# Uneven heating in horizontal wood-burning offset--ruining sausages



## aukalou (Mar 4, 2013)

I've been smoking jagerwurst on a vertical Weber Bullet.  It turns out great sausages, but not enough space to do more than five pounds without them touching (which means opening it a lot to move the sausages so they can get smoke).  

My uncle gave me his big iron horizontal offset.  It's a Lyfe Tyme from Uvalde, TX.  It's about 25 years old.  In great shape.  I was hoping to be able to modify it a little to hang sausages, and get more smoking space and less direct heat.  I created a crude smoke stick that hangs in loops I made from cable and clamps.  

The thermometer (located at the far end of the smoking barrel from the firebox) read 200 the entire time.  The sausages only smoked at the top.  They were totally done on the top half.  That gradually reduced as I felt towards the bottom of the sausages and measured the temp, where the bottom 1/3 of most of the sausages was totally raw.  So, my heat is going straight out of the firebox opening and traveling across the top half of the pit to its exit.  The sausage nearest the fire box turned into a lump of charcoal.  What are some modifications I could make to increase heat and smoke circulation through the main chamber and reduce the direct heat coming from the fire box?  Any recommendations?


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## daveomak (Mar 4, 2013)

Take pictures inside and out....  Measure the cook chamber length and width.... firebox the same...   distance under the RF plate, diameter of the stack and length, opening between the firebox and cook chamber and inlets to the firebox....  Along with the pictures, we will know how you can fix it....    won't be the first or last smoker that needs mods...    

Please take a moment and stop into " /*Roll Call*/   " and introduce yourself and get a proper welcome from our members....    

We're glad you stopped in and joined our group...    Enjoy the long smokey ride....     Dave


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## sqwib (Mar 4, 2013)

Horizontals are definitely a different breed.

You may want to try controlling your draft a bit.Too much draft and its like a blast furnace. It takes a bit of practice.

I know form experience that some times things get blasted, I have tried diffusers as well.

I usually have more problems when using larger splits, during combustion of the wood it really blasts the food, try using small splits, charcoal, lump or preburn the wood.

You can also drop the stack a bit with flashing or a can.













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## aukalou (Mar 4, 2013)

@DaveOmak:

The main smoker barrel is 40"x16".  Here's the daytime pic (with my helper).













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Here's a full view, but I took it at night so it's a little dark.













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The heat comes in from the firebox at 10" below the top of the pit.  You can see the smoke stick set up that I made.  Probably should have gone across the diameter of the barrel with smaller sticks instead of the length of the pit.  I'm only about $5 in.  So, I don't mind rethinking it.  The odd thing is, the heat gets pulled up and across the top of the sausages.  The bottom of the sausages, where they're level with the firebox, does not get cooked.  This is what makes me think that there is some design flaw that prevents the heat from pulling evenly across the barrel.  The bottom of it actually stays cool.  













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@SQWIB:

I like your can idea--I'm also thinking that the exhaust location at the top on the side opposite the firebox might be a problem. Maybe if I cut a little bit of chimney flue I might be able to extend it downward to the middle of the pit and pull the smoke and heat in that direction.  The other thing might be that the lid does not seal 100% (I wouldn't really expect for it to seal 100%, but maybe a bit better than it does), which causes the heat to rise faster than it normally would.  But, I'm not sure.  I'll have to test it, but with something less labor intensive than my sausages.  Ruining those was devastating.   Of course, once temp is high enough, everything is closed; and, according to my thermometer, stays at a very level 200F.  













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Here's a very very basic drawing that I sent to one of my friends to see if he has any recommendations.  I'm not an artist.  The arrows show the heat flow.  













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Thank you for your input!


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## aukalou (Mar 4, 2013)

I thought I posted, but maybe not.  It's not showing up now.  Here's a quick breakdown.

Smoker barrel is 40"x16".  Fire box is 20"x16".

 













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Stack has about a 3" diameter and starts about a half inch from the lid.  The stack is about 22" tall.  













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Heat comes from the firebox through an opening that begins about 10" from the top of the smoker barrel.  It's topped off by a little skirt that was welded over it.  Maybe a larger "skirt" in a half moon shape would work better for blocking the direct heat.  The odd thing:  The parts of the sausage that hang lower than the opening to the firebox don't cook at all.  It's actually cool in the bottom. 













heat src.jpg



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I like the can idea that SQWIB posted above.  I was thinking that some chimney flue might work really well if I cut and bent it so that it pulls heat evenly across the pit.  (Not so much at the top of the pit.  It's also possible that the lid does not seal as much as it should.  

Once I've reached 200F on the thermometer, I close everything off so that it will just smoke.

My helper:













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I drew this lovely diagram earlier (I'm definitely not an artist).  Please disregard that the two barrels are different sizes.  The boxes on my smoker are actually the same diameter. 













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Thank you for your help!


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## daveomak (Mar 4, 2013)

Tuning plates...... that will help......  click on the link for some explanations.....  I will be back.....    Dave

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/54542/building-an-italian-offset-smoker


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## aukalou (Mar 5, 2013)

Dave, That is awesome. Coley's description of the movement of heat is exactly what I'm experiencing. The tuning plates are a great idea. I could probably get a friend to weld something like this for me. Thank you!

Sorry I posted twice above. I was falling asleep at the desk as I was typing the first one. Then, I noticed it wasn't there. So, I typed it a second time and noticed after I submitted that it had to be approved by a moderator. Figure I probably didn't notice that the first time since I was dozing.


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## daveomak (Mar 5, 2013)

AukaLou said:


> Dave, That is awesome. Coley's description of the movement of heat is exactly what I'm experiencing. *The tuning plates are a great idea. I could probably get a friend to weld something like this for me*. Thank you!
> 
> Sorry I posted twice above. I was falling asleep at the desk as I was typing the first one. Then, I noticed it wasn't there. So, I typed it a second time and noticed after I submitted that it had to be approved by a moderator. Figure I probably didn't notice that the first time since I was dozing.


If you weld in support brackets on each side of the cook chamber, just above the inlet hole from the firebox, the plates should be left loose so they can be moved to adjust the heat distribution to the cooking grate.... Generally, 1/8" or thicker mild steel works well and is not too expensive....    An infra red non contact therm can read the temp of each plate for easier adjustment....   Then some folks will pop open a biscuit package and place them all over the cooking grate and watch the results....  biscuits take about 15 minutes and give a very good visual aid as to the hot and cold spots on the grill..... and you can eat your visual aids... ain't that cool....  Dave


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## aukalou (Mar 5, 2013)

That's a very cool idea Dave! Thank you so much. I'll get on that. I'll post pics as I have them.


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