Simple cart / stand.

[casualsmoker]

After having absorbed the wealth of knowledge here, I thought I would put it to good use and tell a story about what I did.

I've been wanting a smoker for a while and everything I read here about the MES sounded just right to me.  As luck would have it, I managed to hit a sale at Canadian Tire and get mine for $199 Canadian including a 1 year exchange warranty from the store.

I live in an apartment and don't have the space for some of the really nice carts that some people have made.  Making matters more difficult is the fact that none of it is covered.  The first thing I had to do was to make my smoker a little easier to move.  Unfortunately I am in a no tool (except for a power drill) situation.

Here's what I did.

Go to Home Depot.  Buy:

1 x 8 foot 2x6

4 x casters (2 locking, 2 not, all swivel)

8 x 3 inch screws for holding the wood together

20 x 1 inch screws

2 x little L shaped bracket things

Home Depot said that they would do 3 cuts for free.  I got the guy to cut the wood in half, place one on top of the other and make 1 cut at 17.5 inches in and another at 13.5 inches in.  This let me go home with 2 x 13.5 inch and 2 x 17.5 inch pieces of 2x6 wood.

Next, I lay the 2 longer pieces down and spaced them out so that the feet of the MES would just catch the end of each piece.  Then I put the 13.5 inch pieces along the side lining them up at the back.  The front sticks out a bit as you can see in the pic because I didn't want it to catch the door.  Next I drilled the pilot holes, 2 in each connection along the side totalling 8.

Flipping my cart around, I screwed on the castors that took 4 screws each.  Finally I turned it over one more time and put the L- shaped brackets on along the back where the back feet would be so that it wouldn't fall off.

I was quite happy that it all came together in an hour and that it's sitting on my deck now with my new MES seasoning on it.  Using the go big or go home attitude (strange because I am at home), I have already invited a group of people over tomorrow and have 4 racks of ribs and a chicken in the fridge ready to go.

I can't say thanks enough to all of the fine people here that took the time to share their thoughts and notes on improvements.

My next step is making this cover.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/fo...-an-mes-sun-shield-i-ll-show-you-a-sun-shield

I have no idea how I'm going to do it with only a drill, but I'll post if I manage to do it.

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend.

 

[dale5351]

Nice looking result. 

How did your first smode of ribs & chicken turn out?

 

[dale5351]

Here is my stand for my MES.   I had a 23 inch square masonry block that used to be platform under air conditioner.  I bought 8 standard masonry blocks (with closed ends) and arranged them as shown.  What you can't really see is a number (12) rubber things that you might normally put under chairs.  They are placed at each corner of the bottom course of blocks to keep the blocks off of the wood deck.

Total price was probably $10 to $20.

 

[casualsmoker]

I had to refill the wood chips a little more often than I wanted (even though they were soaked all night), but it went great.  In the end it was 4 racks of side ribs and 2 chickens.

The 2 chickens were brined for 5 hours, and it was just s simple rub for the ribs.

It was 3-2-1 for the ribs which ended up being 3-2-2 because I got distracted talking to some friends.  The chickens just stayed in until internal of 180.

It was hands down the best bbq I had ever produced.

Not only were the ribs the perfect texture, for the first time the cartilage was soft and just slightly crunchy and everyone seemed more than happy to eat it. 

The most impressive part of it all was the chicken.  I read on this forum that you can do ribs and chicken / turkey at the same time as long as you put the poultry on the bottom.  We were all (including 2 friends who are certified bbq judges) impressed the most with the skin.  Because the fat from the ribs was dripping down on the chicken, it crisped what would have otherwise been rubbery skin.  We were all very happy about this discovery.

My wife took a bunch of pictures unfortunately it didn't include the convenient drip tray on the back to disposable beer can conversion that I was quite proud of.  Will post it soon.

 

[dale5351]

The most impressive part of it all was the chicken.  I read on this forum that you can do ribs and chicken / turkey at the same time as long as you put the poultry on the bottom.  We were all (including 2 friends who are certified bbq judges) impressed the most with the skin.  Because the fat from the ribs was dripping down on the chicken, it crisped what would have otherwise been rubbery skin.  We were all very happy about this discovery.

Good to hear.  We like crispy skin, and cannot stand eating limp skin.  OTOH, limp skin and bones can make a good broth in a crock pot -- add a little onion, carrot and celery (or whatever veg you like) , and then let it simmer for 4 hours or so.

We do that whenever we bring home a roasted chicken from BJs.  Their chickens are flame roasted, $5.99 for 3 pound chicken that lasts us for several meals.  The skin and bones and vegies become broth for soup or gravy at another time.

 

 

[deltadude]

Yo CasualSmoker,

Hey bud, you did the best you possibly could with the limitations you had.  Nice functional cart....

Well done...

 

[rdknb]

that looks good and works so that is what makes it great lol.  Although I am surprised they let you smoke on an apt deck.  Here it is not allowed and is like a $250 fine I believe