# Brinkman Smoke King Deluxe



## cheech (Jan 31, 2007)

Looking at a Brinkman Smoke King Deluxe for $160 is that a good deal and is it a good smoker/cooker etc?


----------



## cajunsmoker (Jan 31, 2007)

Hi Cheech,

I paid $199.00 for mine about 3 years ago.  It is a pretty good unit I suppose, but it is a BEAR to feed.  It will burn up 20# of charcoal and a dozen or so splits of wood on a butt or brisket smoke.  That is why I converted mine so it will run on LP.  The way I am set up now, I can smoke with the charcoal/wood in the side firebox and when I get to the point of either foiling or just being ready to finish without any more smoke I kick in the LP burner in the smoke chamber under my water pan and let it handle the rest.  Works fine for me.  

As far as construction goes, the metal is a little light but not as bad as some.  I do like the upright smoke chamber.  You can pack a lot of meat in.  You may have to work on the door latch (I did) and I also added some legs under the firebox where it joins the smoker box to help level things out.

All in all, I would recommend the BSKD.


----------



## cheech (Feb 1, 2007)

The Wookie can already feel the pain.

I am just not sure I am ready to play with the big boys and have a full blown wood smoker.

But for $160 I supposed that is not too bad.

Gofish this would be some thing I would drive 1/2 mile down the road and pick it up, in fact I can pay with a credit card (I will select my Cabelas card and get two % back for an other smoker)


----------



## cheech (Feb 2, 2007)

http://www.epinions.com/content_152002530948

Found this and thought if any one still was not sure what to do (I think GoFish said it best Do it Do it Do it) this gives a good play by play description


----------



## nmayeux (Feb 8, 2007)

Cheech,
I love my BSKD, although I don't use it as much as I use the little old Lang.  This is a great smoker, though you have to do the charcoal basket and baffle mods to get a good burn.  These mods will add an hour to your assembly time, but it is really worth it!  Here are a couple of pics of the mods that I did when I put mine together two years ago.  Just be sure that you don't use anything galvanized.  I also say DO IT!


----------



## cheech (Feb 8, 2007)

Thanks for your post here.

I am planning on getting these done. The unit is already assembled but we can change things around. I could hardly wait to get her together.

I have a friend that I will bribe to weld this for me. Thanks again


----------



## nmayeux (Feb 9, 2007)

Cheech,
There is no reason to weld anything.  The baffle is just sheet metal bent to spec.  I will post the plans later.


----------



## cajunsmoker (Apr 4, 2007)

So have you rolled that BSKD out and started playing with it yet Cheech


----------



## cheech (Apr 4, 2007)

Just wheeled it out of the living room last night. Made the mod for the temperature redirector with a friend. 

I was going to work on the fire brick but we got a freak snow storm today and I am sick and tired of the cold.

So this weekend will work on that and the sealant around the doors and possibly work on converting it to gas right away so that I can burn either gas or wood or charcoal.


----------



## deejaydebi (Apr 4, 2007)

Congrats on the new smoker Cheech it's a beaty! Gee if you got snow today I can expect it Friday or Saturday .... Oh man!


----------



## cheech (Apr 4, 2007)

It is nuts because the old snow was all melted on gone 
The flowers are pushed up
The snow is now beginning to add up and cover the ground.
It is 28 degrees right now and just yesterday it was 70F


----------



## tonto1117 (Apr 4, 2007)

Yeah, what he said!!!!!


----------



## smoke on the water (Apr 5, 2007)

Cheech, what are you going to use for firebrick and how will you install it? I've been wanting to do the same.


----------



## short one (Apr 5, 2007)

Same here, 80's Monday, didn't get to 50 today and windy, supposed to get in the lower 20's tonight.BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! Break the winter clothes back out.


----------



## cajunsmoker (Apr 5, 2007)

Don't know if you guys have done it yet, but the best thing I did to mine was to raise my charcoal/wood grate up to give better clearance.  I had an expanded metal grate made and put angle iron on the sides so I could just slide it in and out.  Use the same old ash pan to catch the ashes.


----------



## keywesmoke (Apr 5, 2007)

I really feel for you guys up there. It's cold! Here's where I was last week at the GatorNationals, with some friends and NHRA hotchicks at Ron Kapp's pit. Wish you were there....gosh it's hot.......


----------



## cheech (Apr 15, 2007)

Cajunsmoker I did raise up the rack with fire brick. I also made up the temperature deflector. The one thing that I keep going back and forth on is adding sealant around the door to help with maintaining the temp


----------



## smokeyroad (Apr 18, 2007)

I'm glad I saw this.  I got a Smoke King last year...FOR FREE from a friend and had some great success with it.  However, it cost a lot to feed that beast, and I still had to finish some cuts in the oven.  Basically it looks like you added a "hood" to deflect the heat more under the water pan, correct?  Also, the elevation of the charcoal rack was raised.  Is there anything else I need to do to get more efficency out of my charcoal and to be able to maintain higher temps for a longer period?  Thanks in advance for any assistance.  Sincerely, noob.


----------



## cajunsmoker (Apr 18, 2007)

Those two things will help a lot.  I also have stopped using water in my water pan.  I just foil the pan leaving an airspace between the pan and the foil for insulation purposes.  This keeps from having to open the door so much to add water and gets the heat up in the smoke chamber much faster in the beginning.  The only other thing is to build your fire using the Minion method and start with only about 4# of lit charcoal with about another 8# of unlit.  This will give you about a 4 - 6 hour burn time under normal conditions.  After that add lit charcoal about 3# at a time every hour to an hour and a half.


----------



## smokeyroad (Apr 18, 2007)

Your meat doesn't dry out with no water in the pan?  I am also in the process of figuring out if I want to add a gas line to ensure temperature stabilization.  Just seems like a relatively easy fix.


----------



## cajunsmoker (Apr 18, 2007)

The water in your pan has nothing to do with keeping the meat moist.  It is only there as a thermal buffer/sink to help control the temp.  Since boiling water is putting off 200+* vapor, it helps keep the temp stable.  It also helps to keep the temp from swinging as much when you add fuel or open the door.  

There is a thread somewhere about doing your pan this way. I'll try to find it and post it or bump it back up.  It is a variation of what is known as the "Piedmont Method"  where you put two pans together leaving a void between them.  I haven't used water in my pan now for about 2 months and I love it.  No more nasty water to dispose of and the foil just goes in the trash and no clean up at all


----------



## smokeyroad (Apr 19, 2007)

I feel like I should change my name to "grasshoppa".  Thanks for the info. I am doing the e-course now, so maybe I'll stop coming up with these questions.  Is the foiled pan covered in the e-course?  Guess I'll find out w/in the next 4 days huh 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.  If not, how thick of a layer of foil do you use?  Cool info, thanks again!


----------



## cajunsmoker (Apr 19, 2007)

I just use one layer of heavy duty foil.  Push it down in the pan until it's about an inch from the bottom and form a bowl.  Seal the edges by wrapping them under the edges of the pan so when it gets juices dripped down in it, it won't settle down and touch the pan.  This catches the drippings but by it being above the pan it prevents flare ups.  I went thru my pictures to see if I had one showing the pan but I don't.  If I use the BSKD this weekend I will try to get a pic of it for you.


----------



## brett_s (May 18, 2007)

I love my BSKD....after I modded it.

I got it assembled from Menards as a floor model for $99.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.

When I brought it home and fired it up I noticed the following things:
1.  It used a LOT of fuel
2.  I had a hard time getting the smoker box up to temp on cool days.
3.  It wasted a lot of energy by allowing heat to be lost right through the thin walls of the fire box.
4.  The temperature was very uneven in the smoker box.

Here's my mods (I can post pictures later).

#1.  Made a baffel to bring the heat from the fire box directly under the water pan.  Very similar to the one earlier in the post, just a little longer.  And I made mine of 3/16" steel plate....because that's what i had.  Anything would work.  This helped even out the temp a large amount.

#2.  I made a drop in, double walled steel plate that replaces the "grilling" grate on the fire box.  What happened, is the heat would go straight up into the cover area, and transfer into the surroundings instead of going into the smoker box.  Basically, it's a 3/16 plate of steel a 1/2" air gap, and another 3/16 piece of steel.  I put some handles on top so I could take it in and out easy.  I now can actually touch the top of the fire box when in use with my bare hand.  

#3.  In the quest of making it more efficient, I double walled the sides and front (the area directly under the opening to smoking chamber) of the firebox.  I used some 1/8" steel plate and spaced it amount 1/4-1/2" off the existing walls.  This made an incredible difference in the efficency of the unit.

#4.  This is kind of hack, but I needed to do something quick, and it worked.  I made a plywood frame around the smoker box.  used some scrap 5/8" plywood and just gave it a wooden "coat".  This evened out the temperature in the smoker box.  It's ugly looking, but it was probably the best thing I ever did with it.

5.  made a charcoal pan similar to the one earlier.  This also helped

The first time I used it, I probably used 20 lbs of coal to make a rack of ribs.  Now 20 lbs of charcoal will last long enought to cook for 14-16 hours at a crack (I did 80 lbs of pork shoulders at once in it for a party).

Brett


----------



## cheech (May 19, 2007)

I added fire bricks to the bottom of my smoke box and that also seems to help quite a bit


----------



## cheech (May 30, 2007)

Brett any chance we can talk you into posting those pictures?

Would love to see how yours looks.


----------



## cheech (Jun 2, 2007)

I mean PLEASE ......Brett any chance we can talk you into posting those pictures?

Would love to see how yours looks.


----------



## smoke on the water (Jun 3, 2007)

Cheech, I am curious to see the pictures also.


----------



## cheech (Jun 4, 2007)

Has anyone else had problems with the firebox door hinge not keeping the door closed?

Looks like they placed the part that the handle locks into, in upside down and does not work well.

Any suggestions on any mods?


----------



## cheech (Jun 24, 2007)

One other thing that has helped a ton was that Theresa mentioned in her Lang that she needed to build a large fire at first and then control the heat once it turned to coals. I duplicated that in the BSKD and it has been a great help.


----------



## _timmay (Sep 18, 2007)

Hey guys, this is some great info.  I am in St Augustine FL and would love to pick one of these bad boys up.  Any ideas where I can get one?  Cheepest I can find them online is $350 + shipping.  Lowes/ACE/HomeDepot are not carrying them locally.

Thanks
Tim


----------

