Angle Up or Down, does it matter?

[matts]

I am seeing it both ways here for the plate in the Reverse Flow designs. But in my mind, angle up from the fire box will help with smoke draw. But that also means that the drippings will run towards the heat source. If it is angle down from fire, is it just barely enough to get the drippings flowing. Something like plumbing with 1 inch at 4 feet drop. So up or down is the main question?

Thanks
Matt

 

[jaxgatorz]

Im no expert, but on my Lang it is down ( for draining)...Happy smokes
PS. And yes, just barely down is enough for liquid to flow.

 

[south jersey bbq tim]

i agree, i little bit down works great

 

[bikeman59]

I recently completed my first reverse flow build and angled the plate up as it moved away from the heat box. I installed the drain near the heat box opening. The drain and the smoke flow both work fine.

 

[bbq engineer]

If I understand your question correctly, it is whether there should be a slope on the baffle plate as it runs away from the firebox?

When I built the Iron Maiden (see link in my signature), I made it level for this reason...since it is on a trailer, by adjusting the tongue height with the jack, I can easily adjust the "slope" or "angle" of the baffle plate. That makes it easy to adjust...simply put a crank or two into the trailer jack and I can experiment with up slope or down slope and then see how the difference in the amount of draw is. Hope this helps.

 

[matts]

I know every smoker is going to work a bit different, but what did you find out gave you the best draw. I am going to have a lot of things on my trailer and I would prefer to keep it level.

 

[bbq engineer]

If you need to build a slope into the baffle plate, FWIW, I would suggest that the baffle plate slope up slightly from the firebox, and the drain would be at the end closest to the firebox.

 

[randya]

I did the same as Bikeman59 no issues.