.

Did you make those hinges or buy them? I've been trying to find some but no luck. The cook chamber door hinges I mean.

[elvis]

Thanks Lance.

Yes that is a ton of metal. Some people use propane setups for the initial heat up. I'm going to make another one out of 1/4" for personal use. Cheaper and lighter plus it is thick enough to hold heat nicely.

[Meltedmetal]

That's a really nice build. Again excuse my ignorance of smoking but isn't that a lot of iron to heat up just to cook something? I'm thinking of fuel efficiency or is that not a consideration once the party's started? On the other hand it should stay hot for quite awhile with not much fuel to sustain it I suppose.-Meltedmetal

[lanceman73]

That's badass!

[elvis]

[elvis]

[elvis]

Melted-

The plan is to try it on the floor first and if it doesn't burn well to build a rack out of 3/4 round stock.

Bistineau-

The guy has a food grade stain less table that is about the same height. He requested that a table be omitted at this time.

Fwiw, the handle on the door will be a piece of turned Arizona cypress. Should look nice. Thanks for the comments guys, this has been a fun build. I have learned that 3/8 is a bit thick and if I do it again I'll build it out of 1/4".

[Bistineau]

Is there going to be a shelf under the door for the cooker to set stuff on that's going in to or out of the cooker. If not, it might be worth thinking about. It could be made removable for when it's not needed.

[Meltedmetal]

I'm curious how you plan to empty the ashes from the fire box. It looks like the door has a lip all the way around, and from pictures it looks like that is the only door. So would a shop vac be used since you couldn't sweep them out over that lip? The one I made long ago had a door at the bottom part of the box to sweep out the coals.

Keep up the pictures coming.

I'm not a smoker of either description so excuse my ignorance please. I do burn wood though and one of my stoves has the firing/cleanout door about 12 inches above the floor of the firebox. I made myself a small shovel and just push the ashes to the back of the firebox and shovel them out and into my ash bucket. It works well. I assume you burn your fuel directly on the floor of the firebox and not on a grate? Nice construction by the way.
Meltedmetal

[elvis]

Looking nice Elvis. What made you decide to put the fire box under instead of beside the grill? It is a neat look I have never seen before. I wonder if it is more effective at heating since the fire box will be directly under the grill instead of just the heat from the smoke beside it.

I'm curious how you plan to empty the ashes from the fire box. It looks like the door has a lip all the way around, and from pictures it looks like that is the only door. So would a shop vac be used since you couldn't sweep them out over that lip? The one I made long ago had a door at the bottom part of the box to sweep out the coals.

Keep up the pictures coming.

It is what the customer wanted. It seems to make sense. I do admit that I did not account for the ash removal. That was not a critical issue when he described what he wanted. Probably a shop vac.

Anyway, on to the updated pictures. Made a little progress today. Tomorrow it will get wheels and some door trim. Perhaps a smoke stack.