# Lang Hybrid Smoker mod question



## RichR (Jun 28, 2019)

I apologize for the length and am fully aware this might be a really bad idea but...

Has anyone put a couple of half-moon doors/flaps/pinwheels in the vertical wall between the smoking chamber and chargrill on a hybrid model? One would be on the top half and one on the bottom. This should allow smoke and heat to pass through to provide another smoking chamber to use. 

I realize I need to do some HVAC type calculations regarding air flow, volumes, etc. to determine the size of the holes. Also, the second chamber wouldn’t have the plate running the length of the grill so the amount of smoke and heat would be reduced as it wouldn’t flow through the entire chargrill chamber. However, if the temp delta is too large and it drops too low, heat could be adjusted a bit by adding a few small coals to the chargrill chamber. 

However, even if the smoke and heat were reduced (even significantly), I should be able to hot smoke in one chamber and cold in the other. Adding in the ability to smoke in the warmer box, there could be the possibility to do some interesting things at the same time. 

My situation - I cook extensively with a couple local chefs, restaurant pros, sommeliers, etc. and am pretty deep into charcuterie to the point where I source heritage breed hogs and break them down myself. I’ll be smoking the usual but include goat, fish, homemade sausage, bacon, etc. in the mix. 

Typically, I’ll be smoking 4 to 6 times a month for 2 adults and 2 teens, once every month or two for 8 adults and 8 kids, and twice a year for up to 20 adults. The cooking with the groups can get pretty wild as everyone tends to want to experiment. I’ve got a POS Brinkman electric barrel smoker, a Weber gas grill, and a large homemade rotisserie (big enough for an 50 lb goat). 

While I would love the 48” (or larger) my budget and space is really limited to a 36” hybrid deluxe. Plus I can’t justify the need for anything bigger than the 36” given my usage. Most importantly, my budget is limited to the 36”. 

Right now I’m planning on extending the chimney down to just above the top rack, adding a bunch of thermometer ports to gather data throughout the cook (with a home-built data polling program), adding hooks in the warmer box for hanging sausage, maybe adding some fire bricks for additional thermal mass (if the data shows it’s needed), and I’m trying to figure out how to map and measure air flow within the smoker during the cook.

Also, I know that the majority opinion and advice will be to trust the professionals at Lang who have built a top of the line precision piece of equipment, to learn the smoker first, and only then consider mods later... and I wholeheartedly agree 110%. I also know my personality, and I modify everything I own from my guns, to my vehicles, to my espresso maker (which I purchased specifically because it can be modified)... and quite frankly I have had some spectacularly hilarious fails. My two favorite sayings are “How hard could it be?” and “What could possibly go wrong?”, and I fully expect my final words will be “Hold my beer and watch this.” If it doesn’t work, I’ll just keep the doors shut, use it as designed, be out a few dollars, and have a great story... so win/win??


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## hardcookin (Jun 29, 2019)

I honestly don't know how to answer your questions.
I have a Lang 84D and I wouldn't want to do any mods on it. It puts out some awesome Q.
The warmer box on a 36" isn't very big. Not sure how much sausage you could hang in it. Maybe someone with a 36 can answer that better.

To me it sounds like you might be better off building a custom smoker.
Sorry I couldn't better answer your questions.


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