fwismoker
Master of the Pit
Hmmmm I'll see your 44 quart stainless and i'll raise you a 80 Quart! ....stainless of course because that's how i roll.
Been lurking on this forum since my return after a long hiatus and got bit by the mini bug. Since I have a 22.5 WSM, it seemed natural.
The build is complete. I won't post pictures of the build because there's plenty here already and I copied most of what was done. I don't believe in reinventing the wheel. If you've seen the thread I posted about 3 years ago about modifications I made to my WSM, you'll know that I believe in modification to the ninth degree. First off, couldn't find the appropriate steamer/cooker so I went big time with:
Since I live on a major fishing port with access to the Puget Sound and all points north (Alaska), finding a Crab Cooker was no problem. I found this beauty and toyed with the recommended 34 qt but went for the 44 qt. Stainless Steel, of course.
You'll have to pardon the blue tint. Camera was doing funny things. Anyway, this is the finished product. You'll notice a few mods already. Like:
I have the snaps taped up so you can see the lower catch. Not exactly square, but, then I'm not building a piano and it works just fine. Why snaps? Simple, there's snaps on it's big brother and I like the unit being in one piece. Went with two ball valves: One for the Mail Box smoker and one for the Digi Q, that I already have and may as well use it.
In this photo, I changed the plumbing to the Mini with a Uni. Makes it much easier to disconnect and I just leave half the uni on the Mini with the ball valve closed.
And here we are connected. Ran this setup for over 5 hours with a AMNPS tray in the mailbox, just to make sure it all worked. Of course, it did. Neat setup that will find use with the big brother. A few years ago, when we were testing the various AMNP trays for Todd, we ran into a road block with using it in the WSM. This trick answers that problem.
Since this cooker has an overall height of 17 inches, there was plenty of room to adjust the measurements and add a grate level. Consequently, there's a "middle" grate added, when needed.
The instrumentation ports are brass, of course. All nuts and bolts hardware are Stainless Steel.
Oh, and I used four bolts per level, just because I had them to do with.
Mailbox smoker, of course. Added the handle on top for ease of movement. Bungee cord keeps the door closed. I get plenty of air flow through the 8 holes in the bottom of the box.
For the price of a few steaks, conned the brother-in-law to weld up the charcoal basket. The vent can contents ended up in a fattie I cooked this evening. Everything gets used or saved around this house.
Next mod will be looking at the support legs. I'm not really pleased with them and may modify them. Got this old Crab Pot cooker/burner plate (propane) that no longer works for that purpose. I may make that work.
Well, that's about it. I'll post the first real smoke in a few days.
~Dave
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