My name is Ed and the north central part of Arkansas (the Ozarks) is where I hail from. I am an old fart who has grilled for years but never was real serious about it. Here in the backwoods I have plenty of oak, hickory, and other hardwoods on my property to use for charcoal and wood smoke. I plan on procuring some wild hogs and other native meats to use in my barby.
I guess I sort of put the cart before the horse since I should of joined a group like ya'lls BEFORE I decided to recently make my smoker/grill. I had some spare metal and piping laying around so decided to give it a shot.
I successfully smoked/cooked two whole chickens with it the other day; went about 10-12 hours. The exhaust temp at the top of the smokestack ran about 140-160 degrees most of the time. Had to rotate the birds every couple hours but they stayed very moist. The 3/8" rebar basket sitting on the top of the firebox is what I drop into the grill cavity when wanting to smoke some meat; it is upside down in the picture.
Eventually I want to build a heavier firebox and replace the steel drum that serves what I believe you afficionados refer to as an offset box; it will take awhile to burn this fella out I'm thinkin'. The smoke piping is galvanized stuff about 3 1/2" inches in diameter. Because of the beefy thickness of the cooker (3/8") and lid (1/4") it heats up and retains temperature pretty well. Used a front end loader to set it in place as this cooker has some weight to it.
I am still learning about how to run one of these things properly. Any suggestions are welcome, besides a complete re-design. :^ )
I guess I sort of put the cart before the horse since I should of joined a group like ya'lls BEFORE I decided to recently make my smoker/grill. I had some spare metal and piping laying around so decided to give it a shot.
I successfully smoked/cooked two whole chickens with it the other day; went about 10-12 hours. The exhaust temp at the top of the smokestack ran about 140-160 degrees most of the time. Had to rotate the birds every couple hours but they stayed very moist. The 3/8" rebar basket sitting on the top of the firebox is what I drop into the grill cavity when wanting to smoke some meat; it is upside down in the picture.
Eventually I want to build a heavier firebox and replace the steel drum that serves what I believe you afficionados refer to as an offset box; it will take awhile to burn this fella out I'm thinkin'. The smoke piping is galvanized stuff about 3 1/2" inches in diameter. Because of the beefy thickness of the cooker (3/8") and lid (1/4") it heats up and retains temperature pretty well. Used a front end loader to set it in place as this cooker has some weight to it.
I am still learning about how to run one of these things properly. Any suggestions are welcome, besides a complete re-design. :^ )