Horizontal Offset Smoker Modifications
For a lot of new people just starting out, their first smoker is a horizontal offset smoker with side firebox. While many of the horizontal offsets work great with no modifications, most of the entry-level ones that new smokers first get, such as the Brinkmann Smoke N Pit, the Char Broil Silver Smoker and the Char-Griller Smokin’ Pro, to name a few, can benefit from a few simple and relatively inexpensive modifications. These modifications will help create more even distribution of heat and smoke, make it easier to maintain and control temperature, give you more accurate information regarding the temperature of the smoking chamber, and generally make your early smoking experiences much more pleasant.
Rest assured that I am not the first person to invent these modifications or discover their usefulness, Collectively, most of this information is available on the forum but it is sort of piecemeal and in various threads. I am just compiling the information that I have found in a single thead in the hope that it will save others some of the frustration that I experienced starting out. There are a variety of designs and materials that can be used for these modifications; I am just illustrating the ones that worked for me on my particular smoker, which is a Smoke N Pit.
These modifications include, in no particular order:
· Thermometers
· Chimney Extension
· Baffle
· Tuning Plates
· Charcoal Basket
Thermometers
The thermometers that come with these units are usually not very accurate, and they are usually not mounted anywhere near grate level. Often times they don’t even have numbers on them, just the words WARM, IDEAL, and HOT.
For more information on what IDEAL can be on one of these thermos, read this thread.
Also, there is usually only one in the center of the chamber. Sometimes the temperature difference from one end to the other can be quite significant. That is useful information to have so you’ll want to have two thermometers mounted at grate level, one at each end of the smoker.
You want to measure the temperature of the smoking chamber at grate level because that’s where the meat is. I used analog dial thermometers with a 3” face and 3” stems. I think the stems are a little short though and if I had to do it over again, I would get dial thermos with 4” stems.
Although it is good to have the analog dial thermos it is an even better idea to use digital oven thermos. You can push the probes through a potato hunk or block of wood and place them on the grate.
The nice thing about the digitals is that you can set alarms to notify you if the temperature gets too high. Some models even allow you to set a low temp alarm as well.
Make sure you “boil test” the thermometers every once in awhile though. This entails inserting the probe tip in boiling water and noting the temperature. Depending on your altitude, the thermometer should read darn close to 212° when the probe is in boiling water.
Chimney Extension
Most of the entry level models have the chimney hole cut in the top of the smoker and the chimney does not protrude into the smoke chamber at all.. Heat and smoke rise so what happens is the heat from the firebox rises, runs along the top of the lid on the way to the chimney, and exits the smoker without doing much at grate level. Since the meat is on the grates, we would like to encourage the heat and smoke to travel across the meat on their way to the chimney. This helps to even out the temperature across the grate and makes the smoker more efficient. To accommodate this, it is a good idea to extend the chimney down to close to grate level. There are several different ways to do this. One is to use dryer vent ducting. Another is to roll up some aluminum flashing, place it inside the chimney, let it unroll and let friction hold it there. I chose to use exhaust tubing.
I took my lid out to the local muffler shop and had the guy cut a piece to fit and he “swedged” it so that it would stay in place when pushed up inside the chimney.
As you can see, it is pretty close to the level of the grate when the lid is
closed.
Baffle
A baffle is a “deflector” of sorts that is placed at the firebox end of the smoker at the point where the firebox opens into the smoke chamber. The purpose of the baffle is to protect the meat at the firebox end from extreme heat and help the heat travel farther down the smoke chamber to even temps out a little bit. Again, there are a few different ways to do this. Some people use cookie sheets, some just use a large foil roasting pan filled with water placed against the opening. I uses a piece of 1/8” steel, cut to fit so that it lays at about a 45° angle and the bottom is about 2-3/4” inches from the bottom of the smoker.
You will need to assess your smoker for the proper size. Making a template out of cardboard is helpful.
Tuning Plates
Tuning plates are usually pieces of steel laid across the bottom of the smoke chamber. They are of varying widths and are placed side by side in such a way as to leave gaps of various widths between them. The idea is to get the heat from the firebox to travel farther down the smoke chamber towards the chimney end. The placement of the plates and the size of the gaps can be adjusted to “tune” the smoke chamber temperature wise.
Again, there are various ways to do this but I used plates of 1/8” steel of 10”, 8”, and 6” widths. You will want them long enough to lay in the bottom of the smoker yet sitting high enough to be just above the bottom of the tuning plate.
Some people put “rails” of 1/8” x 3/4” flat bar for the plates to rest on. Again, you will have to assess the width and length of your smoker to come up with the appropriate sizes. Again, making templates out of cardboard are helpful.
Another twist on the tuning plate idea is to have a plate that runs the length of the smoker with rows of holes of increasing size -- smaller at the firebox end and larger at the chimney end. The idea again is to move the heat farther down the smoking chamber to even out the temperature. I believe Horizon smokers use this set up and they call it a "Convection Plate".
Here is a diagram that I drew for a convection plate for my smoker.
Some folks have done things along this line and reported good results. I have not gotten around to having one made yet, but when I do, I will test it and post the results.
Charcoal Basket
Solar has a great thread on making the charcoal basket.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=73745
Hopefully you found this information useful and if anyone has any corrections or additions to make, please feel free.
Dave
For a lot of new people just starting out, their first smoker is a horizontal offset smoker with side firebox. While many of the horizontal offsets work great with no modifications, most of the entry-level ones that new smokers first get, such as the Brinkmann Smoke N Pit, the Char Broil Silver Smoker and the Char-Griller Smokin’ Pro, to name a few, can benefit from a few simple and relatively inexpensive modifications. These modifications will help create more even distribution of heat and smoke, make it easier to maintain and control temperature, give you more accurate information regarding the temperature of the smoking chamber, and generally make your early smoking experiences much more pleasant.
Rest assured that I am not the first person to invent these modifications or discover their usefulness, Collectively, most of this information is available on the forum but it is sort of piecemeal and in various threads. I am just compiling the information that I have found in a single thead in the hope that it will save others some of the frustration that I experienced starting out. There are a variety of designs and materials that can be used for these modifications; I am just illustrating the ones that worked for me on my particular smoker, which is a Smoke N Pit.
These modifications include, in no particular order:
· Thermometers
· Chimney Extension
· Baffle
· Tuning Plates
· Charcoal Basket
Thermometers
The thermometers that come with these units are usually not very accurate, and they are usually not mounted anywhere near grate level. Often times they don’t even have numbers on them, just the words WARM, IDEAL, and HOT.
For more information on what IDEAL can be on one of these thermos, read this thread.
Also, there is usually only one in the center of the chamber. Sometimes the temperature difference from one end to the other can be quite significant. That is useful information to have so you’ll want to have two thermometers mounted at grate level, one at each end of the smoker.
You want to measure the temperature of the smoking chamber at grate level because that’s where the meat is. I used analog dial thermometers with a 3” face and 3” stems. I think the stems are a little short though and if I had to do it over again, I would get dial thermos with 4” stems.
Although it is good to have the analog dial thermos it is an even better idea to use digital oven thermos. You can push the probes through a potato hunk or block of wood and place them on the grate.
The nice thing about the digitals is that you can set alarms to notify you if the temperature gets too high. Some models even allow you to set a low temp alarm as well.
Make sure you “boil test” the thermometers every once in awhile though. This entails inserting the probe tip in boiling water and noting the temperature. Depending on your altitude, the thermometer should read darn close to 212° when the probe is in boiling water.
Chimney Extension
Most of the entry level models have the chimney hole cut in the top of the smoker and the chimney does not protrude into the smoke chamber at all.. Heat and smoke rise so what happens is the heat from the firebox rises, runs along the top of the lid on the way to the chimney, and exits the smoker without doing much at grate level. Since the meat is on the grates, we would like to encourage the heat and smoke to travel across the meat on their way to the chimney. This helps to even out the temperature across the grate and makes the smoker more efficient. To accommodate this, it is a good idea to extend the chimney down to close to grate level. There are several different ways to do this. One is to use dryer vent ducting. Another is to roll up some aluminum flashing, place it inside the chimney, let it unroll and let friction hold it there. I chose to use exhaust tubing.
I took my lid out to the local muffler shop and had the guy cut a piece to fit and he “swedged” it so that it would stay in place when pushed up inside the chimney.
As you can see, it is pretty close to the level of the grate when the lid is
closed.
Baffle
A baffle is a “deflector” of sorts that is placed at the firebox end of the smoker at the point where the firebox opens into the smoke chamber. The purpose of the baffle is to protect the meat at the firebox end from extreme heat and help the heat travel farther down the smoke chamber to even temps out a little bit. Again, there are a few different ways to do this. Some people use cookie sheets, some just use a large foil roasting pan filled with water placed against the opening. I uses a piece of 1/8” steel, cut to fit so that it lays at about a 45° angle and the bottom is about 2-3/4” inches from the bottom of the smoker.
You will need to assess your smoker for the proper size. Making a template out of cardboard is helpful.
Tuning Plates
Tuning plates are usually pieces of steel laid across the bottom of the smoke chamber. They are of varying widths and are placed side by side in such a way as to leave gaps of various widths between them. The idea is to get the heat from the firebox to travel farther down the smoke chamber towards the chimney end. The placement of the plates and the size of the gaps can be adjusted to “tune” the smoke chamber temperature wise.
Again, there are various ways to do this but I used plates of 1/8” steel of 10”, 8”, and 6” widths. You will want them long enough to lay in the bottom of the smoker yet sitting high enough to be just above the bottom of the tuning plate.
Some people put “rails” of 1/8” x 3/4” flat bar for the plates to rest on. Again, you will have to assess the width and length of your smoker to come up with the appropriate sizes. Again, making templates out of cardboard are helpful.
Another twist on the tuning plate idea is to have a plate that runs the length of the smoker with rows of holes of increasing size -- smaller at the firebox end and larger at the chimney end. The idea again is to move the heat farther down the smoking chamber to even out the temperature. I believe Horizon smokers use this set up and they call it a "Convection Plate".
Here is a diagram that I drew for a convection plate for my smoker.
Some folks have done things along this line and reported good results. I have not gotten around to having one made yet, but when I do, I will test it and post the results.
Charcoal Basket
Solar has a great thread on making the charcoal basket.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=73745
Hopefully you found this information useful and if anyone has any corrections or additions to make, please feel free.
Dave