Thermostats for new Oklahoma Joe Longhorn

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The plain basket works great for regular grilling and also for most smoking. This size basket fits just under the cooking grate tabs so it's just under your cooking grate when you use one on the firebox side for direct grilling. It sits right on top of the old charcoal grate to keep it centered in the firebox with a lot of circulation around it.

It really allows you to control your burn by piling the lit charcoals together, and keeping them from spreading out all over the firebox and up on the walls - which just makes them fizzle out faster. Plus, you can mix in your chunks, sticks and add lump better.

An ash hoe is also a nice tool to have too - something simple like a 3 foot long wood handle with a straightened out and small bladed hoe on the business end. The Steven Raichlen one is a good one to model after as it works really well, and so is his coooking grate lifter which is a lifesaver when using the cooking grate on the firebox side for direct cooking WHILE ALSO managing your burn, and adding to it!
 
This is some really good reading. I am thinking of purchasing the longhorn this week. Have you made any other major mods since your last post? If so can you provide me with links and pics like above. If don't really have access to a welder, but can probably take the grill to someone. 
 
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Hi all. I just got my Okie delivered on Monday and I was wondering what was the best way to season the smoker before first burn?
 
I heavily sprayed the inside with a can of Pam and wiped it good with a clean, dry cloth, then used a cheapo 3" paintbrush and a bowl of vegetable oil and "painted" all inside surfaces of the cooking chamber. After it was good and coated, I lit up a seasoning run of coal.
 
 
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I heavily sprayed the inside with a can of Pam and wiped it good with a clean, dry cloth, then used a cheapo 3" paintbrush and a bowl of vegetable oil and "painted" all inside surfaces of the cooking chamber. After it was good and coated, I lit up a seasoning run of coal.
 
Tanx for the reply Remmy. Did you run your temps high (350F or higher) during the seasoning run?
 
I'm fairly certain I had it up close to 300-325, at least for an hour or two at the beginning.

The idea is to burn off any residue left from manufacturing (that you didn't manually clean off before you started), seal the pores, and cure the paint. I used cheap lump (Cowboy) and a couple small splits of seasoned oak from my firewood stack. The burning wood starts to coat the inside surfaces with carbon (which helps prevent condensation buildup) and imparts a nice smoke aroma as well.

The total run time was about 4.5 hours, mostly for calibration and fuel management practice and to see how many unsealed cracks I had to address (not many, as it turns out... must have gotten lucky with my TMLE). I took the grates out after 2 hours or so.
 
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I'm burning at 375F and this is about the 3rd hour into it. My gasket adhesive burned off on the smoker box but the gasket fiber strips are undamaged so I purchased some high temp adhesive and will redo my seals tomorrow once The Joe cools down. I made the mistake of putting the gasket on the smoker instead of the lid in the main cooking area and I still had leaks because of that. It will be reversed tomorrow and I will add some high temp (500F) caulking around the grill and put the gasket on the lid. That should plug all of my leaks. I also added a 3" 90deg bend to the smokestack to get the stack closer to the cooking area.. I have some Mesquite chunks I can use as well for flavoring. 
 
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I love the way you did the diffuser plates. It looks like you can remove the one near the fire box for searing if you want. I do not have any way of getting the metal with holes of varying sizes cut into them. Would you consider selling a set? I would be most appreciaitve and you would be helping a new meat smokin' fanatic get started the right way. LOL!  If so, feel free to contact me at [email protected]  . Even if not, thank you vey much for all the great ideas and info.

/s/ Floyd
 
I finally got a shipping notice for my horizon convection plate. Only took 4 weeks. I cant wait to use it on my next big smoke.
 
New Convection Plate came today! Box was hammered but thank goodness, the plate was undamaged. One thing to be aware of is that the plate stands off from the rear wall roughly 1/4" which means to put the cooking grates side by side, you'll have to cut one of the grates for both to fit in the unit w/ the plate. I'll be cutting the longer of the two cooking grates roughly 1/8" which should be enough.

Here's some photos:



Can't wait to see the new temp distribution. I'm hoping for a big difference..
 
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I have an adjustable plate on my horizon and can get it balance out between 5-10 degrees. I usually "settle" on 10 depending on what I am cooking. I have found that if you leave it agains the fire of side. The opposite end can actually get hotter than the fire I'd side. I generally start it out about an inch off the firebox.
 
Boy, that plate design sure looks like it would stomp on the airflow from the firebox...
I'll find out soon enough.. 
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The plate sits high enough over the opening so that decent smoke and heat should filter into the chamber with the stack end full open. Up until now, I've had to burn a lot of fuel to get my grate temps high enough to be useful because all my heat went straight to the top of the OKJ. This should change that scenario. Plate weighed in at 24lbs and fit perfectly. I'll take a angle grinder to the longer of the two cooking grates for the slight modification.  I got a 15# brisket and a 11# picnic on deck. I'm thinking one of them will wind up in the MES and the other on the OKJ. Any suggestions?
 
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