29 Gallon RF built in 1 week

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ekoms

Newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2016
8
10
First off I want to say that this site is great for anyone that wants to know anything about smoking meat and veggies.

The CC is a 29 gallon propane tank and the FB is a 12 gallon propane tank.

The opening from the FB to CC is oval and is 7" wide and 4" tall in the center.

I left the ends to both tanks rounded.

I left the FB lid not hinged, but can be slid left to right or turned diamond shape. 

For the CC lid I welded 3/16 steel strips on the inside of the tank on the bottom and sides of the opening and welded 3/16 steel on the outside top of the lid. I tack welded cheap steel door hinges bought from HD for the CC lid hinges.

The exhaust is 5" and I made it removable so the smoker can be easily covered. 

The RF plates are made from 3 sheets of metal that are over lapping , because one full sheet would not fit through the CC opening, but they are removable.

I slung it together alittle at a time after work each day and was cooking with it in 7 days. Obviously by looking at my pics it was slung together quickly, but it cooks unbelievable and is very efficient with wood usage . It only takes 15min for the CC to get up to 250 degrees and will easily reach 450 degrees.

I use pecan twigs and a small propane torch to start my fire then I use small debarked slices of pecan to create my coals. Once the coal bed has started I use 4" long by 2" thick debarked pecan chunks. I only have to use a tiny portion of the FB to keep the CC at a steady 250 degrees. It will hold 250 degrees for about 30min using just 3 chunks of pecan. 

To keep the CC at 250 degrees I slide the FB lid to the right or left leaving only a 1/2 inch opening top to bottom. 

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

Here are some pics of the smoker and some of the meat I have smoked in it the past two weeks.


 
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She definitely looks rustic but that's some good looking Q you made there!

Good to hear it flows and operates well. Did you use the calculator from this site?

Bazza
 
Actually I did not use the calculator, being ADHD I was just going based off of pictures I remembered seeing so I had already cut the FB to CC opening and welded the two together before I found this website.

I was really worried that the FB to CC opening was going to be to small, especially after reading how most people over size the FB and seeing how large people are making the FB to CC opening.

I had my self mentally prepared to enlarge the FB to CC opening, but luckily it all worked out for me.  

From the start I knew I wanted my FB to stay as a cylinder and the FB to CC opening to be oval and wanted the FB door to be on the opposite end of the FB to CC opening.

 I will eventually sand and paint it and I have already got wheels for it, it's just finding time to work on it. I did add a stainless steel shelf to it yesterday.
 
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