# New to Smoking Meat - Restoring/Modding Bandera - D/FW, TX (Lots of pics)



## bvbull200 (Aug 19, 2013)

Hello all.  I was referred to this site by another new member of yours, who happens to be my best friend and ALSO happens to be working on a little smoker project of his own (which I'm sure he'll share at some point).

I've grilled for a number of years on a Weber kettle grill and added a Master Forge charcoal grill a little over a year ago.  I'm no expert at grilling, but I've always cooked over charcoal and do a pretty good job, I think.  At any rate, I've decided to put the effort in to learning to be skilled at the "low and slow" method of cooking.  To start, I needed some equipment and, after doing some research, decided to buy used and restore/modify it to my tastes.  I happened across a New Braunfels Bandera that I scored for $75 on Craigslist and have been modifying slowly over the last couple of weeks.  It is almost ready for paint, then off to start cooking.  Below is where I'm at so far.  Pretty excited about learning this craft.  

Here is what I started with:













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So far, we have done the following;

1.  Added heat deflector/baffle

2.  Replaced rear wheels/axle with casters

3.  Replaced front casters with steel legs/feet

4.  Built a (badass) fire-basket

5.  Cut a plate to reduce the size of the cooking chamber (removable)

6.  Sealed some joints that could potentially leak heat/smoke (inexpensive factory assembly)

Still have a few more things to do like add a shelf to the outside and make a little covered mount for the wireless transmitter (I bought a Maverick ET732), but it is almost ready for paint.

Baffle:













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Fire-basket.  The divider is removable and the whole basket is pretty stout.













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Here is the removable plate for reducing the cooking chamber size.  This should make it a little more efficient when BBQing/smoking smaller amounts.  The "exhaust" is in the back left.













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Casters:













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Legs/feet.  This caster/legs/feet combo raised the smoker by about 3 inches, which is good for a taller guy like myself.













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Here are a couple small gaps we filled in:













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Looking forward to reading more on the site and learning from the more experience/skilled grillers/smokers/BBQers on here.


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## themule69 (Aug 19, 2013)

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions Post it
and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is because their
are so many different ways to make great Q We all have our own taste.

Happy smoken.

David


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## seenred (Aug 19, 2013)

Welcome to the forums!  This is the best place I know for sharing ideas on smoking, grilling, curing, etc.  There are plenty of friendly, knowledgeable folks who really enjoy helping one another.  Just ask when you need anything, and someone here will surely have the answer.  I always liked the looks of those Banderas, and it looks like you've made some great improvements on yours.

Good luck and have fun!

Red


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## bvbull200 (Aug 19, 2013)

Thanks, guys.  I've found plenty by searching already.  It will take a little time to get used to the forum layout (seems pretty fragmented), but it looks like there is a wealth of information everywhere you turn.


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## s2k9k (Aug 19, 2013)

:welcome1: to SMF!!! We're happy you found us! You've come to the right place, we have over 50,000 members who just love to share their experience and over 1,000,000 posts describing it! Yea that’s right over 1,000,000!

We have an ”Articles” section that is full of great information about smoking to include a lot of recipes and instructionals. Check it out there is a lot to learn in there!

Would you do us a favor and add your location to your profile, it helps others to know where you are when they offer advice, Thanks!

You might want to check out ”Jeff's Free 5 day E-Course”, it will teach you all the basics plus a whole lot more!


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## bvbull200 (Aug 20, 2013)

S2K9K said:


> to SMF!!! We're happy you found us! You've come to the right place, we have over 50,000 members who just love to share their experience and over 1,000,000 posts describing it! Yea that’s right over 1,000,000!
> 
> We have an ”Articles” section that is full of great information about smoking to include a lot of recipes and instructionals. Check it out there is a lot to learn in there!
> 
> ...


Thanks!  I'll check out the E-Course.

Location has been added.


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## Dutch (Aug 20, 2013)

From your pics, you've done a great job on refurbishing that smoker. Looking forward to the q-view that will be coming off of that thing. Love the charcoal basket, should keep that smoker running quite awhile.

Enjoy the Smoke!


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## mrbarbecuenet (May 21, 2014)

Hi fellow barbecue master.

I recently purchased a New Braunfels Bandera verticle smoker on craigslist for $20

It was a bit rusty as you can see from the photos; I did the following.

I sanded, and scraped the entire inside of both the fire box, and smoke box.

Painted exterior, replaced caster inserts, made a new coal basket.

I still need the wood table built, and sanding rust from bottom of grill stand.













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sorry the photos didn't show in proper order.

I have a question about the mod you did inside the smoke box?  What is it for?  I have seen this online a few times.

Thanks.

Reggie


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## mrbarbecuenet (May 21, 2014)

I forgot to mention....

I seasoned the smoke box 3 times with charcoal, and hickory.  i'll upload a photo later.  It's beautiful, and black.

I used a grinder with a wire brush, and fine #4 waterproof sand paper, then washed with water.  after drying, sprayed vegetable oil inside, and wiped with towel, heated up, and seasoned like you would a cast iron pot or wok.


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## mrbarbecuenet (May 21, 2014)

Does anyone have any techniques for using a vertical offset smoker like mine shown above?  New braunfels bandera smoker.

I have been smoking on my Traeger electric smoker for the past year with great success, now that I have the off set, I'm getting some seasoned oak wood for the weekend.

Please hit me up with a reply, i'm brand new to the forum, and look forward to sharing my successes, and learning tips, and tricks from other.

Thank you,

Reggie 

Mr. Barbecue













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## gary s (May 22, 2014)

Hello and welcome from East Texas, search through some of the forums and threads, Lost of information there. Don't know if there is anything special you do for that type, I have a RF, but using charcoal and wood is pretty much the same in all smokers, I control my heat to the Cook chamber using the damper on the fire box, I keep my chimney damper Wide open when I am smoking. A good temp gauge is a must, That way you will know what your CC temp is getting to. You may have to play with the amount of Charcoal and wood to get the desired temp.

Gary S


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## mrbarbecuenet (May 22, 2014)

thanks for the tip Gary!  I'm going to pick up some seasoned oak from a guy in West Palm Beach tomorrow; I'll let you know how things go.

In regard to a mod on the opening to the smoke box; I've seen several post on here about controlling the air flow, but no details as to why you would want the mod.

Reggie


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## burger (Feb 21, 2017)

​i see im late as hell to this thread but better late than never, huh? I have this smoker and the reason for the baffle is heat distribution. the heat tends to role out of the fire box and straight up the cooking chamber wall making one side much hotter than the other.


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## CeC (Sep 16, 2020)

It's been a long time since I cooked a brisket and never in thisTexas New Braunfels vertical smoker we got a couple yrs ago at a yard sale for $40. My bf replaced the wheels with bigger stronger wheels, put a heavy duty cover on the stack, straightened/repaired the hinges on the smoker grill and repainted it. I'm ready to cook the 13# brisket my bf bought at Sam's club. I bought the very expensive wood. I'm trying to remember what kind. Any pointers would be appreciated. I used to cook a brisket in the oven 40 yrs ago (brisket much cheaper then) , wrapped in foil seasoned with lemon pepper and cooked at 200° (I think) for 6 hrs.


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