Firebox Dimension Question

[callmecreg]

I am brand new to the smoker community and the idea struck me to take an old keg shell I have just lying around in my backyard and put it to some sort of use. So I'm building a reverse flow smoker out of it as my wintertime project. In thinking about the fire box, I figured I might as well keep the aesthetic of using kegs and make it a whole theme. The ratio works out pretty well to use the 1/2 keg (which is 16 1/4" x 23 3/8") turned on it's side as the cook chamber and a 1/6th keg (9 1/4" x 23 3/8") probably standing up as the fire box. My question is since the 1/6th keg is fairly long and skinny, will that have an impact on how the fuel burns? Should it be a more rounded shape rather than the elongated one? I'd use a pony keg, but the volume ratio is almost 2:1 instead of 3:1, so it's just too large of a fb. Thoughts?

 

[lendecatural]

Welcome!

I think you would be better off with the pony keg, the "look" will match the cook chamber better and with a bigger box, it will be easier to tend the fire. When you use the calculator, make sure to base everything on the CC and use bogus numbers for firebox.

Len

 

[gary s]

Let's see some pictures of what you have to work with

Gary