325 Gallon Reverse Flow Build

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Nightrod, afternoon......   Ribwizzard has done some experimenting with air flow....   He has come up with a theory that I agree with...  I would open up the FB/CC opening to the 11"ish height also increasing the sq. in. opening.....   eliminating that choke point helps the flow in the long CC....  Keep the opening at  the end of the RF plate to 250 or so sq. in..    1.5 ish times the calculated FB/CC opening...  That seems to balance out the heat in the smoker and in effect enlarges the FB to include the area under the RF plate.....   His experimental build cooked as good as or better than other smokers he built....

Dave
 
Nightrod, afternoon......   Ribwizzard has done some experimenting with air flow....   He has come up with a theory that I agree with...  I would open up the FB/CC opening to the 11"ish height also increasing the sq. in. opening.....   eliminating that choke point helps the flow in the long CC....  Keep the opening at  the end of the RF plate to 250 or so sq. in..    1.5 ish times the calculated FB/CC opening...  That seems to balance out the heat in the smoker and in effect enlarges the FB to include the area under the RF plate.....   His experimental build cooked as good as or better than other smokers he built....

Dave

Dave,

Just to clarify what you are saying, are you saying that i might be able to get away with my original 325 gallon plan taking into consideration what you are saying above? Or are you making comments based on my revised plan? Thanks.
 
I'm not trying to be definitive here.....     A 100"+ long tank will lose heat like a radiator....  both directions ..... heat under the RF plate and heat over the RF plate....   The friction from all that steel  will reduce the available cooking area trying to overcome the friction..... 

I try very hard to not stifle "out of the box" thinking....   That being said......   There are laws of physics that preclude "new ideas".....  

As an example..... A cannery in Alaska decided to build a huge boat to harvest King Crab....  thinking more pots, bigger holds would reduce the cost per unit and make them tons of money.....     Only  problem...... they couldn't steer the boat to pick up the pots.... too long.... too high out of the water and the tide and wind had such an effect on it, they couldn't steer it fast enough to  pick up pots..........    
 
I understand what you are getting at. By no means am i trying to reinvent the wheel here...just trying to make the most from what i have. I appreciate your wisdom and tact. i am going to think about my options further and will go from there. thanks again.
 
I understand what you are getting at. By no means am i trying to reinvent the wheel here...just trying to make the most from what i have. I appreciate your wisdom and tact. i am going to think about my options further and will go from there. thanks again.
Thanks for the compliment.....  I have never been told I have tact....  Thinking is good .....   saves a lot of "redo's".....    Dave
 
Another idea to throw at you. Cut one end off enough to use it as the FB. I did that and it works great. Some don't like the look, but I do. It will save some money too, less plate to buy.
 
 
 
....  Thinking is good .....   saves a lot of "redo's".....    Dave
Dave,

would you mind talking to my wife?  she doesnt seem to understand that thinking is a huge part of all projects.  Like the bathroom for instance,,,,its in the "thinking" stage while i work on my smoker!!!!!!!! Ha!
I've remodeled 5 bathrooms.....   they are a lot of fun......   I will remodel one more bathroom..... 100 years from today......  maybe.......   Naw, just kidding......    NEVER......
 
Good Morning. I am quickly finding out this smoker design is going to be more of a challenge than I originally planned. I was thinking last night of ways to possibly lower the FB/CC opening leaving more room in the CC for useable space. Below is my idea. Is it possilbe to have the same theoretical FB/CC opening by cutting the opening in two faces of the FB instead of only one? I would imagine it might not be a 1:1 ratio but maybe still possible to decrease the verticle ED height? The only problem I see is finding a way to keep the correct RF plate height/flow area.

Like I said before, not trying to reinvent the wheel here, just trying to explore all options. Without searching through past threads, has anyone had success with this idea?

 
I AM NEW TO BUILDING SMOKERS BUT FROM WHAT I READ ON HERE I THINK THAT YOU MAY HAVE A REAL HOT SPOT WHERE YOUR RF PLATE STARTS WITHOUT THE TOP OF THE FIRE BOX TO BLOCK SOME OF THE HEAT.  SOME OF THE BUILDS I HAVE READ ON HERE EVEN EXTEND THE TOP OF THE FIREBOX INTO THE CC UNDER THE RF PLATE TO KEEP THE HEAT OFF OF THE RF PLATE AT THE OPENING.
 
Trying to picture how you are attaching new firebox design to CC ?   I see opening on top and opening on end ?

Gary
 
 
Trying to picture how you are attaching new firebox design to CC ?   I see opening on top and opening on end ?

Gary
I would mount the FB to the CC same as always (see previous sketch from a few days ago). The FB would be "nested" 16 inches or so inside  the CC. Sorry if I am not good at explaining. If you couldnt tell I am a visual person who like to use sketches.
 
Went back and looked at picture, understand being inset the 16", are you going to have the RF plate above the opening on the FB if so how much distance between opening and plate?

Gary
 
If I understand the drawing the RF plate will either cover the top opening on the FB, or but up to it, in which case the top opening would be open to the cook chamber instead of flowing under the RF

plate.

Gary
 
Gary,

i made the drawing before coming up with the alternate FB opening idea. I will sketch something up tomorrow and explain what i was talking about.

i have also been doing some more thinking about Daves advice. More ideas to come tommorow.

thanks guys
 
I didn't remember if you said that you needed that long of a smoker, Dave is right about trying to heat that much RF smoker up without loosing so much of your cook space. I have found over the years that you really don't need a big smoker unless you are cooking for a lot of people. It is a real pain trying to maintain your temp if your ratios are not right. I really like my RF and use it all the time but I have used Straight Flow with great results. Some of the best BBQ cooks use SF.Probably the busiest BBQ place in Texas (Aaron Franklin in Austin) uses long tanks and SF. If it were me and my tank and wanted a RF smoker with rounded ends I would cut out enough in the middle so the ratios would work.   .....  Keep us posted

Gary 
 
Thankyou everyone for the helpful tips. I am going to take Dave's advice and cut my 325 gallon tank down. I plan to cut off the back end and leave the font with the rounded end. I thought about cutting the middle out like many of you suggested, but with my limited tools (cut off wheel) i decided it would be far too much cutting with the risk of something not fitting up right after re-welding.

Let me complicate the situation further. Can any of you share your knowledge of warming cabinets & vertical smoking cabinets? Is this a reliable way to increase cooking capacity? From what I under stand a "warming cabinet" does not actually receive smoke from the CC/FB but only radiat/conductive heat from the FB. While a vertical smoking cabinet receives actual smoke/hot air from the FB or CC. Does this smoke come from the CC or the FB? or both? If my 325 gallon tank was too long before, would adding a vertical smoking cabinet make my new shorter tank too "long" again from the increased capacity? Am I missing something?

I plan to sketch up my new plan this afternoon and will post something tonight. Thanks.

Andrew
 
I do not have a vertical smoke chamber or warmer on my smoker.

Around here I see quite a few, most are combinations. They sit on top of the fire box with a opening to the cook chamber that can be opened or closed. There is also another smoke stack on the warmer. When it is used a vertical cooker, your smoke stack on your CC is shut off the damper opened to the VCC and that stack opened. Just to use it as a warmer close the damper and regulate your heat by opening or closing you smoke stack. It sounds like you are planning on cooking lots of meat. Hope this helps. Quite a few sites with pictures for ideas.

Gary
 
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