- Feb 22, 2017
- 70
- 17
First, I do know how to use Google. I'll try to number my questions so that it's easier to respond and also easier for someone responding to tell me to Google it if I'm asking dumb/basic questions. I have very thick skin, I prefer brutal/blunt honesty. You won't hurt my feelings so please don't hold back.
This is my into post from a few hours ago: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/259046/hello-new-guy-with-no-clue-doing-a-big-build-for-a-friend
I forget how exactly I offered or was volunteered to get involved with this project but it is what it is. I'm building a smoker for a friend who wants to enter a competition this June. We have a ton of materials but rather than just swing for the fences with a massive first time build, I was thinking it may be better to build a quick, small(er) RF smoker so we can learn from our mistakes (and he can get cooking sooner rather than later). Call me crazy but I'm very concerned about maintaining even temps. This is a good friend and he's a chef. Good tools make any job easier. I don't want to build him garbage because usually garbage in equals garbage out.
For a first build, I'm thinking about using a couple 55gal drums for the cook chamber and a couple 35gal drums (or maybe something else) as the firebox. Rather than doing the traditional, offset RF, I'm thinking about mounting the firebox in the center and doing a double RF setup. I had actually thought about the build, sketched something out, thought I was a pretty slick in thinking of it... and then I started Googling and found these two (
and two) which are almost exactly what I was thinking.
So:
#1: Am I being too ambitious trying to do anything other than a simple, standard, basic, offset RF for my first build?
#2: How do you set up your welders? Specifically what wire do you use? I'm assuming I'll be using my little MM211 for this. I've also got a blue MM 350P and a red Precision 225 so plenty of horsepower in that department. Mostly wondering if I need to worry about wire choice (composition, not gauge) for a smoker. Also, normally I run 80/20 instead of standard C-25. Any issues with that?
#3: Can someone talk to me about fireboxes? I see the vast majority of them welded to the CC. How much of a heat difference does it make having the FB directly attached like
vs. if I were to space it down a bit like this? Basically, from this thread it seems that the combination of the FB and the single/dual chimneys between FB/CC it would create an extremely hot zone right in the center of the CC and if anything, if may be less of a Delta-T but you could end up with one hot zone and two cooler zones. I think that running a well-insulated, detached FB would accomplish more even heating --but then I worry it would lower CC temps too much.
#4: Water. Should I build provisions for water trays to add moisture into the cook chamber?
#5: How much wood do these things burn? Depending on how I end up attaching the FB I'll make a warming tray for wood. How big should that be? Is it one of those things where you can never have too much?
#6: How much should I pay attention to insulation or insulating the FB vs. insulating the CC? My plan for the CC is to use two 55-gal drums with one sleeved outside the other. Sandwiched between the two drums will be a layer of Roxul Safe 45. Plan for the FB is similar. I'll do the same thing (two barrels with a layer of Roxul Safe 45 sandwiched between them except it'll be a 35-gallon drum turned 90-degrees to the one in this picture. So the door will be the round part (top or bottom of the barrel) and since its 35-gal and the calculators say I need 18.15-gal for FB, I'll weld up a double-walled rectangle box with Kaowool inside it and then insulate the crescent slivers around the edges with more Roxul Safe 45. This way it won't be crazy hot down at his/our knees but from a distance it'll look like two steel drums.
#7: Firebox... The calculator I was referred to said that I need minimum 18.15 gal capacity firebox for a 55-gallon drum CC. I read some other places that you can go bigger. I was thinking 20-22-gal capacity. Is that crazy? Seem OK? It'll be well insulated and the air intake vents/baffles will be tight and done properly so the fire can be controlled easily.
#8: Firebox... Warming tray and/or welding the FB to the CC. I was thinking if I drop the FB down quite a bit and it's turned on its side, there can be enough room for a warming tray on top of the FB, in front of the essentially chimney or passage way between the FB and CC. Is that a crazy idea? Should I just weld the FB to the base of the CC? If yes, should I insulate between the FB and CC or do not insulate and let the heat pass into the CC metal?
Any words of wisdom or advice for someone this ambitious? Tips/pointers on what I'm thinking for build design? Any drawbacks to having FB below CC like that? If I'm building this damn thing I have a feeling I'll be helping cook with it at some point too. I don't want to build or design it in such a way that we regret it or are constantly burning ourselves.
Thanks for reading.
This is my into post from a few hours ago: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/259046/hello-new-guy-with-no-clue-doing-a-big-build-for-a-friend
I forget how exactly I offered or was volunteered to get involved with this project but it is what it is. I'm building a smoker for a friend who wants to enter a competition this June. We have a ton of materials but rather than just swing for the fences with a massive first time build, I was thinking it may be better to build a quick, small(er) RF smoker so we can learn from our mistakes (and he can get cooking sooner rather than later). Call me crazy but I'm very concerned about maintaining even temps. This is a good friend and he's a chef. Good tools make any job easier. I don't want to build him garbage because usually garbage in equals garbage out.
For a first build, I'm thinking about using a couple 55gal drums for the cook chamber and a couple 35gal drums (or maybe something else) as the firebox. Rather than doing the traditional, offset RF, I'm thinking about mounting the firebox in the center and doing a double RF setup. I had actually thought about the build, sketched something out, thought I was a pretty slick in thinking of it... and then I started Googling and found these two (
So:
#1: Am I being too ambitious trying to do anything other than a simple, standard, basic, offset RF for my first build?
#2: How do you set up your welders? Specifically what wire do you use? I'm assuming I'll be using my little MM211 for this. I've also got a blue MM 350P and a red Precision 225 so plenty of horsepower in that department. Mostly wondering if I need to worry about wire choice (composition, not gauge) for a smoker. Also, normally I run 80/20 instead of standard C-25. Any issues with that?
#3: Can someone talk to me about fireboxes? I see the vast majority of them welded to the CC. How much of a heat difference does it make having the FB directly attached like
#4: Water. Should I build provisions for water trays to add moisture into the cook chamber?
#5: How much wood do these things burn? Depending on how I end up attaching the FB I'll make a warming tray for wood. How big should that be? Is it one of those things where you can never have too much?
#6: How much should I pay attention to insulation or insulating the FB vs. insulating the CC? My plan for the CC is to use two 55-gal drums with one sleeved outside the other. Sandwiched between the two drums will be a layer of Roxul Safe 45. Plan for the FB is similar. I'll do the same thing (two barrels with a layer of Roxul Safe 45 sandwiched between them except it'll be a 35-gallon drum turned 90-degrees to the one in this picture. So the door will be the round part (top or bottom of the barrel) and since its 35-gal and the calculators say I need 18.15-gal for FB, I'll weld up a double-walled rectangle box with Kaowool inside it and then insulate the crescent slivers around the edges with more Roxul Safe 45. This way it won't be crazy hot down at his/our knees but from a distance it'll look like two steel drums.
#7: Firebox... The calculator I was referred to said that I need minimum 18.15 gal capacity firebox for a 55-gallon drum CC. I read some other places that you can go bigger. I was thinking 20-22-gal capacity. Is that crazy? Seem OK? It'll be well insulated and the air intake vents/baffles will be tight and done properly so the fire can be controlled easily.
#8: Firebox... Warming tray and/or welding the FB to the CC. I was thinking if I drop the FB down quite a bit and it's turned on its side, there can be enough room for a warming tray on top of the FB, in front of the essentially chimney or passage way between the FB and CC. Is that a crazy idea? Should I just weld the FB to the base of the CC? If yes, should I insulate between the FB and CC or do not insulate and let the heat pass into the CC metal?
Any words of wisdom or advice for someone this ambitious? Tips/pointers on what I'm thinking for build design? Any drawbacks to having FB below CC like that? If I'm building this damn thing I have a feeling I'll be helping cook with it at some point too. I don't want to build or design it in such a way that we regret it or are constantly burning ourselves.
Thanks for reading.
