New CharGriller Super Pro W/Mods

[mnola917]

So, as some of you may remember I purchased a new super pro w/SFB a few days ago and finally got around to putting it together, doing some mods and seasoning it today.



The first thing I did was put in the dryer tubing to keep the smoke near grate level



I teared it a little bit, if you can see there is a small tear near the original vent. Is this going to be a problem, if so, what do you recommend fixing it with?



The second thing I did was put in two baffles made of 22 gauge steel. I sat them on top of the double bottom that comes with the smoker and notched out two small areas on the right hand side so it can sit flush against the right side wall(although in the end I found that I didnt need to actually do that)



The next thing I did was to cut two pieces of expanded metal and overlapped them to go over the existing charcoal basket. This prevented any smaller pieces of charcoal to fall through the grates into the ashes.



After that I seasoned the smoker by putting all the cast iron grates inside (including the grates for the SFB). I sprayed the entire smoker, inside, outside, upside, downside, left side, right side etc with vegetable oil. I threw in a chimney of hot charcoal and a chimney of unlit charcoal and opened up the vents all the way. I continued to spray it with the oil every 15 mins or so, especially the places that were getting very hot such as the SFB. It ran at about 400* for 1.5 hours (it cooked VERY evenly after tweaking the placement of the baffles a little bit), then it started to cool down. Once I finished cooling it, I wiped it down and "polished" it with whatever oil that was still wet.



Thanks for looking, and if I've missed anything Id love to hear it.

BTW, I'd like to thank everyone for helping out (even if you dont know you did). I did a lot of reading on here to see what types of mods to do and how to do them as well as how to season it. I also want to commend any metal workers on here because it is VERY hard to cut metal straight, its truly an art.

Thanks again, Happy Smoking!
.

 

[caveman]

That tear doesn't look that bad but if it bothers you, go get another one. They're only about $3 bucks, right? Knowing my need to be perfect at times, it would bother me. You could probably just move it up & reset it but that might be more trouble than it is worth. Other than that, your rig looks great. Can't wait to see the qview you produce. Good job.

 

[tom37]

I agree with caveman, it shouldn't cause any problems. You have any thoughts of using a charcoal basket. It seems there is alot of talk about how well they work.

Nice job, now smoke away.

 

[mnola917]

I wasnt really planning on using a basket. I dont feel like I'll need one. If i find that I'm having some trouble I will definitely attempt it. I do need to get a second thermometer now that I'm using a horizontal smoker. It'll make temperature control easier.

 

[caveman]

I have that same model. Just be sure you're able to pull the ash drawer when it gets backed up a little, stopping your air flow. Yours does look good though.

 

[chemicalguy]

that a big grill saw one at walmart , how well do the keep heat and how much fuel does it take for a long smoke .
I have a small Grill pro (bbq pro ) unit about half the size .

 

[mnola917]

Well, I havent really messed around with it too much but I think it'll probably take about 1.5 chimneys to get it to 225, and another chimney every hour-hour and a half. The baffles keep the heat distributed well. I was reading EXACTLY the same temp on both the left and right side of the cooking surface for the majority of the seasoning process.

 

[cliffcarter]

Good looking cooker, sounds like you've got it under control and are ready to cook. I've had the same unit for a couple of years and your estimate of fuel consumption may be about right, but you'll notice fuel consumption going up with colder weather. One suggestion I have is that you turn the factory supplied charcoal grate upside down so it is standing on it's "legs", that way the ash build up won't choke off your air supply on long cooks.

 

[marty catka]

Nice job on the unit!  But you mention how evenly it heated and I don't see any after market therms on your smoker.  I have a CGSP and the factory therm is terribly unreliable.  Most of us have added one at either end of the lid closer to grate level.  Of course two remote therm on the grate itself would tell you that too.  On the order of the charcoal basket, with that in place, you would be able to pull your ash drawer to dump ash in the middle of a long smoke without disturbing your fire too much. My two cents.

 

[olewarthog]

I use a basket in my SFB. I fill all but the front left corner with unlit charcoal and 3-4 fist size wood chunks. I only light about 3/4 of a small chimney and dump it in the open space and can take it to 240 in about 15 mins.  Depending upon the weather, I only have to add more unlit charcoal every 2-3 hours to maintain whatever my target temp is -- generally 230-240.  I have found that the basket holds the charcoal closer together and that helps not only increase the heat but also slows the burn.  Before the basket, I could not got much more than an hour before adding charcoal.

 

[mnola917]

Nice job on the unit!  But you mention how evenly it heated and I don't see any after market therms on your smoker.  I have a CGSP and the factory therm is terribly unreliable.  Most of us have added one at either end of the lid closer to grate level.  Of course two remote therm on the grate itself would tell you that too.  On the order of the charcoal basket, with that in place, you would be able to pull your ash drawer to dump ash in the middle of a long smoke without disturbing your fire too much. My two cents.

I used remote thermometers.  The thermo that comes with tops out at 215*ish and doesnt move from there.  I knew that before I even lit a fire, thanks for the heads up though.
 

 

[heelskins]

question, I'm going to be getting started on mods very soon and i would like to ask ; Would it in anyway be beneficial to move the stack to the side of the pit where the SFB is located? and have the flex tubing extend down in the corner above the baffle? has anyone seen this and is it worth doing?  I'm thinking it may help circulate the heat from one end to the other\

 

[jirodriguez]

question, I'm going to be getting started on mods very soon and i would like to ask ; Would it in anyway be beneficial to move the stack to the side of the pit where the SFB is located? and have the flex tubing extend down in the corner above the baffle? has anyone seen this and is it worth doing?  I'm thinking it may help circulate the heat from one end to the other\

Your talking about making it into a reverse flow..... it can be done, but you have to have a tight seal between the side of the smoker and the flow plate, because you want the heat and smoke to travel evenly all the way to the end then back to the other end. This usually involves welding and the plate in place but the wall of those smokers is to thin to take a continous bead that long without warping.

If you want to do the reverse flow I suggest starting with a heavy guage propane tank, something with 1/4" thick plate thickness on the walls.

 

[schmitzmoke]

I had an offset that I used for a few years and basically did the same mods as you have. Really the best thing that I finally did was, I made a basket for the charcoal. As others have said, it will make your smokes much easier to manage. Another thing that I used was a fan and power transformer from an old computer (everyone has an old one sitting somewhere, each one has no less than three 12 volt DC fans) and used the fan to control the air flow into the burner box. I taped it into a piece of 4" duct and fastened it to the burn box over the vent. A simple damper (tin foil) controlled the air flow as needed. It added a bit more air flow convection through the smoker also. Between the baffles and fan, I had even heat from one side to the other.  

I would definitely add the burn basket, it will pay off in reduced charcoal usage and even temps throughout your smokes. Trust me, these other guys know what there talking about here!

 

[bbqjanto2015]

How did you get the duct to fit over the vent?  I tried a 3" and 4" semi-rigid duct which were, respectively, too small and too big.  I ended up using aluminum flashing.  Had to cut out pieces of the warming rack so the flashing would go through it...

20140720_180240.jpg

• bbqjanto2015
• Jul 20, 2014

20140720_180248.jpg

• bbqjanto2015
• Jul 20, 2014

Also made a charcoal basket and it has been great.  Sits nicely on the charcoal grate included with the SFB.  I plan to elevate it so I can pull out the ash pan without disturbing the basket...

20140720_180300.jpg

• bbqjanto2015
• Jul 20, 2014

 

[philusafret]

Fix tear or many other uses:  http://www.fiberfix.com/

 

[checkmarc]

Have any of you found an way to easily remove the heating rack.  It comes in handy at times.  It's nice to have but seems like it's in the way if you want to smoke a pork butt of turkey.  I'm also looking at adding charcoal basket do any of you have the dimension of what will fit in the opening?

 

[mnola917]

The warming rack should come out very easily.  Push one of the warming rack legs towards the center of the cooking chamber and slide it off the bolt it is mounted to.  The other side will slide off easily.

 

[mnola917]

I also added an expanded metal charcoal basket.  I dont have the measurements on me, but I know all I needed was an 18x18 piece that I bought from home depot.  I also had to spot weld (you could probably bolt it) two pieces of 1"x1" steel angle to the front and back of the SFB for the charcoal basket to sit on.  This allows me to pull the ash tray without disturbing the hot coals.

 

[checkmarc]

I'm having trouble with temperature jumps when I add wood or charcoal will the basket help keep the temperature more consistent?