# Best upright smoker?



## outlaw44 (May 2, 2010)

Hey everyone.  I'm, as we speak, cooking up my first pork butt on my brinkman gourmet charcoal smoker.  I bought it at a hardware store, and it was cheap.  My biggest complaints are the tiny door and I can't seem to control the temperature at all.  Because the door is so small, I really can't control where the coals are going either.  And there's only tiny slits in the bottom of the fire pan to let air flow in.  Do you have a recommendation for what the best upright smoker would be?  I'm looking to keep it affordable and that's the main reason I went with this smoker to begin with.  I'm assuming the upright smoker would be the best/most economical route.  Maybe I just need some tips on how to use this smoker...


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## petewoody (May 2, 2010)

Don't give up on the ECB. I have used one for some time and with a few mods it will perform well and you will learn heaps about smoking. As bought, the ECB is rather inefficent but a few simple mods will help. I suggest you read the following and make at least a few of the mods:

http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm


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## mballi3011 (May 2, 2010)

I'm a gasser so I will be leaning towards the propane smokers. I personally like the smoke vault 24" it is wide enough to lay any size spares that I have seem. Then you can get a boat load of abt's and many other things on there to.


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## rickw (May 3, 2010)

When I first read the title to this thread I was thinking of a  Backwoods smoker . If I were in the market for a top of the line vertical this is where I'd be looking.

 I've seen a couple of them in action and they are incredible.


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## outlaw44 (May 3, 2010)

Dang!  Just checked out the site you linked.  That's amazing!  I definitely need to think about some of those mods.  Is it pretty typical to put a bed of coals in the fire pan and then dump the hot coals on top of that?  I just used my chimney and dumped my charcoals into the fire pan.  Probably some of the reason why I had such a hard time keeping the temp right!  I really wish I had the adjustable vanes for inflow and exhaust.  I can see why that would help A LOT.  Do you think there's any reason to do three inlet?  Can you pick those adjustable pieces up somewhere or do they need to be hand made?  

I know everyone loves pics...my first pork butt...


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## bbq engineer (May 3, 2010)

Good call Rick. Based on that, I'm kinda partial to my homemade backwoods clone. It's a real powerhouse!



Got14u is also building smokers...he's doing some really nice work too...PM him.


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## rickw (May 3, 2010)

I'll take one


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## petewoody (May 3, 2010)

Outlaw, I made my dampers and vent out of some sheet aluminum I had lying around. You could make them or buy the replacement ones for a WSM. I would recommend using two dampers as it gives you a bit more heat control. I use the Minion method (plenty of references on this site and elsewhere). I light around 16 brickettes and load my basket with brickettes two deep covering half the basket. I lay the lit brickettes against the unlit ones (on top of which I lay the oak/apple et al chunks) and then slowly adjust the dampers until I achieve the heat I am after. I keep the top vent open.
Hope this helps Peter


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## outlaw44 (May 3, 2010)

Thanks for the replies!  The backwoods smokers look really nice (price reflects that too)!  And so does yours Engineer.  Makes me jealous, but I don't think I can justify the cost.  

I'm really motivated by Pete's site and not giving up on the cheap brink.  I think some of those mods would be very manageable and at least worth a shot before spending 2 to 300.  This is the first I've heard of the Minion method as well...I presume this will help a lot next time.  And relieve a lot of my being annoyed with having to use the tiny little door.


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