Brinkman Questions

[pineywoods]

Ok I was given a Brinkman Gourmet Smoker that was never used I think its all there what kind of mods am I gonna have to make to use it? I haven't really even looked at it pretty sure I saw a water pan not sure if it was 1 shelve or 2 its up at my camp so I can't look at it right now.
Smoke?
Temp control?

 

[walking dude]

okay........two levels......top, and a grate that sits ontop of the water pan........the only temp controls are the ones YOU add

let me look up my mod thread

 

[pineywoods]

Thanks WD I tried search didn't have much luck

 

[walking dude]

first........here is the fire pan mod i did........saves from having to find a grill/grate to fit inside the firepan.....this way the ask can fall thru, and not choke off the fire............once in awhile, i would take the main body off, pick up the fire pan......and swirl around, to push/roll the ashes collected to fall thru.......use couple oven mitts before trying this.......lolol

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=15231

and here is the thread on modding the bottom pan, to control airflow/temps


http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...t=14587&page=2

 

[walking dude]

of course, i JUST noticed, this is a LECTRIC smoker thread..........SO, if nothing else, to control temps on a gourmet..........add a rheostat to the cord...............

LOLOL

 

[bbq bubba]

That unit is a no brainer...
Set it and forget it, runs at about 240 all day.
May want to put sand in the pan for easier clean-up.

 

[pineywoods]

So to try to smoke at lower temps gotta modify the heat source?
Any body try one of those smoke pistols?

 

[zapper]

I modded mine to hold an extra rack by drilling holes roughly midway between the existing water pan level and the top grate. I used like 2" long 1/4-20 bolts as the brackets nutted on the inside to secure them. I someday plan to add a coulple of more racks for mass production of ABTs. Right now the one extra rack is great for turkey legs but sees its share of other stuff too. I also added a cheap dial thermometer to the lid, not really critical to cooking anything, but fun to know if I am up to temps yet. A small hole or two in the sides for thermometer probe wires has been disscussed in other threads before and I think this is a good idea. It could help keep from pinching a wire with the lid. A metal side wing or shelf to stick magnetic backed thermometers to is also something that I haven't gotten around to yet, so I say that it is in the planning stage right now.

I have been kicking the idea of a thermostat or rheostat around also, but I fear that low temps will not produce the smoke and lead to having to make a smoke pistol of some sort.

All in all the unit is pretty good for what it is straight out of the box (Some assembly required) About my only real gripe is having to unstack the top grate for access to the lower level food and this only gets worse when adding extra grates. A little planning and forethought and this isn't really that much of an issue, but if you are going to mop alot you need to think about this.

 

[kookie]

If you want to add a temp control unit.......I made one real easy for my little cheifs that should work for you too.........I took the control unit from an electric frying pan and opened it up and wired in a female plug to it and closed it up and drilled a hole in the side of my smoker for the temp probe and I then just plug the smoker into it and then plug the temp control into the outlet.....It works pretty good, I have one for each of my little cheifs.......The way I have my made I can still use the smoker with out the control unit if I want to too.......

 

[ajthepoolman]

Drill a hole just below the grates to stick a temp probe in it so you can monitor inside temps while cooking.

The best temp control I have found is the side door. Open it about an inch to drop the temp 15 degrees.