# Old Country BBQ Pits Pecos Owners Thread



## thmoker

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__ thmoker
__ May 16, 2014





I searched for a Pecos owner's thread but found only one, and that was mostly about temp issues and other grills. Since I had a few folks at Academy Sports tell me that the Pecos is their number one seller by far, I thought I'd start a thread on them to see what mods other owners have done and usage tips, etc.

I got mine about a month ago after about 10 years on an old, trusty Brinkmann Smoke'N'Pit Professional. That old thing had to be built in the USA because it was very stout. It would hold temp pretty well and I had her tuned to about 275 degrees every time (according to the lid mounted thermometer...more on that later) She developed a small hole in the firebox about 6 months ago and it just grew to the point of no return. Rather than weld over the hole, I started shopping for a new smoker. As most of you know, that can be a frustrating chore. My dilemma was that I wanted a better quality smoker, not made in China, not made from a propane tank (because my wife hated the way they look) and since I only smoke about once or twice a month...I wanted it to be affordable.

So after about 6 months of shopping, research and loitering around here (a superb resource, BTW), I got my Pecos. 

I have smoked twice so far and here are some of my initial impressions:

-It's very easy to get it up to temp with charcoal followed by splits...the hard part has been keeping the temp stable. I switched my old stick lid thermometer over from my Brinkmann and just torched my first racks of St Louis ribs. They tasted great, but they were way overdone. After I ordered the Maverick and tested the temp I found out why. At 200 degrees the lid thermo was 100% accurate. At 275 degrees, it was off by 50 degrees. So, I was making bony, charcoal tasting pork jerky. The second effort worked out much better after I tossed the old lid thermo and went with the Maverick.

-I used the included firebox charcoal support shelf as a makeshift tuning plate and it seems to fit and work very well, but more testing is needed. I used an old grate from a weber hibachi as my new coal support. I decided to keep my upper grate just in case. 

-This grill leaks a bit around the lid, but I get the feeling that after a few more smokes, that won't be much of a problem...we'll see. 

-I don't ever clean my smoker because it just seems like it gets seasoned just right, despite recommendations from manufacturers like Lang. I would love to hear if everybody else cleans their smoker's grates while hot. I've heard arguments both ways on that.

-Finally, when I bought mine I was allowed to step into the store warehouse to pick from several grills on pallets and got one that looked especially tight. If you go to buy one I would suggest you ask if they have any in the back, because the one on the floor was scratched up and bent.


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## jburn244

You bring up some good questions, some of the ones I've been pondering as I'm looking at pulling the trigger on this. Never thought of using the charcoal/fire grate as a tuning plate. I'll have to try that. I've read many people just opting for an expanded steel/metal charcoal grate rather than the stock one.  

I had also been wondering about preventing rust on the outside...I've read of people coating the firebox in Pam along with the inside.


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## fisher6688

have you gotten the fire management under control? i have the wrangler and I am still trying to keep my temps stable. I get them stable for about 30 mins but i have to babysit it. I might try to find some sheet metal for my tuning plates. and or find something to replace my coal support.


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## thmoker

Yep, I coated the entire interior with pam before I seasoned it (no meat). Not the exterior. I keep a can of high temp black BBQ Rustolem spray paint if I see any issues on the outside of the grill.

Fire management:    working on it. I think the Maverick thermo will help, but I think it will take quite a few smokes before I will have a better grasp of it. I think the grill will seal itself over time, like my last one did.  

As Indy winds down, I'm heading out to smoke a couple of yardbirds...cold beer by the pool...Happyy Memorial Day to all :grilling_smilie:


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## thmoker

The chickens came out perfectly. One had dry rub jerk seasoning, and the other was a wet jerk seasoning from a jar. Both were juicy, spicy and wonderful. But the real star of the show was the tail end of a beef tenderloin that I had marinated overnight in that bottled teriaki sesame sauce with the white label. I smoked it to internal 135 degrees. To die for...I always wondered what to do with that skinny end piece of the tenderloin, and now I know.

Still working on Pecos temp control. Kept it between 255 and 305 for the entire cook. I can live with that. If I wanted a "set it and forget it" smoker, I would've bought an electric model.


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## thmoker

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__ thmoker
__ Jun 1, 2014





Boston and St Louis
The butt was on for about 7 hrs, foiled for 2, then wrapped in blanket and in cooler overnight. Pulled perfection.
The ribs I did for 3-1-1 and they came out really nice.

I think I have a better grasp of temp control now. I set the stack at about an inch or so open and leave it alone. I have been controlling the temp swings by opening and closing the firebox flue minimally. I only use the stack for backing the temp down drastically if it runs away on me. This is completely different than my old Brinkmann, that I controlled with the stack only.


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## stubri

I'm not sure what you mean when you said you used the charcoal support as a tuning plate. can you explain? I am new owner of a Pecos smoker with not much experience. Thanks, Stubri


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## glocksrock

He means that he took the grate out of the firebox and is using it as a tuning plate/convection plate, and replaced the firebox grate with a grate from an old grill.


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## fisher6688

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__ fisher6688
__ Jun 2, 2014





That gray steel is from the firebox. Put it in the main chamber. I cut an old grill grate with a sawsall and put it in the firebox to keep the coals and wood up off the bottom of the firebox. I can also scoop underneath the grate to get ash out so the fire can have more access to oxygen


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## fisher6688

Thmoker said:


> image.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ thmoker
> __ Jun 1, 2014
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Boston and St Louis
> The butt was on for about 7 hrs, foiled for 2, then wrapped in blanket and in cooler overnight. Pulled perfection.
> The ribs I did for 3-1-1 and they came out really nice.
> 
> I think I have a better grasp of temp control now. I set the stack at about an inch or so open and leave it alone. I have been controlling the temp swings by opening and closing the firebox flue minimally. I only use the stack for backing the temp down drastically if it runs away on me. This is completely different than my old Brinkmann, that I controlled with the stack only.


Looks good! And I think I need to close my stack a little bit. I have been running it wide open. I think that because it is such a large diameter stack that it is causing more air to be sucked in at the inlet on the firebox. So I will play around with the stack and the inlet damper to see if I can load up the firebox with wood and keep a steady temp for a long period of time. If I load the firebox with wood and have the stack wide open, even with inlet damper almost completely closed, I get temps past 300.


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## jburn244

Fisher and Thmoker,

How has the stock charcoal grate worked as a tuning plate? Good enough? Has it gotten you reasonably even heat from end to end?


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## fisher6688

It's pretty good. Better than nothing. I've noticed that u need to leave a little gap in between the deflector baffle and the deflector piece. Otherwise you get a hot spot where the support grate ends near the exhaust side. There just isn't enough holes in the support grate to release more heat before reaching the exhaust end. 

With figuring out that the support grate was causing me to have a hot spot near the exhaust I moved it over a little to create the gap between the grate and the deflector. This helped a little with letting more heat out and up near the firebox side. However I  am still messing with it and will see for sure. 

I did find a company near me in Irving Texas that will make my tuning plates 1/4 inch 4 inch by 15.75 for 9 dollars a piece. Might give these a shot and I might try a whole sheet across the bottom with small holes near the fb and gradually getting bigger holes towards the exhaust.


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## john0091

Fisher6688 said:


> It's pretty good. Better than nothing. I've noticed that u need to leave a little gap in between the deflector baffle and the deflector piece. Otherwise you get a hot spot where the support grate ends near the exhaust side. There just isn't enough holes in the support grate to release more heat before reaching the exhaust end.
> 
> With figuring out that the support grate was causing me to have a hot spot near the exhaust I moved it over a little to create the gap between the grate and the deflector. This helped a little with letting more heat out and up near the firebox side. However I  am still messing with it and will see for sure.
> 
> I did find a company near me in Irving Texas that will make my tuning plates 1/4 inch 4 inch by 15.75 for 9 dollars a piece. Might give these a shot and I might try a whole sheet across the bottom with small holes near the fb and gradually getting bigger holes towards the exhaust.



Hey Fisher,
What company in Irving did you have the plates made? I live in Grapevine Texas. Thank you


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## fisher6688

Western sheet metal. Irving Texas 
[email protected]
It's off loop12 and union bower. 
http://www.westernsheetmetal.com

Ask for Scott. Tell him he just did some tuning plates for Asian Jason. He is a nice guy. He said he can do anything you need. Big or small. I'm thinking of making a custom smoker one of these days and he will probably be doing the welding and other metal works.


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## fisher6688

How is the pecos as in holding the heat? My wrangler has smaller cooking surface. Thinking back I wish they made the pecos with the same thickness as the wrangler.


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## john0091

Hey thank you so much that's great info I will definitely call him.


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## stickyfingers

I have been cooking on mine for 3 maybe 4 years and made the same changes as you did for the same reasons. I use an old mesh grate instead of the factory supplied (not enough air flow) I use a digital therm. at grate level. This year I started putting a large foiling pan with water in it in the cooking chamber. I place it on an old grate I had (under the food grate) and push it up against the heat deflector . This not only adds moisture to your cooking environment but it seems to have _really_ helped stabilize temp. and hot spot.

I do clean mine like the Lang videos show about after every few smokes. Still plenty of flavor producing oils left.

I also drape the cooking chamber with a moving blanket when using it in the winter. Really helps hold temp and conserve wood. Found it on ebay for $20.


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## john0091

Hey Fisher6688,
I called and Scott is out of town but Ike helped me. He's going to cut 5 plates for me today. Really nice guy. Thanks once again.

I just finished my first round of seasoning with my new Wrangler yesterday. Fix box management will be my next thing to tackle.


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## fisher6688

john0091 said:


> Hey Fisher6688,
> I called and Scott is out of town but Ike helped me. He's going to cut 5 plates for me today. Really nice guy. Thanks once again.
> 
> I just finished my first round of seasoning with my new Wrangler yesterday. Fix box management will be my next thing to tackle.



No worries. I'm still tinkering with my plates. Once I think I have it, it all changes on me!


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## john0091

Picked up my tuning plates from Western Sheet Metal today. Ready for seasoning round 3 and get this thing ready to smoke a brisket on Sunday. Thanks again Fisher for the head's up on the plates. How many plates are you using?













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__ john0091
__ Jun 12, 2014


















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__ Jun 12, 2014


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## fisher6688

you have the wrangler i see. i thought you had a pecos due to the title of this thread haha. i am using 5 of them right now. i am still messing around with them. if you notice there is a hot spot on the exhaust side. i think our stacks are so wide in diameter it creates big suction so sucks all the heat to that side. it also depends on the wind that day. i thought i had it going good with it being more spaced out by the firebox and less by the exhaust. yes backwards. and the heat was pretty even. then the next time i was working with it before i put a brisket on it changed on me. it got all hot by the firebox again! please let me know if you find whats working good for you. by the way i use two probes from a maverick et 733. and it drives me nuts trying to get even temps. i might take out the plates and see how it is without the plates. maybe old country designed it with the big exhaust to suck the air that way and it creates a good flow with decent temps?


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## fisher6688

i have been wanting a larger smoker now so i can use the different temps in the smoker without tuning plates. as in throw a brisket on the end of a big ol smoker and load up the firebox and take a nap! or maybe a reverse flow smoker. but as of now the old country smokers are good for what i am trying to achieve. not feeding big crowds of people. just the family. but it would be nice to set it and forget it with a stick burner but that is not the point of a stick burner. that would be a pellet grill or electric.


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## john0091

Yeah I should have told you I had a wrangler. I toyed with getting a pecos, but I like the heavier gauge steel on the wrangler. I've been lurking this thread and an actual wrangler thread. The wrangler has similar issues. I ran the fire all day, two different times to test out the heat with the old fire grate. I just took the cooking grate above the fire box and now use it for the coal grate. So it gets better airflow, which in turn makes the heat go up faster. The temp on the end close to the stack was consistently 50 degrees hotter. And yes, I believe you're right there's a lot of air flow that's making it hotter. I won't get to mess with the tuning plates today, but tomorrow I plan on experimenting with them to try and get the temp even throughout.

I hear ya on wanting to throw something on and forget about it. I toyed with the idea of getting a pellet smoker a while ago, but there's something about a stick burner that keeps me there. I just want to get this thing dialed in to turn out really good and consistent brisket and pork butt for family and friends. I don't think I'll ever need a bigger one.

Either way, these are top quality smokers and I'm very happy I got one.

Keep me updated with your progress! I'll do the same.

Cheers!


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## fisher6688

john0091 you figure anything out yet?


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## john0091

Fisher6688 said:


> john0091 you figure anything out yet?


Hey Fisher,

I've been tinkering with it all day and got it dialed in pretty well.

Clean smoke here:













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__ john0091
__ Jun 13, 2014






And three tuning plates (4 made it too hot on vent side) I moved these around until I got it to 250 on each side













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__ john0091
__ Jun 13, 2014






That link to stickburning 101 really helped. I maintained a small fire with the stack open all the way and the door cracked to 1/3 of the way open. I spent all morning splitting logs with a 4 lb sledge and splitter. Then cut them to size with a miter saw. I'm really pleased with the results. I'm off Monday so that will be my first brisket on my new wrangler.

How are you making out?


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## fisher6688

I'm about to fire her up and play around. What size is yor tuning plates 4x15.75?


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## john0091

Fisher6688 said:


> I'm about to fire her up and play around. What size is yor tuning plates 4x15.75?



Yes, and 1/4" thick. I had 4 plates in there, but the one by the stack got too hot and made it 50 degrees hotter on that end. Good luck today.


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## fisher6688

Thanks man. And I think that was the problem. I used too many plates. Time to try three


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## fisher6688

Do you plan on cooking with the side door 1/3 open too


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## fisher6688

And how much is your first plate over the baffle


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## john0091

Any time. The plate above the baffle has approx 1/2" space. I'll take a few pictures


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## john0091

Ok, here's a couple top shots. It's hard to tell in these pictures, but if you are looking straight down into the main chamber, the first plate has a 1/2" gap.













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__ john0091
__ Jun 14, 2014


















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__ john0091
__ Jun 14, 2014






And here's the side door. I was able to peg 250 for about 50 minutes to an hour this way before adding another stick.













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__ john0091
__ Jun 14, 2014






These are the stick sizes. It's post oak I picked up from a guy in Mesquite. I split and cut them to size.













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__ john0091
__ Jun 14, 2014






Keep me updated! Good luck.


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## fisher6688

looks like you got it john! tune us in when you throw some meat on


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## john0091

Fisher6688 said:


> looks like you got it john! tune us in when you throw some meat on


Will do. Have a good weekend!


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## jburn244

Well I finally pulled the trigger on the Pecos. After cranking it up for about 5 hours and chucking on some beef ribs for fun, I'm happy so far.

I'll have to put some gasket sealer around both doors, I'm losing smoke in a few spots. There's gaps in the side door but I'm not worried about that. I just ran it stock, decided not to fool with tuning plates this time around and figured with a probe at each end I'd just see what I had out of the box. I tried running with the door at least partially open as much as I could, and doing so I had TBS all day no problem. Never got dirty as far as I could tell. There were times where I could get each end within just a few degrees of each other, other times (like after opening the lid or adding a split) they'd be off by between 10-20. Not a big deal until I need to fill the whole cooker but by then I'll probably have tuning plates.

I still just have to get to know her. I think I'll be able to get it down after a few runs. I think I had probably a little too small a fire and I couldn't keep a good coal bed. I was able to keep it between 225-275 between each end but I was definitely up and down the whole time, and had to fool with the side door/damper a lot. Some of that was intentional just trying to get a feel for what would happen if I tried certain things. I did notice I could get both ends of the cooker within a few degrees the more I had the door open. When I tried closing it more to bring down the temperature, they would be off. At times it also seemed like the ends would trade off getting hotter/cooler. I wasn't able to discern a pattern with that just yet but I know it has to do with the door. Some of what I experienced may not be the best benchmark because it was a pretty windy day and I'm thinking that kind of played hell with the draft at times and may have burned through my wood quicker. What I may try next time out is using the stock charcoal grate as a tuning plate and just having my fire in the bottom of the firebox. The ash might build up more but I'm thinking if I run with the door open it might be ok and keep a better bed of coals instead of the smallest pieces falling through the grate.

Like I said, I think I had too small a fire because I couldn't get more than 40-45 minutes at most of consistent heat until my temperature would start diving and I'd have to add more. The wind might have played a role in that too, though. Hopefully it'll be a little less of a fuel hog as I get better at it. Side note, I bought a bag of the oak mini logs from Academy and they seemed to burn pretty well. They are kiln dried so maybe some actual seasoned wood with a little more moisture in it would last a little longer overall.

After seasoning (with bacon grease) for a couple hours I threw on some beef ribs just to have something cooking. They turned out well. Good smoke ring, and I didn't use a water pan at all but they were nice and moist.

Overall I'm happy and excited to get this cooker down. Stick burning is fun.













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__ Jun 15, 2014


















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## fisher6688

looks good man. if you take out the charcoal support and put the fire on the bottom of the firebox you might burn a dirtier fire. you need some oxygen underneath the fire. let it breath. and its easier to scrape out ash under neath the grate.


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## fisher6688

i wish i had the Brazos model. little bigger than the pecos but has 1/4 inch steel. that way i could throw some birds by the firebox and throw a brisket and or butt on the other side


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## thmoker

dem's some good lookin beef ribs, man...well done!


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## john0091

Looks really good Jburn. I just finished my first brisket on my Wrangler and it was a pain in the butt. Over the course of 10 1/2 hours, I had to add a stick every 20 minutes to keep the temp at 250. I too think my fire was too small and I cut my wood pieces too small as well. I had the stack open all the way and the side door open 1/4 most of the cook. The wood is seasoned perfectly, around 9 months and it burned really well, I just wish I could have figured out a way to keep the temp steady for longer than 20 minutes. Stick burning life I guess. Just have to figure out a better fire.

The brisket was incredible, the best one I've done yet, but man it was a ton of work and I burned a lot of post oak. At least my friends loved it. I was ready to fall asleep after. I wrapped the brisket after 6 hours and smoked for an additional 4 1/2 to 200 internal and kind of winged it since I don't have a good thermometer yet. I rested for an hour and was really pleased with the results. Super moist, fat was rendered perfectly, point had a little tug to it, and the taste was incredible. By the way, what thermometer are you using Jburn? Do you like it?

Here's a few pictures: Beginning to slice it:













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__ john0091
__ Jun 17, 2014






Point cut:













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__ Jun 17, 2014






Point and flat cut:













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__ Jun 17, 2014


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## john0091

Fisher6688 said:


> i wish i had the Brazos model. little bigger than the pecos but has 1/4 inch steel. that way i could throw some birds by the firebox and throw a brisket and or butt on the other side


How much does that sucker weigh? My wrangler is only 3/16 inch steel and weighs 275lbs. I bet that brazos weighs a ton.


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## jburn244

Looking good!

I'm using the Maverick ET-732. It's really nice, although I'm a little concerned that after a few uses with this new cooker the leads will go bad due to being pinched over and over again. 

I may end up putting thermometers on each side close to grate level. I would love to do Tel-Tru's but man those are pricey!

Started looking around and these River Country's seem pretty good for the price. All good reviews it looks like.


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## fisher6688

I have a maverick et733. Helps with not having to sit outside. But it will drive you crazy as you see the real grate level temps ! Anyway I used three tuning plates this past weekend. Did two separate cooks on the same day due to the wrangler size. Did two St. Louis racks and the after that did a 11 lb butt. And yes I added a split or half a split every 30-45 mins depending on how big that wood was. Used pecan. Let's say I didn't get much sleep at all. Until I threw the pork butt wrapped in foil in the oven at 2 am and let it go till about 6 am. 

From what I hear with a bigger smoker we can load up the bigger firebox and place the meat further away and it should hold the same heat for 4 or so hours! But the quality of flavor we are getting from truly burning sticks is worth the hassle.


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## fisher6688

And brisket looks good!


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## john0091

Tel-Tru's are pricey indeed. I have an Old Country thermometer in the pre-drilled location in the center of the lid. The temp on that thermometer vs the ones I had placed on the grate were about 15-20 degrees apart. I'm very weary of buying a maverick because I've read a lot about the probes going bad after only a couple cooks. I really like the features, I'm just a little hesitant to spend $90. How long have you guys had your mavericks?

I'm wondering if I can drill a hole closer to the grate and put my thermometer down there. It's 3/16" steel so not sure which bit to use.

As far as meat temps, I have a friend who is a chef at my work. He uses a thermapen and swears by it. Only problem is it's $100.


Fisher6688,

I agree. The hassle is well worth it. I'm wondering if I use bigger logs, it will keep me from having to add every 20 mins to keep a steady 250. Do you have a thermometer on the lid? What are the grate temps vs the lid?

How did your Ribs and Pork come out? And thanks for the comment on brisket. I got lucky pulling it off at the right time and it came out great. Like I said, I'm a total brisket novice. I'm going to do a couple pork butts for the 4th for my friend's party. He came over and ate the brisket so now I've been recruited! But I told him I'm not staying up for 11 hours before the 4th! Hah.


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## glocksrock

The maverick probes are fine, I've had mine for quite a while and only had to replace the temp probe once. If you place some high temp silicone or rtv around the probe where the wire enters that will help keep moisture out and it will last longer that way. But replacement probes aren't too expensive should you need one at some point. The maverick is well worth the money, you won't regret getting one.


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## jburn244

I had the ET-73 or whatever the cheaper one is called for 3 years, probes were fine and just finally crapped out on me after that period of time. The little on/off switch also broke finally on the ET73 so I decided to upgrade to the 732. I like it a lot. So I got 3 years out of the $30 Maverick unit. For that price I don't think that's too bad.


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## fisher6688

pork ribs came out great john. i did 2-2-1.5 during the foiling period i did brown sugar, honey, and squeeze butter. No BBQ sauce needed! this was a sweet tasting rib. so if you like salty spicy might need to change it up. 

Check this youtube vid out. Franklin in Austin TX drilling and putting in a thermo in a old country smoker. 



im still working on my brisket but my pork butts have been going routinely well. smoke till IT of 165. foil it and go till 195 IT. then probe test/toothpick test it. let it rest in the cooler. 

I smoked my last 11 lb pork butt over night. I smoked it from 8pm to 2 am. I wrapped it at 2 am at IT of 165. It probably could have been at 165 earlier than 6 hours but i fell asleep and when i woke up my maverick said smoker temp of 171 and internal meat temp of 165. Here is my trick for getting some sleep. when i wrap it in foil at IT of 165 i put little apple juice in it stick it in the oven at 250 to 275. depending how long you have. i did 250 so i could sleep some more. my maverick has an alarm on it so it beeped at me when it hit 10 degrees before 195 and at 195. woke up and probe tested it. nice and soft. so i threw it in the cooler. went to church and came back pulled it out of the cooler. Temp tested the meat just in case, i was afraid it couldve dropped below 140. it was still at 145. pulled it apart and it was great.


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## jburn244

The other night I ran a bead of high temp silicone around the cook chamber and firebox. I was bored with about an hour of daylight left last night so I decided to fire up the cooker and see how I did with the seal. In the end my seal job was terrible and I'll have to redo it. I didn't get a thick enough bead in most places.

I decided to make the fire in the bottom of the firebox and use the charcoal grate as a tuning plate. I made a really small fire, not trying to get into cooking range necessarily, but proportionate to the fire size, it held right about an hour before I would have added another split. The heat seemed more consistent. There was no wind so I just kept the door closed and ran the damper wide open. I did notice that when you run with the door open you do lose some heat from firebox side of the cook chamber. I think I got the tuning plate positioning at least close, I had both sides under 10 degrees from each other and holding.

Planning to try some ribs for realz this weekend and see how we do. I liked the coal bed I had with the fire on the bottom of the firebox but I wonder whether it would completely burn through over time.


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## fisher6688

JBurn244 said:


> The other night I ran a bead of high temp silicone around the cook chamber and firebox. I was bored with about an hour of daylight left last night so I decided to fire up the cooker and see how I did with the seal. In the end my seal job was terrible and I'll have to redo it. I didn't get a thick enough bead in most places.
> 
> I decided to make the fire in the bottom of the firebox and use the charcoal grate as a tuning plate. I made a really small fire, not trying to get into cooking range necessarily, but proportionate to the fire size, it held right about an hour before I would have added another split. The heat seemed more consistent. There was no wind so I just kept the door closed and ran the damper wide open. I did notice that when you run with the door open you do lose some heat from firebox side of the cook chamber. I think I got the tuning plate positioning at least close, I had both sides under 10 degrees from each other and holding.
> 
> Planning to try some ribs for realz this weekend and see how we do. I liked the coal bed I had with the fire on the bottom of the firebox but I wonder whether it would completely burn through over time.


i thought about the RTV silicone. can you add to those places that did not get enough silicone? or do you have to start from scratch. i decided to leave my wrangler as is besides the tuning plates. Too  much to worry about. It is a good smoker. maybe i got lazy haha.


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## thmoker

I had an opportunity to purchase a Lang at a significant discount price a few days ago. I thought long and hard about it, and after discussing it with my wife (who gave me the green light), I decided against it. The Lang is a brute, to be sure. I guess I'm getting used to this "old school" Pecos smoker and am enjoying the learning curve. It was a close call, and I was very tempted. That Lang fire box is super stout!


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## glocksrock

If you are happy with the Pecos, no need to get something different. Which Lang were you about to get? I went from the Wranger to a 48 patio and couldn't be happier with my decision. The thicker steel and the extra space are what I really like, plus the fact that it's reverse flow and maintains temps more evenly.


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## jburn244

That's some dedication to the Old Country right there. Lang is definitely intriguing but I just can't spend so much on something that sits unused except a couple times a month for me.

One thing that seems lacking on the Pecos is heat recovery and overall radiant heat efficiency. When I open the lid to tend/spritz, the cooker seems to have a tough time recovering properly. I put some of the bbqgaskets.com nomex gasket around the lid, I've only cooked on it once since, not sure whether it's helping or not. I also used a mix of lump and briquetts on that cook and did see a longer lasting coal bed and steady heat. For some reason lump alone doesn't seem to keep a great coal bed. Not sure why.


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## jburn244

So I wanted to try the charcoal basket and minion method with this cooker as I have a yearly big party coming up in a month I am cooking for and I will need to run the smoker all day. I bought two of the 12x24 expanded sheets from Lowe's and bent them in half and fastened them together in a square. No bottom. So the basket is 12" tall and fits perfectly in the firebox. I filled it almost all the way up, took a whole 20 lb bag of Kingsford, minus the room 2 8" splits took up.

I had the two splits leaning in opposite corners, basically meeting in middle of the bottom of the basket. I lit 15 briquets and put them in one corner, on top of the split opposite the intake. 

Overall I got 5 hours of burn and could have coaxed more. Took me an hour to get the temp steady, because that first split fully ignited and probably cut significant time off my burn. Once I got it steady, it held temp really well, and recovered well after tending the meat. I only added a couple more small splits during that time for additional smoke.

Most important lesson I learned will be to use chunks next time instead of full splits. I think that will keep it from running away from me at the beginning. Even with that happening, I got 5 hours easy, and could have coaxed at least another hour out of it @ about 235. I still had a coal bed after 8 hours, so I could have added more wood and kept it going. I think by using chunks I should be able to get a 7-8 hour burn no problem.


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## thmoker

I would like to see some photos of that setup if you can get them, JBurn.

Last weekend I smoked a smallish BButt using a new (to me) method that produced results that my wife and sister-in-law are still talking about. I smoked between 225-275 until internal temp hit 201, then pulled the butt off, wrapped it in foil and towels and put in a cooler for one hour. I unwrapped and pulled it and was actually shocked...It was without a doubt the best meat I've ever smoked. Never opened the cook chamber until ready to take meat out. Rub ingredients aside, if you want your pulled pork to have maximum burned ends and flavor...try foresaking the foil and leaving the meat in until you hit the magic number. I was concerned that it would be too much smoke, but my wife confirmed that was not the case. BBRibs without foiling is my next endeavor. Should be interesting.


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## 1ray

I have a Pecos Has anyone made a convection plate for the pecos that works well or is tuning plates the only way?













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__ Sep 17, 2014


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## jburn244

One of Horizon's drop in convection plates might fit this (the 16"?) Although I haven't investigated. I just went with tuning plates as it was a cheaper option.


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## 1ray

Whitch way did you put the fire grate in the cc I can't tell by your pick


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## fisher6688

upside down and long ways.


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## jburn244

Well I loaded up my cooker to the max for the first time yesterday, 9 racks of spares trimmed down to St. Louis plus most of the rib tips and skirt meat cut into chunks. The Pecos cooked like a champ. Most everything was cooked evenly even though I had to use rib racks. Great color all around, and still moist even though I didn't foil. I had'nt not foiled in a long time and now I kind of remember why I used to not ever do it. I kind of liked the texture and definitely the color more letting them ride through the smoke. No bitter taste at all so I guess that's a testament to my clean fire!! Took about as much wood as I had budgeted but I did have to add a few fistfuls of charcoal to keep my coal bed going. I could tell the full cooker was was impacting the fire. 

Nothing real sequential here just some randoms:













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## 1ray

Do any of you pecos have trouble controlling the temps in your pit ? I can get it set around 225 and walk away for 30 min and it will be 325 to 350 so bump the intake very little check in 30 min and it is 175 the stack is wide open any help would be appreciated .I can post picks if yall need to see all the mod I have done. I am also using a maverick temp gage.


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## jburn244

1Ray said:


> Do any of you pecos have trouble controlling the temps in your pit ? I can get it set around 225 and walk away for 30 min and it will be 325 to 350 so bump the intake very little check in 30 min and it is 175 the stack is wide open any help would be appreciated .I can post picks if yall need to see all the mod I have done. I am also using a maverick temp gage.


It's a learning experience, for sure. After 4 months and several cooks it's starting to feel more predictable for me. To help though we need to know what kind of fuel you are using, how much, how you started it, etc.

If you let it come up to 225 and then came back and it was over 300 that's actually not a bad place to be. You need to give this thing 45 minutes or an hour to come up to temp and be ready to cook. I've learned you HAVE to let the body of the cooker get loaded with heat. You can't just let it come up to 225 in the first 15 minutes and expect it to hold because it won't. I try to overshoot my cooking temperature a little bit and drop back down into it. Biggest thing I'm still learning is keeping a consistent coal bed for heat. But learning to work a fire is fun and it's fun talking about it.


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## 1ray

Thanks JBurn 244 yes I do let it set for about an hour and I start with a full chimney of kingford  blue and fill the charcoal basket except for 1 corner that I put a can in until chimney of cols are ready and I have peace's of pecan wood I cut down with a chop saw but even after an hour the temp jump around













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## glocksrock

Have you tried moving the smoker so it's pointing a different direction? It's possible your temps are varying due to lots of wind blowing into the vent.


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## 1ray

I don't think wind is it . It sits near a 6foot wood fence


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## jburn244

Your problem is too much air. The minion method is not working because it's just burning across the whole basket. It's up to 300 so quick because all your charcoal gets lit. I haven't had any luck with the minion method in this cooker. You can't choke off the air enough and keep the proper draft.


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## 1ray

Are you not using a basket and did you raise your fire grate up to about 4 inches?


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## jburn244

1Ray said:


> Are you not using a basket and did you raise your fire grate up to about 4 inches?


I did try a basket and doing the minion method but I didn't have much luck. It took an entire 20lb bag of charcoal just to get a 5 hour burn, even though I started it too fast and could have gotten more, it's not to economical. I may eventually experiment with it more, but as of right now it's not a viable option for me.

My grate isn't really raised although I'm not using the stock one anymore. I found a cooking grate at Home Depot that fits well and raises it slightly maybe. I didn't really measure.


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## 1ray

Right now I am using the grill grate that slides in the top fo the fire box. Have you done any kind of mods to any part of yours?


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## jburn244

I thought about doing that but I opted to keep the grill grate in case I ever wanted to grill over the firebox.

Only mods I have done on my Pecos are 1/4" thick tuning plates, and the bbqgaskets.com nomex gasket on both cook chamber and firebox doors. The tuning plates seem to have made the biggest difference not only in temperature distribution, but radiant heat and temperature recovery. It seems to come back up to temp quicker than before with the tuning plates.


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## slimc

Just got the pecos and I'm having a hard time keeping temp above 220, losing smoke and heat. Where did you place the nomex tape on the lid or smoker body? Also do you burn chunks or splits?


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## jburn244

Hey there, I put the gasket on the lid. 

I burn splits in mine. They can't be too big though or they won't catch and burn clean, they'll just smolder. 7"-10" splits seem to work best, around wrist/forearm size in diameter.

How are you running the cooker? What position are your dampers and how did you start your fire?


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## slimc

Thanks for the info JBurn I appreciate it

I put a bed of kingsford original charcoal, used a chimney to start it. Then I was adding chunks of apple wood. I got up to about 250 degrees after half an hour before I put on my ribs. Then the temp would just drop off and the chunks were burning really fast but temp stayed around 190-220. I had the firebox door mostly open and flu wide open. I was wondering how much charcoal you guys use to start off and do you just put on one split at a time? It seems like the amount of charcoal I had in there wasn't hot enough to keep temp without more wood added to it. Thanks for any advice.


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## jburn244

slimc said:


> Thanks for the info JBurn I appreciate it
> 
> I put a bed of kingsford original charcoal, used a chimney to start it. Then I was adding chunks of apple wood. I got up to about 250 degrees after half an hour before I put on my ribs. Then the temp would just drop off and the chunks were burning really fast but temp stayed around 190-220. I had the firebox door mostly open and flu wide open. I was wondering how much charcoal you guys use to start off and do you just put on one split at a time? It seems like the amount of charcoal I had in there wasn't hot enough to keep temp without more wood added to it. Thanks for any advice.


Yeah I'd say chunks is probably the reason you can't keep it at temp. You need more fuel. Use splits around the size I mentioned above. Another thing to be sure to keep in mind is to give it plenty of time to come to temp. Try giving it closer to an hour. Your temperature gauge might read 250 after 30 minutes, but you have to give the body of the cooker plenty of time to load with heat. Best to get the temp up over your target, and then drop down into it. The bed of charcoal/kindling you start with will be about spent by the time you are ready to cook if you do it right.

You are correct on keeping your chimney 100% open and your inlet damper most of the way open also.

I usually add one split at a time, sometimes 2 smaller ones. You are looking at every 40-45 minutes. Stick burning requires babysitting. I'm still getting the hang of keeping a good solid bed of coals. That's the key to keeping the heat as consistent as possible.

This is a good video from Lang on firing up a stick burner. This is the way I usually try and go about it. Except I'll usually use lump charcoal to start rather than kindling.  

Let me know if you have more questions.


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## slimc

thanks JBurn, can't wait to  give it another shot, I'll get back if I have questions!


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## buttburner

J Burn is exactly right

use splits not chunks

splits burn a lot slower and more evenly and easier to control the temps

chunks have much more surface area to burn, they catch, up in flames quick, there go your temps, then they burn out quick, and you lose your temp

use sticks

you will have to experiment with thickness to see what works best for your pit


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## thmoker

slimc said:


> Thanks for the info JBurn I appreciate it
> 
> I put a bed of kingsford original charcoal, used a chimney to start it. Then I was adding chunks of apple wood. I got up to about 250 degrees after half an hour before I put on my ribs. Then the temp would just drop off and the chunks were burning really fast but temp stayed around 190-220. I had the firebox door mostly open and flu wide open. I was wondering how much charcoal you guys use to start off and do you just put on one split at a time? It seems like the amount of charcoal I had in there wasn't hot enough to keep temp without more wood added to it. Thanks for any advice.


Slim,

I agree with above advise to use sticks over chunks. It's easy for me to say because I live in FL and don't have to deal with freezing temps, but I've never had a problem getting and keeping temps in my Pecos. I've always used standard fireplace sized pieces of split red oak, and I try to warm them on the firebox before I use them.

I find it helpful to relate my smoker to an automobile, in that I consider the firebox vent to be the "accelerator" and the chimney flu to be the "brakes". After I get the charcoal fully lit and in the firebox, I put in a couple of splits on the coals and open the FB vent wide and the chimney about halfway. When I can see that the splits are burning, I close the chimney to about 1/2-inch or so (where it stays for most of the entire cook) and close the FB vent to about the same. I keep a close eye on the temps: if I need more heat I open the FB vent a bit. If it gets too high, close it a bit. I only change the chimney if temp runs away too high, in which case I close it completely to "put on the brakes". Essentially, you are choking out the fire with its own smoke. When I get back down to temp, I return the chimney flu to 1/2-inch and get back to controlling the accelerator to get temp dialed in. I should also mention that after I throw in a new split, it usually takes a while before the temp settles in and I can leave the grill alone for a bit.

This is how I manage temps on my grill during a cook. Of course, a digital thermometer is very nice to have...I have a Maverick that I rely on.


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## buttburner

I control my fire solely with intake air. Chimney is always wide open

its a bad idea to try and choke off the fire with its own smoke. You risk stale smoke on your food.


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## thmoker

on my grill, wide open chimney runs temps way too high. I tried to control temps with the FB vent only but couldn't get any consistency. I need to be able to get other things done while I'm cooking. I have found that keeping the chimney mostly closed is more forgiving. But as I indicated, it's probably different for people in colder climates. What it boils down to is, smoke should be coming out of the stack, not from around the cooking chamber lid, and it should be thin blue smoke...

If closing the chimney briefly causes "stale smoke" to affect flavor of meat, it hasn't made itself apparent to the palates of anybody that has tasted my ribs.


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## buttburner

try maintaining a smaller fire for less heat

closing the chimney "briefly" is not the same as running with it 1/2" or so open the entire cook as you stated

it may work for you but its not really how stickburners are designed to run

they are designed to let the air flow, the smoker performs better if its allowed to breathe


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## slimc

Do you guys use a charcoal basket or not? I've been reading conflicting information about what is better to allow the fire to breathe, curious to hear your opinions on using a basket vs just using the firebox grate that came with the smoker by itself, thanks


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## thmoker

Slim,
I don't use a basket for charcoal but I can see that it works well for others so it's worth a try. I decided against using the firebox grate (the one that slides in over the coals, meant for grilling) because it seemed to sit too high. The thin one that comes with the grill is useless...I turned it over and used it in the cooking chamber to baffle the heat toward the center of the grill. It works Ok for that purpose, but I really need tuning plates made. I actually use an old Hibachi grill grate in mine because it fit just right. There is about 1.5" of space between grate and bottom of firebox.

There is no one best way to do anything. What works for some may not work for others. Tonight it took my grill about 1 hr to get up to temp and now I have about 15 more degrees before my tri-tip comes off. Back at it tomorrow with 2 Boston butts....good luck with keeping that temp right!


----------



## slimc

What size did you pecos owners use for tuning plates? I saw dimensions for wrangler but not pecos thanks


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## slimc

After looking at what you've all been doing this is what I have so far for modifying me pecos smoker. I've yet to use it after these mods













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## jburn244

I didn't have any luck with a charcoal basket and the minion method. I think I have a couple posts about it in this thread. In short, I couldn't choke the fire off enough to slow the burn down but also keep the proper draft through the cooker. Just too much air in the firebox and not a good way to stop it.

The stock charcoal grate worked for me for a while as makeshift tuning plates but then I went for the real thing. I think I went with 4x14, and did 1/4" cold rolled steel. I got 5 and they only cost me $25 from a 'metal by the foot' type place. They work nicely. But you don't really need them unless you are filling up the cooker. If it's just 1 rack of ribs or a couple shoulders just pick a side and roll with it. 

But in the end airflow is key. This cooker needs air to draft properly, and that might mean a little more fuel in the end, but the fire will be cleaner. The color you get from smoke burning is almost worth it alone.

I got basically the same grate as you did from Home Depot. It seems to work pretty good.


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## slimc

Here is the nomex I added today. I'll report back after I smoked on it to see how much it affects temps.













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__ Nov 30, 2014


















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## just ol pop

Added two new gauges at grate level


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## just ol pop

Added two new gauges at grate level
Sorry sould not get pics to up load. I am enjoying htis thread very much....I have 4 tuning plates 1/4"x4"x15". I am wondering where to palce them to get started ..from fire box to chimney...in the middle spaced out or fom chimney to fire box,no sure. Did some hams this weekend one at FB was great but the smaller one had a little too much smoke
a little bitter not sure what happened there,,,,How is best way to keep from too much smoke and keep heat up.any comments will be greatly appreciated ..I am a newbe


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## jburn244

Start with a plate close to the baffle, say 1/2 inch or so, and then space the other three out in small, but increasing increments next to each other. It takes some playing with to get it just right.

If you are getting too much smoke flavor you might just have too much smoke. Your fire should be clean, meaning getting a lot of air. I rarely run the inlet damper smaller than 1/2 or 3/4 open. Chimney always 100% open. You should only see thin, blue smoke if any at all. You should see almost clear heat coming out. If you see white billowing smoke your fire needs more air. 

Hope that helps.


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## just ol pop

Thanks so much .. I will try your suggestion in about two days got to do butts for my granddaughters wedding


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## buttburner

Another thing when you are playing with the tuning plates is after you make an adjustment, give it plenty of time to react.

May take an hour or 2 or even more, if you don't you will be chasing your tail and the temps

I know, it happened to me


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## jburn244

Yeah the plates work well but they take some fiddling with to get placed just right. They are kind of a pain also if you move your cooker around (I keep mine in my garage) since there isn't a good way to keep them in place aside from welding I guess. I originally didn't want to pop for one of Horizon's convection plates but I may end up trying it eventually. Just much easier to drop in and out if I need it. Sometimes the different heat zones you get without any kind of plates works to your advantage.


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## just ol pop

In my Pecos  I have 4 - 1/4" x 4" x 15 3/4" hope this helps


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## slimc

OK so I added my tuning plates, still need to play with them temps are varying left to right. I still had a real hard time keeping temps up. A couple of notes

1. I started with 2 chimneys of charcoal. This got temps nice for getting my initial wood real hot, but the ash from the charcoal seems like it just chokes my fire, not enough air.

2. the first pic below is the only way I can keep temps up and fire going, if I close the door at all even with the flu open the fire dies down. I learned to have the wind toward my FB and it helped alot.

3. I bought post oak online in large splits, they were not seasoned enough and too large, wouldn't catch fire easily, I had to keep adding small pieces of random twigs to keep fire hot to burn the post oak I was using.

4. I think i'm going to ditch the charcoal basket next time and charcoal, only use small wood to get my ember bed. It took me 2 hours of constantly keeping on the fire until the charcoal was gone and I started using real small pieces of wood that burned hot. Once I started using small wood and adding my oak splits on top the fire was finally hot and clean. I'm learning a little more every time I use it

5. the tuning plates helped with temp rebound and the nomex tape was amazing at fixing my leak issues with the cock eyed doors on my smoker which had big gaps.













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## buttburner

good idea about getting rid of the basket and going all wood. that will help

lets see some pics of how you have the plates situated please

its possible you have too many and its choking off the air flow causing you not to maintain a flame with the firebox door closed

I know this from experience!!!


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## jburn244

Yeah I would for sure try and cut down your splits. 7-10" seems to work pretty well, sometimes I'll just add them two at a time. If you aren't already, do preheat your wood top of the firebox. That should help. Even then you are still looking at a split or 2 every 40-45 minutes with this cooker. 

A good coal bed is the ticket. Still learning how to keep it consistent.


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## just ol pop

I smoked 4 butts the other day(raining yuck)they came out great..but I had to move the around. I was about 250° at the fire box side.and about 210° at the chimney side.I have 4 tuning plates in the cooking chamber..which way do Imove them to raise the heat at the chimney side..going from the FB to the chimney side> one is about 1/2" over the defelector plate the others are about 1/4" to 1/2 " spaced to the chimney.But still a litte cooler at the chimney side HELP!


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## jburn244

Just ol Pop said:


> I smoked 4 butts the other day(raining yuck)they came out great..but I had to move the around. I was about 250° at the fire box side.and about 210° at the chimney side.I have 4 tuning plates in the cooking chamber..which way do Imove them to raise the heat at the chimney side..going from the FB to the chimney side> one is about 1/2" over the defelector plate the others are about 1/4" to 1/2 " spaced to the chimney.But still a litte cooler at the chimney side HELP!


Where do you have your inlet damper set? How about chimney? Sounds like you probably need to space them out a little larger as you get closer to the stack side to let more heat through.


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## just ol pop

I have the chimney open all the way and the FB damper 1/2 open


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## jburn244

Sounds about right, you probably need to just space them out a little more as you get closer to the stack side. Takes some fiddling with. Again I'm still thinking about popping for one of the Horizon convection plates.


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## just ol pop

Thanks for the suggestion I will do that..wasnot sure on spacing..Have a great holiday


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## buttburner

if you are having airflow problems and trouble maintaining a flame with the firedoor shut, try removing one of your plates completely, like the one nearest the chimney

I did  that and it make all the difference in the world on my old OK Joe I had

I had too many plates and it was restricting the airflow


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## just ol pop

I will try removing one that might be my solution...thanks


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## jburn244

Here's a picture of how I put mine. As long as it's close to this I get within a few degrees side to side.













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__ jburn244
__ Dec 11, 2014


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## just ol pop

i do not have mine that close to the FB diverter plate but I will get it closer..that may be one of my problems right there...I only have four I see you have five..I will try this week end (if it warms up some)to see how that change works and agian THANKS.. and WOW how di yo insert that pic?


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## just ol pop

B:sausage:













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__ Dec 11, 2014





View media item 346660Here is one of the butts I did the other da


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## just ol pop

I put two thermo on my smoker












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__ just ol pop
__ Dec 12, 2014


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## buttburner

I would never use a stick burner on a wooden deck like that!!


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## slimc

I added 2 inch width / 1/4inch depth 15 1/2 inch long tuning plates. I initially aligned like this for my last smoke, actually made the left side about 50 degrees hotter than right. I used 2" because they were free. I think 15 1/2 inches is a little bit too long but still works great for recovering temps and consistency.













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__ Dec 25, 2014






below is how i am going to try my next smoke













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## slimc

slimc said:


> I added 2 inch width / 1/4inch depth 15 1/2 inch long tuning plates. I initially aligned like this for my last smoke, actually made the left side about 50 degrees hotter than right. I used 2" because they were free. I think 15 1/2 inches is a little bit too long but still works great for recovering temps and consistency.
> 
> below is how i am going to try my next smoke


after playing around with the plates, below is what finally stabilized my temps, my plate on the far right was too close to the FB inlet, so the heat was just going all the way across. Now my temps are very close as you can see by the pic below. My plates are 2" wide do this won't work for those using 4" plates













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## jburn244

Looking good. I think I mentioned before that I have tuning plates and they are a great inexpensive option if you aren't moving your cooker. Mine gets towed out of the garage each time I use it so it's kind of a pain to have to reset them each time. I may end up popping for a convection plate just to make it easier.


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## whitneyigod

You can put me as a owner here gonna make some upgrades to mine but I love it


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## jburn244

This thread needs a bump. 

Any of you Pecos owners do anything cool or discover any new tips/tricks over the last few months?


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## will simmons

I'm a new owner, seasoned it, then I have cooked on it twice already. I love it.  All I have to use is an abundance of oak firewood. I cut some pecan wood & have it split & drying for later use. This is my first smoker. I have some metal for tuning plates but just haven't cut & installed.  Love the forum, looking forward to learning a bunch of tricks form the pro's..


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## sigep1967

Have any of you tried taking the plates completely out? I have the Brazos and finally figured out the baffle does what it is supposed to and didn't need the plates at all!


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## jburn244

sigep1967 said:


> Have any of you tried taking the plates completely out? I have the Brazos and finally figured out the baffle does what it is supposed to and didn't need the plates at all!


If I run the Pecos without tuning plates I notice more often than not my hot spot is nearest the stack rather than the firebox. And it's usually pretty significant, between 20-40 degrees difference.


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## sigep1967

If you cut the airflow down just a smidge that should go away either on stack or damper. It wont take much. Of course mine is a brazos and may react differently but it wouldn't level out with tuning plates at all.


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## jburn244

For any of you in the Kansas City area, I've decided to sell my Pecos and go the Pit Barrel route. Stick burning is a lot of fun, but I'm just not in the right life stage with two little ones to be babysitting a fire all day.

Here's the cooker on Craigslist in KC...it's been well taken care of. So if you know of someone who might be interested, it should get a good home. Comes with some extras and is in excellent condition, so hence the price. Thanks!

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/spo/5133611598.html


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## smoknpi

Does anyone make a kit to seal the Pecos offset smoker? Or what have any of you used to seal yours? I read that some have just smoked on them and over time they have gotten better. I dont see how thats possible if the same gaps are there. I am getting alot of smoke leakage and I assume heat loss as well. Thank you for the knowledge you share!


----------



## tropics

smoknpi said:


> Does anyone make a kit to seal the Pecos offset smoker? Or what have any of you used to seal yours? I read that some have just smoked on them and over time they have gotten better. I dont see how thats possible if the same gaps are there. I am getting alot of smoke leakage and I assume heat loss as well. Thank you for the knowledge you share!


They make gaskets to seal the smokers

http://www.bbqgaskets.com/contact_3.html

Richie


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## smoknpi

Thanks tropics. Ill check them out.


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## slimc

smoknpi said:


> Does anyone make a kit to seal the Pecos offset smoker? Or what have any of you used to seal yours? I read that some have just smoked on them and over time they have gotten better. I dont see how thats possible if the same gaps are there. I am getting alot of smoke leakage and I assume heat loss as well. Thank you for the knowledge you share!


check out my post #80

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/162603/old-country-bbq-pits-pecos-owners-thread/80#post_1271817


----------



## slimc

Update to my PECOS mods. After playing around with my setup for a few years here is what I have:

1. nomex tape around both cooking lid and firebox lid (this stuff works amazing, make sure you clean surface and follow up with alcohol wipe down where you will put tape and let dry before adding the nomex tape)

2. tuning plates, spaced out more and more the further they are from the firebox  (this helped keep temp more constistent from left to right, originally the temp was around 50 degrees off, now it's usually under 20 degress off)

3. removed all grates from fire box. - this is a deal breaker for me. i have now learned to keep the temp and coals hot in my large firebox, I build a large fire first and let it go for an hour and get A LOT OF COALS as a bed before I add my smoking wood. you can use lump coal if desired instead, but using wood works great too and letting it burn down. For me, the grates get in the way of managing the fire and moving the coals around. Without the grate in the firebox, now it's easier for me to manipulate the coals and wood closer or further from the cooking chamber to manage temps, before this was hard to do because the coals would fall down the grate or the grate was in my way. I got this idea after reading aaron franklins book where he had a picture of his wood stacked in the firebox without any grates, ever since my smokes are way more consistent and easier to manage

Good luck with your pecos!


----------



## smoknpi

Very nice slimc! This looks like what I want. I didnt notice but did you need a door clamp or anything to keep the good seal?


----------



## slimc

smoknpi said:


> Very nice slimc! This looks like what I want. I didnt notice but did you need a door clamp or anything to keep the good seal?


not at all, the weight of the door is plenty heavy enough. After you add the tape you will notice a huge difference in smoke loss (less smoke seeping out)

The pecos is definitely a lot of work and took me about 8 smokes to get it figured out, but that is also the fun of it. If I could go back in time i prob would have purchased the wrangler for the heavier gauge steel and the upper rack, which I would def use now that I smoke more often. I find the pecos is a large chamber, large firebox and requires a pretty good fire and very hot coals to keep consistent

I also put a small watering pan in with every smoke right over the FB inlet


----------



## smoknpi

Ill be smoking a couple butts and some ribs this Saturday. I will try the firebox setup and see how that goes. I wont have time to get the gasket by then but then there will be more smokes soon after Saturday! Thanks again!


----------



## smoknpi

What size of charcoal box works good in the pecos? I am going to have one made and need some dimensions. Also how much charcoal do you usually start with? Fill it up? Thanks in advance!


----------



## glocksrock

You can easily make a basket, check out the link below.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/89796/i-call-it-the-20-20-charcoal-basket


----------



## slimc

I don't like the charcoal basket , I tried it 5 times and was just in my way the whole time. From now on I either load up about a quarter of a bag of lump, make a hole in the middle and dump hot coals from my chimney starter in , or I just stack up small sticks and twigs and get some logs burnt down and use the coal bed. I don't even use a grate anymore . I keep my door slightly open and vent wide open and move the coals closer or further away from the cooking chamber


----------



## smoknpi

Slimc, ill try it this weekend. Thanks.


----------



## kmiller

I just picked up my Pecos today which is replacing a $99 Charbroil that was rusted completely through. I'm excited to get my Pecos rolling and look forward to getting it dialed in like my old smoker. I could lock it in at 275 for about 2-3 hrs at a time with minimal fuel adage. I'm contemplating what to use to season it. I used veg oil on my last one but due to the thickness of the precise in comparison I'm considering Crisco. I've read some others have used Pam. How long did you legit go, what temp, etc.  Any insight or best practices to share are appreciated. It will be a week or two before I can get it done so plenty of time to study up.


----------



## jakebays

I am glad to see a group of Pecos Cooks! I chopped off its legs and put mine on a trailer. It is small enough to pull w/ a golf cart. I also added banding around my doors to get a better seal. Back side of the trailer is an old truck box I found in the trash. So far I am in for about $700 + time. I cook on this rig about 4 times a week. I have completely ditched propane and I am not turning back.

View media item 430663


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## smoknpi

Man I like that setup! If you dont mind I might have to copy this in the future!


----------



## slimc

kmiller said:


> I just picked up my Pecos today which is replacing a $99 Charbroil that was rusted completely through. I'm excited to get my Pecos rolling and look forward to getting it dialed in like my old smoker. I could lock it in at 275 for about 2-3 hrs at a time with minimal fuel adage. I'm contemplating what to use to season it. I used veg oil on my last one but due to the thickness of the precise in comparison I'm considering Crisco. I've read some others have used Pam. How long did you legit go, what temp, etc.  Any insight or best practices to share are appreciated. It will be a week or two before I can get it done so plenty of time to study up.



Animal fat is great. Make sure to get a HOT fire going to burn off any oil on it from manufacturing before doing anything for as long as it takes for the oil to burn off. Then get some lard and wipe the inside down while it's still warm from the fire. Don't wipe it down while the smoke is going you will give yourself lung cancer !! 

Good luck


----------



## bmaddox

I have been looking at the Pecos every time I am at Academy. I am really leaning towards it I just don't know if it has enough capacity. What are you guys realistically able to fit on yours?


----------



## slimc

you can fit alot on it. I do wish I bought the wrangler though, I find the PECOS is a beast to maintain consistent temps and I wish I had an upper rack. Also the wrangler has thicker steel so holds the temp better. The pecos is a great smoker for the money though, you can fit about 4 racks of ribs laying flat, or many more if you have rib racks. If you do get it and plan on smoking a ton of food, plan on buying racks or modifying by welding on a shelf above the one that comes with it.


----------



## bmaddox

Thanks @slimc. I have a UDS so if I am going to spend the money it has to be a step up in capacity and 4 racks side by side is a better than my current capacity of 2 (unless I use my bottom rack which is a pain to use). I was looking at the wrangler too and I might have to suck it up and spend the extra $100 for it.


----------



## slimc

when i was searching a few years ago I couldn't find anything with the quality of the wrangler or pecos for an offset smoker for around $500. Keep in mind you will most likely need to make a few mods (see my pictures and posts earlier in this thread) to get it where it needs to be, so take that into account. I like that the pecos has the stack exhaust at grate level, is thicker metal and has a large firebox and big wheels. 

I still had to:

add steel plates to distribute heat evenly

add gasket seal to both lids

make my own charcoal basket (don't really use anymore, now I remove the grates too from fire box)

my wishes:

upper grate

thicker steel

taller smoke stack

An offset smoker is more work than any other type of smoker, but it really really makes it fun and worth it when you get it right. 

If you really need a ton of cooking area and don't want to have to make mods, then consider stepping it up a level (lang smokers, meadow creek, yoder). They offer trailer mounted smokers and you shouldn't have to do much, but thats a BIG UPGRADE IN PRICE

most of us can't afford them big boys or don't really need something that large.


----------



## smoknpi

slimc, you mentioned a taller smoke stack. Would that improve airflow and increase temperature capabilities?


----------



## slimc

smoknpi said:


> slimc, you mentioned a taller smoke stack. Would that improve airflow and increase temperature capabilities?



A longer/taller exhaust creates a better draw of air and yes, results in a better airflow. The result is more pull of heat and air , and helps improve the maintenance of your fire since more air is being pulled into the firebox


----------



## smoknpi

Thanks slimc! I never thought of this. It does make sense. Another mod!!


----------



## kmiller

Anyone find a cover for theirs?


----------



## slimc

Char broil heavy duty XL smoker cover

Fits perfect look it up on Amazon right now it's on sale for $24


----------



## bbqnerd

Anybody ever get a convection plate for the Pecos?  I've seen the ones from horizon, any other options?  Any luck?


----------



## smoknpi

Sorry for not knowing! If the convection plates are the ones that are placed in the smoker to more evenly control the heat, I made my own out of sheet metal ( 3" x 13" or 14" long) I have about 8 of them that I move around until my thermometers read close to the same.They work real good! I got my sheet metal at work so it didn't cost me anything. If this isn't what you are talking about just disreguard! If it is, hope it helps!


----------



## bbqnerd

I think what you have are referred to as tuning plates, which is what most people seem to have.  This is a convection plate.  Seems like it would be more efficient (in theory)...  I will probably end up doing what you did, just curious if anyone ever found one of these to fit the Pecos, and if so, how well does it work?













image.jpeg



__ bbqnerd
__ Jul 21, 2016


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## smoknpi

I see! I don't have one of them. Let us know what you come up with and how it works for you!


----------



## bbqnerd

Found a link to a baffle plate made specifically for the Pecos, just in case y'all are interested.. 

http://www.bbqsmokermods.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=BR-TUNE-OC


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## smoknpi

Thanks, That looks pretty cool!


----------



## sethm

Academy sells them


----------



## bbqnerd

Can you post a link?  Just checked the academy site and I didn't see them.  Maybe I searched the wrong keywords...


----------



## sethm

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/old-country-bbq-pits-pecosbrazos-smoker-cover


----------



## beachbum0614

Hi long time reader of the forum just saw the prcos owners thread, have had mine since June 2015. Love mine. Just getting to know it still and the only issue is temp control from smoker box to chimney. Big test this weekend doin 5 9 lb pork shldrs for a party. May try using the smoker box plate as a tuning plate to even the temps


----------



## Dustin Dorsey

I've got an Old Country 20 inch that I bought about 5 years ago.  This was before they had come out with Pecos and Wrangler, etc.  When I bought it there was a 16 in and a 20in.  The firebox is about 18 inches long and the cook chamber is about 34, which is smaller that the current pecos.  Oddly, although the unit is supposed to be 20 inch, the pipe seems to be 19 inches wide.   I've just started cooking on it with sticks.  When I bought it, I was using lump charcoal and wood chunks.   Then I switched to mostly cooking on my WSM 22.5  I'm thinking about the diffuser plate but I don't even know if it would fit on this thing.  Anyone know the dimensions of the current pecos?

    I had no problem keeping around 225 with charcoal.  With wood this thing wants to run about 300 to 350.  I can get the temps lower but not with TBS.  I added a couple of dial thermometers.  The cook chamber is even.  The biggest hot spot seems to be near the exhaust.


----------



## bradass

Hey guys!! New to the forum and new to the Pecos. I cranked mine up last weekend and came out with a darn good brisket and pretty good ribs, and I'm loving this thing!! I do have a question though. We also love to grill, and I've done it off of the FB once and it was ok.  Do you guys use it as a grill too? And if so how have you modified it for grilling, if at all?


----------



## big swole

Wrangler owner here but subscribing for any future info / pics.


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## bram03

I have heat issues with mine as well, have to watch it REALLY close as I only use wood to Q

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk


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## uzikaduzi

Dustin Dorsey said:


> I've got an Old Country 20 inch that I bought about 5 years ago.  This was before they had come out with Pecos and Wrangler, etc.  When I bought it there was a 16 in and a 20in.  The firebox is about 18 inches long and the cook chamber is about 34, which is smaller that the current pecos.  Oddly, although the unit is supposed to be 20 inch, the pipe seems to be 19 inches wide.   I've just started cooking on it with sticks.  When I bought it, I was using lump charcoal and wood chunks.   Then I switched to mostly cooking on my WSM 22.5  I'm thinking about the diffuser plate but I don't even know if it would fit on this thing.  Anyone know the dimensions of the current pecos?
> 
> I had no problem keeping around 225 with charcoal.  With wood this thing wants to run about 300 to 350.  I can get the temps lower but not with TBS.  I added a couple of dial thermometers.  The cook chamber is even.  The biggest hot spot seems to be near the exhaust.


dustin, this sucks, but the easiest way to control with wood is to have a smaller fire and keep your exhaust and intake wise open... maybe even the door for the intake. control 100% with fuel management instead of air restriction.


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## Dustin Dorsey

uzikaduzi said:


> dustin, this sucks, but the easiest way to control with wood is to have a smaller fire and keep your exhaust and intake wise open... maybe even the door for the intake. control 100% with fuel management instead of air restriction.


I'd be super happy if I could manage 275 solidly which I don't think is out of the question on this thing.  My last cook, I started out on the wrong foot with splits that were too big.  I also had some wood with slightly too much moisture so I had to run hotter to keep it going.  I'm really enjoying cooking with wood.  It's addictive.  I'm really thinking about getting a really nice offset, but I'm a few years from that being a financial possibility.  I don't know why I was so brainwashed that using lump and chunks was the way to go on this thing.  With the lump, keeping the temps high was often the trick.  Any wind and it's not happening.


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## uzikaduzi

I think you'll get there... mine seems to really like 250-ish... or maybe it likes it with the size spits I use. I'm sure I could maintain 275 if that was my goal


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## big swole

This is whatt you need to buy to split your splits.  So easy!!

Northern tool.  $89.00














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__ Oct 13, 2016


















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__ Oct 13, 2016


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## bbqnerd

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__ bbqnerd
__ Feb 4, 2017






Opposite sides of the Pecos, and staying pretty steady... I can live with that..


----------



## beachbum0614

Thmoker said:


> image.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ thmoker
> __ May 16, 2014
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I searched for a Pecos owner's thread but found only one, and that was mostly about temp issues and other grills. Since I had a few folks at Academy Sports tell me that the Pecos is their number one seller by far, I thought I'd start a thread on them to see what mods other owners have done and usage tips, etc.
> 
> I got mine about a month ago after about 10 years on an old, trusty Brinkmann Smoke'N'Pit Professional. That old thing had to be built in the USA because it was very stout. It would hold temp pretty well and I had her tuned to about 275 degrees every time (according to the lid mounted thermometer...more on that later) She developed a small hole in the firebox about 6 months ago and it just grew to the point of no return. Rather than weld over the hole, I started shopping for a new smoker. As most of you know, that can be a frustrating chore. My dilemma was that I wanted a better quality smoker, not made in China, not made from a propane tank (because my wife hated the way they look) and since I only smoke about once or twice a month...I wanted it to be affordable.
> 
> So after about 6 months of shopping, research and loitering around here (a superb resource, BTW), I got my Pecos.
> 
> I have smoked twice so far and here are some of my initial impressions:
> 
> -It's very easy to get it up to temp with charcoal followed by splits...the hard part has been keeping the temp stable. I switched my old stick lid thermometer over from my Brinkmann and just torched my first racks of St Louis ribs. They tasted great, but they were way overdone. After I ordered the Maverick and tested the temp I found out why. At 200 degrees the lid thermo was 100% accurate. At 275 degrees, it was off by 50 degrees. So, I was making bony, charcoal tasting pork jerky. The second effort worked out much better after I tossed the old lid thermo and went with the Maverick.
> 
> -I used the included firebox charcoal support shelf as a makeshift tuning plate and it seems to fit and work very well, but more testing is needed. I used an old grate from a weber hibachi as my new coal support. I decided to keep my upper grate just in case.
> 
> -This grill leaks a bit around the lid, but I get the feeling that after a few more smokes, that won't be much of a problem...we'll see.
> 
> -I don't ever clean my smoker because it just seems like it gets seasoned just right, despite recommendations from manufacturers like Lang. I would love to hear if everybody else cleans their smoker's grates while hot. I've heard arguments both ways on that.
> 
> -Finally, when I bought mine I was allowed to step into the store warehouse to pick from several grills on pallets and got one that looked especially tight. If you go to buy one I would suggest you ask if they have any in the back, because the one on the floor was scratched up and bent.[/


----------



## beachbum0614

Ok it's superbowl Sunday 60 degrees. My pecos is going through hickory chunks pretty good. I see all theses posts to start out with lump charcoal  and only use 6-8 ounces of wood. I go through a bag of wood chunks from Wally for one 4-6 hr smoke . Temps all over the place , WTH AM I DOIN WRONG .. Help


----------



## rabbithutch

Will you guys let an OC Brazos owner in this thread?

I've enjoyed reading this thread (still working up from 2014).  I think some of the info will translate to the Brazos well, but I think the 1/4" skin of the Brazos will make a real difference in heat control.  I got this unit - my first stick burner - for Christmas and still have not christened it.  I had to build a little patio for it and some wood.  That took me most of January.  It's finished now and I'll get some wood next week.  I've already done one seasoning burn after wiping the inside surfaces down with vegetable oil, but no meat yet.

I'd like to swap info with other Brazos owners if you'll let me join in this thread..


----------



## saynaw

20170312_110310.jpg



__ saynaw
__ Mar 12, 2017





Just brought a cantina xxl but doesn't have a smoker box need help with how big the firebox should be and what type of metal( does not have to be same as old country it can be thicker)


----------



## saynaw

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__ Mar 12, 2017


















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## saynaw

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__ Mar 12, 2017


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## presson

Does anyone use the temperature gauges they sell for these, are they worth a hoot or should I just save my money and get a digital?

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


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## presson

I fired up the new Pecos today to season it, I have to say I am already enjoying tinkering with it and playing with fire.
I can't wait to try smoking some meat.







Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


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## glocksrock

Presson said:


> Does anyone use the temperature gauges they sell for these, are they worth a hoot or should I just save my money and get a digital?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


They are garbage from my experience, not at all accurate. Save up and get a nice digital one, like the Maverick.


----------



## gr0uch0

Glocksrock is largely spot on.  There are a few permanent mounted ones out there--Tel Tru being one--that are good and some can be calibrated, but largely they're not.  One of the biggest issues is that the manufacturers put the holes way up high in the lid instead of dropping them down to grate level.  His advice on Mavericks is good, and I've got 2 ThermoPros that are quite accurate, very reasonable, and lifetime warranties on the probes.  Good luck.


----------



## presson

gr0uch0 said:


> Glocksrock is largely spot on.  There are a few permanent mounted ones out there--Tel Tru being one--that are good and some can be calibrated, but largely they're not.  One of the biggest issues is that the manufacturers put the holes way up high in the lid instead of dropping them down to grate level.  His advice on Mavericks is good, and I've got 2 ThermoPros that are quite accurate, very reasonable, and lifetime warranties on the probes.  Good luck.



Thanks I think after pay day I'm gonna get a thermopro.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


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## kmiller

Anybody have warranty info for Old Country pits? I made some ribs yesterday and after about 2 hours I opened the lid on the firebox to add some lump. When I tried to close it it wouldn't budge at first then finally closed but the door or hinges are warped as there is about a 1/2" gap all the way around. Anyone have this issue? I'm a little disappointed to say the least. It's only 6 months old.


----------



## spin

Anyone know where I can get a firebox door hinge in the Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley area for an Old Country Pecos??

Bought my Pecos from Academy but it arrived with a broken firebox door hinge.  Academy ended up giving back $170 back for my troubles since I was going to try to find the missing piece and have it welded on (long story).

I called Old Country BBQ today but they are out of the country until June 20th

Just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction in finding the hinge or piece that is missing so I can have my buddy weld it back on?

Thanks in advance :)

Oh and the smoker works fine without the missing hinge 













Firebox Door Pic 1.jpeg



__ spin
__ Jun 14, 2017


















Firebox Door Pic 2.jpeg



__ spin
__ Jun 14, 2017


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## smokinbub

What's the grease drain like on these smokers I can't find a picture of one.


----------



## astrohip

SmokinBub said:


> What's the grease drain like on these smokers I can't find a picture of one.


It's a small hole on the far left of the unit. Has a hook so you can hang a bucket under it. I have one of those mini-trash cans (metal) hanging on it.


----------



## smokinbub

astrohip said:


> SmokinBub said:
> 
> 
> 
> What's the grease drain like on these smokers I can't find a picture of one.
> 
> 
> 
> It's a small hole on the far left of the unit. Has a hook so you can hang a bucket under it. I have one of those mini-trash cans (metal) hanging on it.
Click to expand...


Awesome. Thanks


----------



## swift1964

my first time on the pecos this weekend. worked quite well for me













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__ Jun 25, 2017


















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__ Jun 25, 2017


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## smokinbub

Anyone know the thickness of the steel?

Anyone wish they would have gotten the Brazos instead?

I'm currently on the fence between Pecos and Brazos.  Hard to justify the $1,000 for a smoker but I wanted to get your inputs.

Thanks


----------



## husky44

​Specs on Academy website say 14 gauge, with 11 gauge doors.  From the "feel test", they're much thicker than the OK Joes at the box stores, but not a full 1/4" plate.  

​As far as justifying the more expensive one--only you can do that.  I'm pretty happy with mine so far (only about 2 months old).  I sealed the doors with stove gasket.  I used the plate they provide for coals as a baffle plate, flipped the fire box grate and use it for my coals.  Runs a pretty consistent temp left-right (about 3* variance).  I'm happy, and appreciate the extra money in my pocket, but I'm just a hobbyist, and don't cook for big crowds.


----------



## smokinbub

Husky44 said:


> ​Specs on Academy website say 14 gauge, with 11 gauge doors.  From the "feel test", they're much thicker than the OK Joes at the box stores, but not a full 1/4" plate.
> 
> ​As far as justifying the more expensive one--only you can do that.  I'm pretty happy with mine so far (only about 2 months old).  I sealed the doors with stove gasket.  I used the plate they provide for coals as a baffle plate, flipped the fire box grate and use it for my coals.  Runs a pretty consistent temp left-right (about 3* variance).  I'm happy, and appreciate the extra money in my pocket, but I'm just a hobbyist, and don't cook for big crowds.


Thanks for your advice and input!


----------



## texasjason

Just wanted to jump in and say I am a new Pecos owner and have been very pleased so far. For the money this would be hard to beat.  I can run this thing hot and fast if I want (just by using larger splits) or low and slow with smaller splits. And someone on an earlier post mentioned keeping fb door wide open stack wide open which is the way to go. Otherwise I get puffy white smoke. So open all the way it is.
So thanks for everyone who has posted suggestions so far, they have really helped!


----------



## tri snout

New to the board as a poster, have lurked mostly. Have had my Pecos since 2014 and have loved smoking on it ever since. I moved up to it from a char broiler and was pleasantly surprised. Haven't done any mods to it really other than using the grate in the firebox as my way to elevate my coals and wood. I took out the metal piece that came with it and will probably repurpose it in the chamber as a baffler plate maybe. 

I recently began competing locally so I will be mounting it to a trailer (4x7 I picked up used). Plan on taking the grate sliders out of the fire box and moving them into the chamber and having a second rack build to give me more cooking space. Plan on making a bigger front table, and possibly eventually adding a vertical box to the smoke stack side. 

I've noticed the new ones are coming with curved metal brackets welded to the underside of the doors, so I will probably mimic that. I'm guessing it's to help keep the doors ridged? I don't think I need the extra support but I would like some extra weight on the doors. I may also adjust the door stopper by cutting off the shark fins and adding some square tube type limits to add weight. 

I will try and post pictures as I go along in this thread, unless there is a specific build sub forum? I'll keep y'all posted!


----------



## sonofasmoker

New Peco's owner! Has anyone had success adding an upper rack? I want to mimic the main, sliding expanded metal, grate but I am not sure I want to go in and start hacking stuff up.


----------



## texasjason

I have not tried but it has been something I have been thinking about as well.  I suppose it wouldn't be too hard if you had the equipment and tools for putting a rack together and welding it on.  Maybe others will chime in.


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## sonofasmoker

I sure hope so. I see people on this forum doing all sorts of cool things with their racks. One that I am real interested in is what Al does. He takes his fat trimmings of his brisket and puts them above the meet to baste it with. How cool is that? Im not sure how much good it does but theres plenty I could use it for.


----------



## Adam Smoaks

I put an upper rack in mine about 6 months ago. The pic below shows some thighs and drums on its first smoke. It turned out really well. I got some scrap angle iron and x-metal from a local shop. Pretty straight forward. I made it high enough to be able to fit big pieces of meat like butts underneath and still enough of room for chicken, ribs, and a pan of beans up top. It cooks about 50+ degrees hotter up top as well.  Its definitely worth doing, and you can always slide it out when you don't need it.


----------



## texasjason

Adam Smoaks said:


> I put an upper rack in mine about 6 months ago. The pic below shows some thighs and drums on its first smoke. It turned out really well. I got some scrap angle iron and x-metal from a local shop. Pretty straight forward. I made it high enough to be able to fit big pieces of meat like butts underneath and still enough of room for chicken, ribs, and a pan of beans up top. It cooks about 50+ degrees hotter up top as well.  Its definitely worth doing, and you can always slide it out when you don't need it.



Thanks for sharing this. I assume the dimensions are the same as the lower rack?


----------



## sonofasmoker

Thats awesome thank you Adam! Any more pics? Did you weld the tray guides in?


----------



## Adam Smoaks

Yes, I copied the bottom cooking grate's length but made it only 10" wide.  I welded in angle iron for the grate to slide on and used square tubing for the grate frame with x-metal on top.  You could go a little bit wider but I made it 10" so i can slide all the way back and it never gets in the way.  It stays in pretty much all of the time whether I actually use it or not.  It's really handy to have though.  I'll try get some more pics soon.


----------



## Adam Smoaks

It's very similar to the upper grate that comes in the Old Country Cantina grill like "saynaw" has posted on page 9.  I saw one at our local Academy and pretty much modeled it after that.


----------



## sonofasmoker

Very cool, thanks buddy! Now I need a welder :) haha


----------



## Shiraz

Just picked up a Pecos from Academy. The store had about 4 of them and 2 of them looked pretty good. The gal at the check out asked me if I wanted one in a box and I said no since I did not know how it would be. Seasoned it at 350 according to the 4" Old Country gauge that I bought for it. I did not bother using my Thermoworks Smoke for the seasoning. I was hoping to get it up to 400 but no matter how many logs I put in the firebox it would not hit 400. I was impressed with how tight it was for the money. I don't see the need at this point to add any nomex fabric or RTV sealant. Not sure if I am going to get a cover for it since it did have some water in the firebox after some rain. I resolved that issue by drilling a 1/4" hole in both the firebox and the chimney. I moved the coal grate to the smoking chamber as others have done and placed a grill grate from Home Depot in the firebox. Not sure how long the grate from HD will last. Now to make some baby back ribs in it.


----------



## texasjason

Shiraz said:


> Just picked up a Pecos from Academy. The store had about 4 of them and 2 of them looked pretty good. The gal at the check out asked me if I wanted one in a box and I said no since I did not know how it would be. Seasoned it at 350 according to the 4" Old Country gauge that I bought for it. I did not bother using my Thermoworks Smoke for the seasoning. I was hoping to get it up to 400 but no matter how many logs I put in the firebox it would not hit 400. I was impressed with how tight it was for the money. I don't see the need at this point to add any nomex fabric or RTV sealant. Not sure if I am going to get a cover for it since it did have some water in the firebox after some rain. I resolved that issue by drilling a 1/4" hole in both the firebox and the chimney. I moved the coal grate to the smoking chamber as others have done and placed a grill grate from Home Depot in the firebox. Not sure how long the grate from HD will last. Now to make some baby back ribs in it.



Cool! I've enjoyed mine.  I added the nomex around the firebox and cook chamber as it leaked quite a bit but that seemed to be an easy and quick fix.  Mine seems to run the best at around 275-300.  I have an easier time keeping temps steady at the higher temps than the lower temps.  But it works for the type of bbq I tend to do anyway.


----------



## Johnny Bravvo

Hello, all! Brand new in "town" here and just picked up a new Pecos last night from Academy. Excited to get started!

Do we have a quick resource for proper initial burn, season, seal, tuning plate setup, best practices etc?


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## Shiraz

Just wanted to give an update on the 4" thermometer. I did calibrate it somewhat so at midscale it reads about the same as my Thermoworks smoke. Dial thermometers are most accurate at midscale so this is reasonable. First brisket is almost done! Keep on smoking!


----------



## Rings Я Us

Nice smokers!


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## Sean N. Brewer

I'm looking at stainless steel grill grates.  Does anyone know the dimensions of the main cooking chamber?  I'm at work right now and wanted to plug it in.  Also, do any of you guys have a trick or solution for the sagging grill grates?  Mine is loaded up, periodically with 4 - 5 briskets plus snacking food from time to time and the weight is taking a toll.


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## PecosGeorge

I'm posting as a reply because I can't figure out how to start a new thread. I thought I saw someone using ceramic for tuning plates but can't find it. I cut 4 plates from 5/16" thick tiles. Does anyone know of any experiences using ceramic. Thanks. GJ


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## texasjason

PecosGeorge said:


> I'm posting as a reply because I can't figure out how to start a new thread. I thought I saw someone using ceramic for tuning plates but can't find it. I cut 4 plates from 5/16" thick tiles. Does anyone know of any experiences using ceramic. Thanks. GJ


Not with ceramic; I ordered mine directly from the manufacturer. I think they were around $40 or so bucks.


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## Smokin Okie

I'm an owner of " new to me " Brazos.    I've read this thread several times,  but am still wondering,   those who have moved the firebox grate to the cooking chamber and used it for a tuning plate,   how well did that work ?

I'm thinkin either a Horizon convection plate,  tuning plates,  or the fire grate option.


----------



## texasjason

Smokin Okie said:


> I'm an owner of " new to me " Brazos.    I've read this thread several times,  but am still wondering,   those who have moved the firebox grate to the cooking chamber and used it for a tuning plate,   how well did that work ?
> 
> I'm thinkin either a Horizon convection plate,  tuning plates,  or the fire grate option.


I purchases the tuning plates for my pecos direct from Old Country. They seem to work well but have not tried the firebox grate.  They seem to control the heat a little better as compared to without them.


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## Smokin Okie

texasjason said:


> I purchases the tuning plates for my pecos direct from Old Country. They seem to work well but have not tried the firebox grate.  They seem to control the heat a little better as compared to without them.



Do you think the tuning plates were worth money spent ?


----------



## texasjason

Smokin Okie said:


> Do you think the tuning plates were worth money spent ?


I think they helped even out the temps a little but if you have the firebox grate I’d try that first and see how that works for you. I believe I paid around $40 for the plates so it wasn’t a huge investment and tone wirth it. Mine didn’t have the firebox grate so was the only option. If you have a remote with a few probes test your cooker and see how even things are; you may find things are working good and not need the plates.


----------



## pbclown

I just got a Pecos smoker this past weekend.  After cleaning it, seasoning it and trying to figure out how it works, I ran into some problems during my first cook.  The biggest problem was inconsistent and varying temps.  I started with a 3/4 full chimney of Kingsford charcoal, once that got started and was all white I dumped it onto the coal grate and added a log that was about 12 inches long and about 2 and a half inches across.  Temp on firebox side got up to almost 300 degrees, smokestack side got up to around 220.  I tried using the plate that comes in the firebox as a makeshift convection plate, but that got the stack side up to almost 350 degrees.  I was trying to hit a target temp of 225 and never got close to that.  Any help would be appreciated.


----------



## texasjason

First off congrats on the new smoker! It will take a few cooks to get to know your hot spots and will also help seal up some gaps you may have around the lid, etc. i too find my smoke stack side can get much hotter than the firebox side. I would try getting some tuning plates made or buy some to help level out the temps. I have seen some DIY ones online as well.  Helped with mine although still not perfect.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Try cooking with the FB door open. 

I've only done five cooks on my Brazos,  but if I open the door wide open,   the increased air flow will move the hot spot to the stack end.    By keeping the door open about 2" ,  I can get the temps balanced ,  end to end.   Lotsa variables can impact that, however,  like wind direction,  size of the fire,   etc.

Its not a perfect solution for me,  I'm still searching.   I've shied away from tuning plates,   cuz they can restrict air flow.


----------



## Shiraz

As mentioned keep the firebox door open and use splits.


----------



## pbclown

Got home from work and decided to play around with the smoker for a bit. First thing I learned was split size is crucial, 7-9 inches work great, hold temp under 250, burns for about an hour. Second thing I learned it fire placement plays a big role in keeping wood burning. Third thing, using just the firebox door to control the flow of air let’s me get my temps within just a few degrees from stack to firebox. Thank you for all the advice, will be doing more smoking this weekend.


----------



## slimc

pbclown said:


> Got home from work and decided to play around with the smoker for a bit. First thing I learned was split size is crucial, 7-9 inches work great, hold temp under 250, burns for about an hour. Second thing I learned it fire placement plays a big role in keeping wood burning. Third thing, using just the firebox door to control the flow of air let’s me get my temps within just a few degrees from stack to firebox. Thank you for all the advice, will be doing more smoking this weekend.



I have since sold my Pecos , but here is what I used to do. 
1. I put bbq adhesive gasket on the smoker around the lid , helped tremendously with heat and smoke loss
2. I pulled the metal grate from the firebox and made my fire without it, putting 2 logs along each side and then more rows cross hatch like Lincoln logs really high and let it burn down to a large bed of coals to start the fire and then would feed the fire with 8-10” splits about 3-4” in diameter. Using the door itself is the easiest way to control airflow with the stack pipe wide open always to keep the draw consistent
3. I drilled holes in the lid for a thermometer 2” higher than the cooking grate on each side to see what left and right grate temps are at all times so I know how to adjust the fire
4. I would use a small metal fireplace shovel to push and pull the fire closer or further from the cooling chamber opening in the firebox to control the heat if the right side is too hot, move the whole bed of coals away from the cooking chamber side and vice versus
5. Use steel plates or buy something to use as a he’s deflector for where the smoke enters the chamber , it gets real hot for me Until about 10–12” away from the opening from smoke box to cooking chamber 
6. If it’s colder than 40 degrees use an insulated blanket over the cooking chamber
7. Place all of your splits on top of the firebox lid to heat them up prior to putting them in the fire, they will catch right away if you do this and keep you from having to mess around with the fire going out as when you add a log

If I think of anything else I’ll chime in but the thread has a lot of good stuff in older comments with pictures


----------



## Smokin Okie

pbclown said:


> Got home from work and decided to play around with the smoker for a bit. First thing I learned was split size is crucial, 7-9 inches work great, hold temp under 250, burns for about an hour. Second thing I learned it fire placement plays a big role in keeping wood burning. Third thing, using just the firebox door to control the flow of air let’s me get my temps within just a few degrees from stack to firebox. Thank you for all the advice, will be doing more smoking this weekend.



Yes, I should've added that above.   I like them bout as round as a beer can and 8" to 10" long.    Cept mine don't burn near that long,  I add a split every 30 minutes at max.

I built a new fire grate.   I bought a 16" X 23" charcoal grate at Lowes,  this one 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Heavy-Duty-BBQ-Parts-Stainless-Steel-Briquette-Grate/3808145

I cut it to size with an angle grinder.     Then I put 1/2" expanded metal on top of the grate,  wired it on .

This improved my air flow.


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## texasjason

I did a little experiment yesterday afternoon on mine trying to get the temps as even as possible acrossrthe cook chamber. Got a fire going and brought it up to about 250.  With no tuning plates in or anything I had about a 50 degree difference between the firebox side and stack side, with the hotter side being by the smoke stack. Then I put in the tuning plates sold by Old Country in varying spacing and got it down to about a 20 degree difference, again hotter by the stack. And finally, I picked up the plates that the sell on bbqmods website and after tinkering could only get it down to about a 30 degree difference again hotter at the stack side. Did this all with stack vent wide open and fb door wide open. So, I think I’ll stick with the tuning plates and just know where my hot spot is.  I am wondering why it’s so much hotter at the stack side? Most everyone seems to say they have the opposite issue. Could I have too much draw going on? I didn’t think to close the vent a bit until after the fact, maybe that would help.


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## Smokin Okie

texasjason said:


> I did a little experiment yesterday afternoon on mine trying to get the temps as even as possible acrossrthe cook chamber. Got a fire going and brought it up to about 250.  With no tuning plates in or anything I had about a 50 degree difference between the firebox side and stack side, with the hotter side being by the smoke stack. Then I put in the tuning plates sold by Old Country in varying spacing and got it down to about a 20 degree difference, again hotter by the stack. And finally, I picked up the plates that the sell on bbqmods website and after tinkering could only get it down to about a 30 degree difference again hotter at the stack side. Did this all with stack vent wide open and fb door wide open. So, I think I’ll stick with the tuning plates and just know where my hot spot is.  I am wondering why it’s so much hotter at the stack side? Most everyone seems to say they have the opposite issue. Could I have too much draw going on? I didn’t think to close the vent a bit until after the fact, maybe that would help.




If you had closed your FB door,  down to where its open about 2" ,  then it would've cut down the air flow and the " hot spot " would move toward the FB end.

At least, that's what I've found with my Brazos.   

If I close the FB door ,  I can move the hot spot to the FB end .............depending ...........   upon how big my fire is,  that's a big variable.

I edited to make a correction, hope I did not get anyone confused


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## texasjason

Smokin Okie said:


> If you had closed your FB door,  down to where its open about 2" ,  then it would've cut down the air flow and the " hot spot " would move toward the FB end.
> 
> At least, that's what I've found with my Brazos.
> 
> If I close the FB door ,  I can move the hot spot to the FB end .............depending ...........   upon how big my fire is,  that's a big variable.
> 
> I edited to make a correction, hope I did not get anyone confused


Thanks! I’ll give that a try next time.


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## pbclown

What is everyone using for a fb grate?  Texasjason where did you buy the tuning plates from Old Country at?


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## texasjason

pbclown said:


> What is everyone using for a fb grate?  Texasjason where did you buy the tuning plates from Old Country at?


I bought my plates directly from Old Country. Called and ordered them. I bet you could have some made at a local metal shop too. I can send you the dimensions if you like. Also I don’t use a fb grate. When I bought it for some reason it wasn’t in there and I didn’t realize until after a few cooks. Works perfectly fine without it. I think a grill cooking grate would work that you would find at any store. Might have to cut it to size to fit your fb.


----------



## texasjason

Thanks @smokinokie


texasjason said:


> Thanks! I’ll give that a try next time.


Closes the fb a bit and jiggered with the tuning plates and this is what I’ve been getting. Thanks again and hopefully this helps a few others out!


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## Smokin Okie

Looks like a winner !


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## Smokin Okie

I meant to add,  I keep the door damper wide open also.    If I closed the damper, then I'd have to open the door further.


----------



## texasjason

Smokin Okie said:


> I meant to add,  I keep the door damper wide open also.    If I closed the damper, then I'd have to open the door further.


Yes good reminder; I would normally do that as well but it was super windy that day so had plenty of air flow.


----------



## FL-Outlander

New Pecos owner here! I seasoned it on Saturday and smoked a Boston Butt on Sunday. Pulled pork was awesome but I definitely ran into temp control issues. This thread has taught me a TON. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences. I added gaskets to both lids and have a charcoal pan in the cook chamber as a convection plate. My Pecos came with two charcoal pans for some reason, one on top of the other. Didn't realize it until I got home. Will play with placement of the convection plate to see if I can get it dialed in better. Looking forward to more cooks on this thing!


----------



## astrohip

FL-Outlander said:


> I definitely ran into temp control issues.


Not to diss anyone enjoying their Old Country, but after half a dozen cooks, I gave up. I never did get the temp control I was looking for (and needed). I tried everything, read everything, followed many tips from this thread. Nothing worked.

Sold it and bought a Camp Fire pellet grill. Best decision I ever made. Half a dozen cooks later, I look like a genius. Pork butts, ribs, chicken... all come out like a dream.

Again, I know most of you are cooking masterpieces on your OC. My hat's off to you.

just my .02


----------



## FL-Outlander

Dang, astro, I hate to hear that. Glad you found the right smoker for you, though. Smoke on!


----------



## pbclown

After doing a dozen cooks or more as well as just doing dry runs so to speak, split size is the biggest issue, 7-10 inch long, about as round as a silver dolled, maybe a bit bigger. Add a split once your temp drops by about 5 degrees and just monitor it.


----------



## Smokin Okie

I think it would depend much on the temp control one is looking for.

On my WSM's,  I was happy with anything within a 25* range of my target.   On my OC Brazos,  I might range 50*,  but generally can stay within 25*.

At end of cook, I can't really tell ya what temp I cooked at,  exactly.    I'm happy with the Brazos.


----------



## AmazonDon703

Does anyone cook with only wood?  Also, are you all getting good smoke rings and smoke flavor?  I've owned a Pecos for about a month now.  Brisket and ribs turned out great, although I feel my chicken lacked smoke flavor but my wife and kids say it's just me.  Possible I've been exposed to too much smoke? . I use mesquite and oak (north Texas).  Anyone else ever experienced this?  

I haven't had any issues at all with temp control.  Super easy to maintain.  Only time I'll run into problems is if my bed of coals (wood) isn't big enough.  Hasn't really happened with this pit though.  Probably going to have to seal up the cooking chamber and firebox.  But other than that, I think I got a pretty good deal.  Manager at the local Academy knocked 15% off for a little rust.


----------



## texasjason

I’ve not noticed any lack of smoke flavor with mine and I too cook with all wood. I have from time to time noticed a little less smoke flavor if I’ve been tending to it for several hours however when I eat the leftovers the next day it’s super smokey. I think it’s just being outside with it all day you just get used to it.


----------



## Kevin Haynes

Just fired up my Pecos yesterday for the 2nd time and first time doing a test run with temps using an Inkbird 4 probe bluetooth therm. A couple of things...
I do have tuning plates(5 total)
I do have the gasket all the way around the lid but on the bottom right side closest to the firebox I noticed about an 1/8 inch gap where the lid doesn't meet. Any thouguhf on how to close that? And also would it be THAT big of a deal?
I had a probe about 4 inches from the smoke stack and a probe right above the baffle that comes off the firebox. I only ran it 2.5 hours before I could get steady temps. (But still not close to matching). I was anywhere from 20-40 degrees off from one another.(obviously way cooler on the stack side and hotter closest to the firebox). Messed with the tuning plates a little and decided I think I need to slide one and butt it up against the baffle and the next couple REALLY close off that one. May just get rid of the last 2. Another thing is at about 2.5 hours it looked like my coal bed was gone and temps started slowly going down although the split was still good and lit. Does this mean lite up some more coals in the chimney and dump them down in there?...and I have messed with the firebox door and little slide open part along with the chimney flu. I just can't get how to heat it up when it's getting low and backing down on temp if it starts to run away. Will be doing a other dry run and play with temps again. Any pointers or suggestions or tips? I am new so anything helps. I have a pecos and use oak splits on top of a coal bed that was started in the coal chimney.


----------



## daveomak

Move the plates toward the FB, closing the gaps, that will help move the heat to the other end of the CC...  Experiment until you get the results you want..  
You can build a bigger fire, and close down the air supply also...


----------



## Smokin Okie

The only way you're going to learn, is to dive in and do some cooks,  the more cooks , the more ya learn.

On these forums, you will get a lot of different answers and in the end,  ya could be right back where ya started.

So that said,  I see two things you're doing that I don't do.   First, I would halve that split.   That's larger than I burn.   And I disagree with Daveomak, you got plenty of fire.

I would also move the fire to one side of the FB .    On the other side, I would keep a spit warming, so its ready to burst in flame and soon as I need to move it to the fire.

If you go find a pic of Aaron Franklin's new backyard smoker he's building, or Google up Mill Scale Model 94, and look at where they're placing their their temp gauge.   Its on the far end away from the FB, at grate level, near the stack.   AF says that's the hottest part of the smoker.   And that's cuz he cooks with the door open.   Neither one of those smokers has a vent in the door,  they use the door itself to control air flow.   And they don't use air flow to control temp, they use the size of the split.

You can move high temps from end to end by using the door.   Open the door all the way and the air flow will move temps to the stack end.  Close the door and just use the damper, and the FB end will heat up.

So point being, its not that important to get your temps even from side to side, its just important to know where your hot spots are at, so you place and move the meat.   Its more important to get clean smoke and that comes from good air flow.

I began cooking with an Old Country Brazos one year ago this month,  so I'm no long term hand at this.   I've got about 10 cooks under my belt.  I just bought tuning plates and have done one cook with them,  so I'm still learning where to place those.

The problem I found with using the door to control air flow, is my meats were getting bottom burned.   The air flow was so strong,  it was moving direct radiant heat from the FB over into the cook chamber.   I was getting great air flow but meats that were burnt on one side and not done in the middle.

Using the tuning plates and rotating meats, solved that problem on my last cook.   But I'm still experimenting on their placement.

But again, this is just my limited experience on a similar smoker and you will have to learn by doing.   Some of it can be short cutted,  but its still just a matter of doing cooks and not getting discouraged.


----------



## Kevin Haynes

Smokin Okie said:


> The only way you're going to learn, is to dive in and do some cooks,  the more cooks , the more ya learn.
> 
> On these forums, you will get a lot of different answers and in the end,  ya could be right back where ya started.
> 
> So that said,  I see two things you're doing that I don't do.   First, I would halve that split.   That's larger than I burn.   And I disagree with Daveomak, you got plenty of fire.
> 
> I would also move the fire to one side of the FB .    On the other side, I would keep a spit warming, so its ready to burst in flame and soon as I need to move it to the fire.
> 
> If you go find a pic of Aaron Franklin's new backyard smoker he's building, or Google up Mill Scale Model 94, and look at where they're placing their their temp gauge.   Its on the far end away from the FB, at grate level, near the stack.   AF says that's the hottest part of the smoker.   And that's cuz he cooks with the door open.   Neither one of those smokers has a vent in the door,  they use the door itself to control air flow.   And they don't use air flow to control temp, they use the size of the split.
> 
> You can move high temps from end to end by using the door.   Open the door all the way and the air flow will move temps to the stack end.  Close the door and just use the damper, and the FB end will heat up.
> 
> So point being, its not that important to get your temps even from side to side, its just important to know where your hot spots are at, so you place and move the meat.   Its more important to get clean smoke and that comes from good air flow.
> 
> I began cooking with an Old Country Brazos one year ago this month,  so I'm no long term hand at this.   I've got about 10 cooks under my belt.  I just bought tuning plates and have done one cook with them,  so I'm still learning where to place those.
> 
> The problem I found with using the door to control air flow, is my meats were getting bottom burned.   The air flow was so strong,  it was moving direct radiant heat from the FB over into the cook chamber.   I was getting great air flow but meats that were burnt on one side and not done in the middle.
> 
> Using the tuning plates and rotating meats, solved that problem on my last cook.   But I'm still experimenting on their placement.
> 
> But again, this is just my limited experience on a similar smoker and you will have to learn by doing.   Some of it can be short cutted,  but its still just a matter of doing cooks and not getting discouraged.



Yeah I had no issue with the clean fire. Smoke looked really good coming out of the stack. I just cantc understand when folks say they have a serious issue with the chimney side being hotter than the FB side of the their cooking chamber. So should I give it a try with those splits just cut in half? Leave both pieces in the FB but just have one off to the side trying to keep it off the coals and fire until it's ready to roll on? I feel that if I can get the temps from side to side down to within 10 degrees of each other, I will be happy to go.


----------



## texasjason

Kevin Haynes said:


> Yeah I had no issue with the clean fire. Smoke looked really good coming out of the stack. I just cantc understand when folks say they have a serious issue with the chimney side being hotter than the FB side of the their cooking chamber. So should I give it a try with those splits just cut in half? Leave both pieces in the FB but just have one off to the side trying to keep it off the coals and fire until it's ready to roll on? I feel that if I can get the temps from side to side down to within 10 degrees of each other, I will be happy to go.


I might suggest getting a couple cans of biscuits, place them all around your smoker and cook them and see what they look like after 30 minutes or so. If one side is burnt then you’ll know where your hot spot(s) are. You can then do some more tinkering with the tuning plates, door, etc. to try and get it where you like it. Or at least know which area runs hotter and that you’ll need to rotate meat from time to time.
And I’m one of those that has temps hotter at the stack side since I use the door wide open mostly (and the design if the cooker).  Seems to run better for me that way but I know I have to move meat around occasionally. I can get temps more even by closing the door more but do get more white smoke that way so I leave it open mostly.


----------



## Kevin Haynes

texasjason said:


> I might suggest getting a couple cans of biscuits, place them all around your smoker and cook them and see what they look like after 30 minutes or so. If one side is burnt then you’ll know where your hot spot(s) are. You can then do some more tinkering with the tuning plates, door, etc. to try and get it where you like it. Or at least know which area runs hotter and that you’ll need to rotate meat from time to time.
> And I’m one of those that has temps hotter at the stack side since I use the door wide open mostly (and the design if the cooker).  Seems to run better for me that way but I know I have to move meat around occasionally. I can get temps more even by closing the door more but do get more white smoke that way so I leave it open mostly.


See I was hoping to heat up the stack side by opening the door wide open but all it does for me is shoot up over 300 on the box side. I need to go up on the stack side and dont know how haha


----------



## Smokin Okie

Self deleted


----------



## texasjason

Kevin Haynes said:


> See I was hoping to heat up the stack side by opening the door wide open but all it does for me is shoot up over 300 on the box side. I need to go up on the stack side and dont know how haha


Do you have your damper on the smoke stack wide open?
Also, I’d try just a couple of tuning plates by the firebox side and take out the others and see if that helps maybe.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Kevin Haynes said:


> Yeah I had no issue with the clean fire. Smoke looked really good coming out of the stack. I just cantc understand when folks say they have a serious issue with the chimney side being hotter than the FB side of the their cooking chamber. So should I give it a try with those splits just cut in half? Leave both pieces in the FB but just have one off to the side trying to keep it off the coals and fire until it's ready to roll on? I feel that if I can get the temps from side to side down to within 10 degrees
> of each other, I will be happy to go.




For some reason, I'm havin trouble replying,  but here is how I build my fire, pretty much.   Once I get a good coal bed, I add small splits,  smaller than he does in the vid,  I like splits about 8" in length and as round as a beer can.   And I keep one warming inside the FB.    Also, I can't cut the air flow down as low as he does in the vid,  or I'll get white smoke.   And oh yeah, I never close the stack cap, its wide open ,  all the time.


----------



## Kevin Haynes

texasjason said:


> Do you have your damper on the smoke stack wide open?
> Also, I’d try just a couple of tuning plates by the firebox side and take out the others and see if that helps maybe.


I was all over the place with the stack lid...you would recommend running it wide open or just asking if I had it open?...


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## texasjason

Kevin Haynes said:


> I was all over the place with the stack lid...you would recommend running it wide open or just asking if I had it open?...


I’d try your stack open all the way, that should give you better air flow and I think warmer temps at the stack. At least that how mine seems to work.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Kevin Haynes said:


> I was all over the place with the stack lid...you would recommend running it wide open or just asking if I had it open?...


I only close the stack cap when I'm not smokin.    If I got the smoker goin, the stack cap is wide open.   That's why you're not moving the higher temps to the stack end when the FB door is wide open.

I had all five tuning plates in my Brazos last smoke, and if the door was wide open,  the stack end got hotter.   Most of the time,  my FB door was about 2" open.


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## pbclown

I have had my Pacos for almost a year now.  After doing countless cooks and even more "dry" runs, I have found what is the sweet spot for me.  First and foremost, keep your stack wide open all the time.  Closing it does two things, first, it reduces air movement through the smoker, second, and a side effect of the first reason, smoke just sits in the cook chamber and becomes stale.  Second, use splits cut down to 8-10 inches to keep temps down.  Third, I use a little bit bigger splits to allow for two to burn at the same time, about four inches across.  Forth, control airflow through door/door damper.  Biggest piece of advice I can give you is just use your smoker.  The more you use it the better you will be at it.  It takes time, patience, a good thermometer and wood.


----------



## Kevin Haynes

Doing my first ever smoke today. Decided on a whole chicken. Fire has been clean. It's pretty windy today but I'm not sure that's the reason I am having temps from the stack side to the FB side pretty well off. I've got averaging 284 on chimney side and  318 at FB side....cant seem to get it any closer and still curious as to how I would approach doing a brisket.(not in the near future haha) if I am aiming for a 250ish range the only way I get there is if my fire is getting low. People have said to cut the splits down to about 8 or so inches and it should help. I currently have about 12-14" right now unfortunately with no way of cutting them at this moment. Will have a chop saw within a few days. Think this may be the only issue I'm having? Split sizes? Old country stock therm says 280ish on the lid. I use inkbird 4 probe bluetooth. Using oak since that is pretty much what grows everywhere here in Texas.


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## pbclown

If your temps are that far apart close the gaps in your tuning plates. The tuning plate closest to the fb should be almost touching, then all the other ones spread out just a little more, like the picture included. I run stack wide open, door damper half closed. Temps are +- 10 degrees or so.


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## Kevin Haynes

pbclown said:


> If your temps are that far apart close the gaps in your tuning plates. The tuning plate closest to the fb should be almost touching, then all the other ones spread out just a little more, like the picture included. I run stack wide open, door damper half closed. Temps are +- 10 degrees or so.


I'll give this a try next time! I appreciate it...and what exactly do you mean by door damper half closed...door completely shut and latched with that little slide adjustment on the door half closed? Or the slide part closed and door half way open?


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## Kevin Haynes

Well the first smoke is in the books and I think I will say I am very surprised and proud of myself! My first initial thoughts are it looks awesome, smells awesome and it tastes pretty damn good to me! Please give me everyones honest thoughts on looks please. If you guys were here I'd have you taste but I think it came out pretty decent.


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## pbclown

Yes, for closed, damper in door half open, your chicken looks good


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## Smokin Okie

Yardbird has good color,  I'll take a thigh :)


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## Smokin Okie

Something else I do that might make a diff in your temps end to end.   I always use a water pan on the FB end.  I found this 16" loaf pan that fits perfectly acros the end of the cook chamber.    With tuning


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## Smokin Okie

And while I'm here ........... for some reason I can't post a reply to this thread when using FireFox.   I either have to use Google Chrome or get on my Amazon Fire Tablet.

The area that contains the box where the post is entered,  doesn't even show up with Firefox.


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## Kevin Haynes

Smokin Okie said:


> Something else I do that might make a diff in your temps end to end.   I always use a water pan on the FB end.  I found this 16" loaf pan that fits perfectly acros the end of the cook chamber.    With tuning


Just purchased a pan! Haha this will be used next time as well. Already excited for the next cook


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## Smokin Okie

For some reason my post did not finish,   I was adding that with tuning plates, I put the pan on top of the plate nearest the FB.  It fits perfectly under the cooking grate.


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## Kevin Haynes

Couldn't wait any longer after my first smoke yesterday of a whole chicken which came out pretty darn good. Did some pork ribs today and once again, shocked myself with how well my first ribs ever came out. My girlfriend loved them and her mom did as well. I thought they were awesome too. I'm hoping this is not beginners luck and going forward they aren't as good. I am very impressed with how they turned out. Me and my girlfriend travel Texas in search of the top 50 in the Texas monthly and I would say we are very familiar with how Texas BBQ should taste and which places are good and which places are absolutely trash. Me and my girlfriend both put my pork ribs today higher than Kreutz,smitty's AND salt lick bbq. (Those 3 we were VERY disappointed with) and let down!....here are some photos. Please let me know what you think based off of photos and colors.


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## texasjason

Kevin Haynes said:


> Couldn't wait any longer after my first smoke yesterday of a whole chicken which came out pretty darn good. Did some pork ribs today and once again, shocked myself with how well my first ribs ever came out. My girlfriend loved them and her mom did as well. I thought they were awesome too. I'm hoping this is not beginners luck and going forward they aren't as good. I am very impressed with how they turned out. Me and my girlfriend travel Texas in search of the top 50 in the Texas monthly and I would say we are very familiar with how Texas BBQ should taste and which places are good and which places are absolutely trash. Me and my girlfriend both put my pork ribs today higher than Kreutz,smitty's AND salt lick bbq. (Those 3 we were VERY disappointed with) and let down!....here are some photos. Please let me know what you think based off of photos and colors.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 398817
> View attachment 398818
> View attachment 398819


Looks good! And as long as you and the family like it that’s all that matters. Keep on smoking and you’ll get better and better at dialing in temps etc., and figuring out how your smoker likes to work.


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## rsv4ever

Purchased my Pecos this weekend just in time for Labor Day. Seasoned it Saturday and jumped right in to do my first brisket (on an offset) my pervious briskets were l done on a MES40. Didn’t do any real mods but I did take out the charcoal tray and put it in the chamber to use as a tuning plate and set the grate for the smoke box at the bottom. Brisket was an overnight smoke and I learned  some lessons in heat management for overnight cooks. 14lb Brisket came out decent, it smoked for 16 hours at cooking temp range of 190 a 275 (again heat management issues). I pulled it at 170 to wrap in pink butcher paper and finished it at 198 (slightly earlier then I planned). Used Post Oak and really liked the smoke it produced.


----------



## pbclown

This past weekend during my smoke, the gasket I had on the cook chamber started coming off. I had used fireblack the last time, it didn’t last all that long, about nine months. What is a good gasket to replace it with?


----------



## Smokin Okie

I used the Fire Black and the RTV Silicon a year ago last June on my Brazos.   Not had any problems.

Before I put it on,   I put a wire brush attachment on my drill and roughed up the area where it would stick.  I also cleaned it with rubbing alcohol.

I put the gasket on the lid and not the cook chamber.

I put the RTV Silicon down first, then put the gasket on the red silicon.


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## Zackjsimpson

Do any of you use fire brick in the firebox? I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble or not. I haven’t even lit a fire in mine yet since we’re moving in a week and it’s still at my in laws, but the suspense is killing me.


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## Kevin Haynes

Zackjsimpson said:


> Do any of you use fire brick in the firebox? I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble or not. I haven’t even lit a fire in mine yet since we’re moving in a week and it’s still at my in laws, but the suspense is killing me.



I have never used fire bricks, nor really know anything about them. My best results have been placing that smoker facing a good way that will get plenty of air flow into the firebox and not from the other end (that will choke out the fire) then throw a chimney of roaring hot coals in the very bottom of the firebox (no ash tray piece, nothing keeping it up off the bottom) I run the fire on the bottom of the FB and haven't turned back yet. As for using the fire bricks, I assume you are using them to insulate the firebox in a sense? I personally wouldn't go out of your way to do that. Try to just dial your pecos in with what it has. I've had success. Even been doing some catering until my 500 gallon is finished. Let us know how it all goes!


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## Zackjsimpson

I’ll probably go without the fire brick, but that’s what I was referring to. I’ve heard it keeps the firebox in better shape since the metal doesn’t get as hot. mine will be inside the garage, or smoking, so I’m not too worried about rust though. 



Kevin Haynes said:


> I have never used fire bricks, nor really know anything about them. My best results have been placing that smoker facing a good way that will get plenty of air flow into the firebox and not from the other end (that will choke out the fire) then throw a chimney of roaring hot coals in the very bottom of the firebox (no ash tray piece, nothing keeping it up off the bottom) I run the fire on the bottom of the FB and haven't turned back yet. As for using the fire bricks, I assume you are using them to insulate the firebox in a sense? I personally wouldn't go out of your way to do that. Try to just dial your pecos in with what it has. I've had success. Even been doing some catering until my 500 gallon is finished. Let us know how it all goes!


----------



## Kevin Haynes

Zackjsimpson said:


> I’ll probably go without the fire brick, but that’s what I was referring to. I’ve heard it keeps the firebox in better shape since the metal doesn’t get as hot. mine will be inside the garage, or smoking, so I’m not too worried about rust though.


Oh okay. Yeah I have cooked on mine maybe 20-25 times and it has always been covered. I have always dumped the ash out after a cook. The metal in the firebox has certainly changed colors and the door may have just warped a tiny bit but it's held up.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Zackjsimpson said:


> Do any of you use fire brick in the firebox? I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble or not. I haven’t even lit a fire in mine yet since we’re moving in a week and it’s still at my in laws, but the suspense is killing me.



Funny you should ask.  I just put fire bricks in the FB of my Brazos and I did a short four cook yesterday to try them out.

First, I don't use the grate in the FB.  I build the fire in the bottom.   For that purpose, the fire bricks worked well.   They protect the bottom of my FB and also change the angles inside the box.   That made for a better coal bed and how the splits lay across the coals.   I like that aspect.

They also do provide insulation.    As to acting as a heat sync and evening out temps,  I don't know yet.   It will take a few more cooks and especially, some long cooks to conclude.

But I did get a better coal bed and that's worth a lot.


----------



## Quintin

I see that it's been a few months since someone has posted in here. I am looking at getting a Pecos. I will be upgrading from a RiverGrille. In my research it looks like everyone has their own specific modifications that they prefer to do. Some look rather simple (Converting the Fire box racks to plates in the main cook chamber) to (Converting your drip hole to take a water hose and use the bottom portion of your main chamber to hold water).... I love BBQ but i'm still really new to a stick burner.  Any advise on what Mods are necessary and what are for show to be able to get this rig up and running right, as soon as I get it? 

Thanks in advance!


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## Kevin Haynes

Quintin said:


> I see that it's been a few months since someone has posted in here. I am looking at getting a Pecos. I will be upgrading from a RiverGrille. In my research it looks like everyone has their own specific modifications that they prefer to do. Some look rather simple (Converting the Fire box racks to plates in the main cook chamber) to (Converting your drip hole to take a water hose and use the bottom portion of your main chamber to hold water).... I love BBQ but i'm still really new to a stick burner.  Any advise on what Mods are necessary and what are for show to be able to get this rig up and running right, as soon as I get it?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


It's an excellent beginner rig. I actually did get some tuner plates that helped. Takes a lot of finagling and messing with to get it right for you but man is it fun! I had the pecos for about 3 months before I ordered a 500 gallon on a trailer haha. Nothing wrong with the pecos. I just need room for 25 briskets. Not 2. You will love it!


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## Quintin

Kevin Haynes said:


> It's an excellent beginner rig. I actually did get some tuner plates that helped. Takes a lot of finagling and messing with to get it right for you but man is it fun! I had the pecos for about 3 months before I ordered a 500 gallon on a trailer haha. Nothing wrong with the pecos. I just need room for 25 briskets. Not 2. You will love it!


Thanks Kevin,

I keep hearing about these tuner plates and I have a ton of questions.  I saw on a video where I can contact the company and they actually sell a set vs. going to a fabricator and asking them to make some 1/4" steel plates for me.  4 run too hot on the stack side, 3 is just right.  Anyone able to tell me how much these things cost?  I know there are many more expensive rigs out there, but this feels like a big investment for me, but I also want to think about if this $400 smoker, needs an additional $250 in plates to be good.... maybe I should change my mind.  


I think i'm over thinking it at this point.


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## Kevin Haynes

Quintin said:


> Thanks Kevin,
> 
> I keep hearing about these tuner plates and I have a ton of questions.  I saw on a video where I can contact the company and they actually sell a set vs. going to a fabricator and asking them to make some 1/4" steel plates for me.  4 run too hot on the stack side, 3 is just right.  Anyone able to tell me how much these things cost?  I know there are many more expensive rigs out there, but this feels like a big investment for me, but I also want to think about if this $400 smoker, needs an additional $250 in plates to be good.... maybe I should change my mind.
> 
> 
> I think i'm over thinking it at this point.


No. You always have to weigh the pros and cons and go what fits your budget best. I bought I think 5- 1/4 plates from the metal fab guys over here for like $40. Dont pay $250 for tuning plates haha. I'll ship you mine before you do that! And yes only 3 have worked best over having 4 or 5. You could always not even use tuning plates and just find out where your hot spots are (if any) and just study your rig until you got it dialed in to work right everytime and you wouldn't need a set of tuning plates. The pecos for $400 is a solid choice for that price range and if you are wanting to learn to start smoking and getting used to the basics


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## Smokin Okie

Pecos is a great for starting with a stick burner.    Most important thing about a first offset, is finding out if a stick burner is for you.    Not everybody enjoys feeding splits.     Your investment is not that large and where I live,  there's always a good resale market if you find out its not for you.    You could easily get half of what you pay or more back.   So its not a big risk.

And if you find you really like stick burning,  then the Pecos can be moved easily when you buy that better smoker. 

Course, there's always being patient and looking for a used Pecos or Brazos on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.    Find the right one,  and you could easily flip it for what ya paid for it.


----------



## Quintin

Kevin Haynes said:


> No. You always have to weigh the pros and cons and go what fits your budget best. I bought I think 5- 1/4 plates from the metal fab guys over here for like $40. Dont pay $250 for tuning plates haha. I'll ship you mine before you do that! And yes only 3 have worked best over having 4 or 5. You could always not even use tuning plates and just find out where your hot spots are (if any) and just study your rig until you got it dialed in to work right everytime and you wouldn't need a set of tuning plates. The pecos for $400 is a solid choice for that price range and if you are wanting to learn to start smoking and getting used to the basics



My wife and sister purchased the RiverGrille from Home Depot (I think thats where they are from). About 4 years ago, during a 22 hour brisket cook over the weekend, my firebox burnt completely out.  I couldn't find any replacement boxes, or even a website for RiverGrille, leading me to believe that it's the in house brand from HD.  I cut my teeth initially on a Weber Kettle and loved it.  The only draw back to indirect heat on that set up was the lack of cooking area to be able to do multiple slabs or anything else for that matter.  After this weekends travesty, my wife took me to Academy and told me to pick out any sub $500 smoker for my bday coming up in a few days.  I like the weight of the Pecos and the fact that it's not a bolt on smoker.  We didn't pull the trigger yet, I wasn't ready and hadn't done my research yet.  In researching though it seems like there are a ton of mods that can be done, while watching the videos my wife looked at me and asked if all of the modifications were because it wasn't really a good smoker, after that conversation and explaining sometimes you have to tweak the really good to get to great.  I think i'm ready to pull the trigger, but was curious about which mods people feel like are necessary vs. which ones are beneficial.  


- Sorry for the long drawn out post.


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## Kevin Haynes

Quintin said:


> My wife and sister purchased the RiverGrille from Home Depot (I think thats where they are from). About 4 years ago, during a 22 hour brisket cook over the weekend, my firebox burnt completely out.  I couldn't find any replacement boxes, or even a website for RiverGrille, leading me to believe that it's the in house brand from HD.  I cut my teeth initially on a Weber Kettle and loved it.  The only draw back to indirect heat on that set up was the lack of cooking area to be able to do multiple slabs or anything else for that matter.  After this weekends travesty, my wife took me to Academy and told me to pick out any sub $500 smoker for my bday coming up in a few days.  I like the weight of the Pecos and the fact that it's not a bolt on smoker.  We didn't pull the trigger yet, I wasn't ready and hadn't done my research yet.  In researching though it seems like there are a ton of mods that can be done, while watching the videos my wife looked at me and asked if all of the modifications were because it wasn't really a good smoker, after that conversation and explaining sometimes you have to tweak the really good to get to great.  I think i'm ready to pull the trigger, but was curious about which mods people feel like are necessary vs. which ones are beneficial.
> 
> 
> - Sorry for the long drawn out post.


I honestly have only used the tuning plates and then I just run my fire on the absolute bottom of the firebox. Both the coal grate thingy and slide out shelf of the firebox are laying in the yard next to the smoker. Never used them in the smoker. When you are doing your first fire to burn all that chemical crap out and seasoning it, try to keep an eye out for where smoke may be seeping through the cooking chamber door. Then hit amazon for some of that fire gasket tape stuff and just go around the lid with it and boom. No more leaks. I wouldn't use it on the firebox, it will just get too hot and fall apart or fall off


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## Quintin

Where does everyone source their wood from ? I think I understand using 7inch splits about forearm wide, I am used to using the bagged chunks, but am curious where these logs come from.


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## pbclown

The mods that I have done to my packs is to put fireblack gasket around the cook chamber, never have been able to get it to stay on the fire box, and put in a Horizon smoker convection plate http://www.horizonbbqsmokers.com/accessories-1/16-convection-plate. I tried 2 different sets of tuning plates and could never get them to perform that well. I run the chimney wide open and the door vent between 1/4 and 11/2 open. That gets me +-5 degrees fire box to chimney. As far as wood, I get mine from Market street, they sell bags that are already cut down to 6-8 inches and just split it to the size I want.


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## Kevin Haynes

Quintin said:


> Where does everyone source their wood from ? I think I understand using 7inch splits about forearm wide, I am used to using the bagged chunks, but am curious where these logs come from.


That's  about the size you will need but being impossible to find anyone who will do that for you and bring it to you without them charging an arm and a leg, you may just have to go on craigslist and find someone who can get you some oak in smaller than average splits amd maybe do the rest yourself. Maybe get a cheap log splitter or a splitting axe. Or you can actually go to central market grocery store (or market street, I get them confused) and they sell PERFECT size little splits in a bag for like $14. Depends if you want to spend that much money on such little amount of wood


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## Smokin Okie

Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace is a good place to source smoke wood.

I'm fortunate here in Oklahoma City there's a woodlot that caters to stick burners.    He cut the splits down quite a bit.     But I still found the need to purchase a Kindling Cracker and a  miter saw.

Kindling Cracker gets used a lot.   Well worth the money spent. 

I found the miter saw on CL,  it was almost new and I got it for near half the price of a new one.    Don't need a lot of saw,  just the basic miter or chop saw.

I've also purchased a cheap electric chain saw from Harbor Freight,  but I only bought that due to people I know cutting down trees, like pecan and apple.


----------



## Quintin

Thanks for the input. I have a miter saw, reading the forum I saw someone say they paid 90 bucks to have it delivered. Which is 9 bags of chunks and a steal imo. Maybe I need to edit my search words on CL. I'm finding a bunch of firewood but no fruit wood.


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## Smokin Okie

Don't know where your located ,  but I can't find fruitwood in OKC.   We just don't have the orchards close.    They grow peaches in southern Oklahoma,  but the logistics of that are not good.     We have plenty of pecan and hickory ,  but oak is rare.

For me, a search of " BBQ " on CL will turn up wood.


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## Quintin

Anyone have any photos of where they installed their therms at on the door?  I plan on placing one on each side and would love some input as to where you guys have put yours.  Also is there a difference in regards to stem length? 

TIA


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## Smokin Okie

I did that  on my Brazos and I regret it .     I prefer  to use digital probes,  Thermoworks Smoke.

I put two Tel Tru analog gauges on both ends of the door,   they're 11 " from center of door handle to center of the gauge.   But I don't use them.    First reason is they read 20 to 30 * cooler than my digital probes on the grate.   I don't understand that, but even on my WSM where I installed an analog gauge,  they read cooler.

If I were going to do the gauges again,  I would move them a bit further apart.    If you look at Aaron Franklin's backyard offset, he puts on gauge in the lower left corner.    But his smoker exhausts differently than a Pecos or Brazos, he has a  large collector across the end.     The MIll Scale backyard offset is modeled after Franklin's design,  and they do the same.

But me,  I go digital and not mess with analog gauges.     In fact,  I'm geting ready to install a probe port on my Brazos.


----------



## daveman92789

I also have a pecos smoker. I made a convection plate with holes drilled in it & it worked really good. Temps within 5 degrees from side to side but in order to get it up to 275 I had to build a large fire which I didn't like. I got to looking at LSG cross flow technology & was very impressed with the design & wanted to see if it could work in a pipe smoker. I cut out the heat diverter & rigged up a plate just to see if it would work. I was shocked. I will be welding up a plate so I won't need a baffle plate or tuning plates.... I didn't have much time so I haven't tested to see how warm I could get it but with the little fire I had I was able to hit 230.


----------



## a7las

Smokin Okie said:


> Something else I do that might make a diff in your temps end to end.   I always use a water pan on the FB end.  I found this 16" loaf pan that fits perfectly acros the end of the cook chamber.    With tuning


How do you orient the pan, lengthwise across the bottom or width?


----------



## Smokin Okie

a7las said:


> How do you orient the pan, lengthwise across the bottom or width?



Just like a tuning plate,  except its on top of the baffle.    Fits neatly under the cooking grate so its out of the way.


----------



## daveman92789

daveman92789 said:


> I also have a pecos smoker. I made a convection plate with holes drilled in it & it worked really good. Temps within 5 degrees from side to side but in order to get it up to 275 I had to build a large fire which I didn't like. I got to looking at LSG cross flow technology & was very impressed with the design & wanted to see if it could work in a pipe smoker. I cut out the heat diverter & rigged up a plate just to see if it would work. I was shocked. I will be welding up a plate so I won't need a baffle plate or tuning plates.... I didn't have much time so I haven't tested to see how warm I could get it but with the little fire I had I was able to hit 230.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 434065
> View attachment 434066
> View attachment 434067
> View attachment 434068


I would like to update this. A few months ago i loaded my smoker up with 5 butts totaling roughly 38lbs. Though this method above seemed effective running dry i discovered its not as effective running loaded with meat. i struggled to get temps above 200 so i pulled this plate out and installed the diverter back in.  I believe the more meat you put in it the closer the temps seem to get from end to end. Nothing burned, everything cooked at the exact same rate, & everything got the exact same color. Pretty impressed with it. There is only one thing that i have now changed since this cook and thats the exhaust. where it connects to the cook chamber there is a noticable lip. i cut that out so the exhaust opening was the full 5" and the air flow is unbelievably better, not only that during a dry run the temps got even closer.











This diagram is how it ran for me loaded with butts with no mods. Cutting the lip out on the exhaust flattend that curve of heat. I was able to determine this diagram by moving probes around. I was getting so caught up on temps at the grate that i wasnt thinking about whats flowing around the meat. I only rotated the butt in the middle all the other ones stayed the same.


----------



## Smokin Okie

daveman92789 said:


> I would like to update this. A few months ago i loaded my smoker up with 5 butts totaling roughly 38lbs. Though this method above seemed effective running dry i discovered its not as effective running loaded with meat. i struggled to get temps above 200 so i pulled this plate out and installed the diverter back in.  I believe the more meat you put in it the closer the temps seem to get from end to end. Nothing burned, everything cooked at the exact same rate, & everything got the exact same color. Pretty impressed with it. There is only one thing that i have now changed since this cook and thats the exhaust. where it connects to the cook chamber there is a noticable lip. i cut that out so the exhaust opening was the full 5" and the air flow is unbelievably better, not only that during a dry run the temps got even closer.
> 
> View attachment 444925
> 
> View attachment 444926
> 
> This diagram is how it ran for me loaded with butts with no mods. Cutting the lip out on the exhaust flattend that curve of heat. I was able to determine this diagram by moving probes around. I was getting so caught up on temps at the grate that i wasnt thinking about whats flowing around the meat. I only rotated the butt in the middle all the other ones stayed the same.



That's interesting.    My Brazos has the same exhaust port opening as the Pecos,  but my stack is 6" .  I've thought about trying to cut that " lip " out also.    IDK why Old Country would put a 6" stack on the cooker and then restrict the exhaust.    Maybe there's more to the air flow dynamics there,  than meets the eye.

And I agree with your diagram about air flow inside the cook chamber.    I was trying to regulate end to end by using the FB door.    That increased air flow which threw heat to the stack end .......... but it caused the heat to be bottom up on the stack half of the cooking grate.    I had a couple cooks with some bad bottom burn,   ribs and pork butt.     The ribs weren't anywhere near done, but the bottom of the rack was burned badly.   And I think the heat was more direct heat ,  than radiant convective heat.

I finally gave up on running it with the FB door partly open.     Just run it as Old Country designed it to run.


----------



## daveman92789

Yeah i tried the door thing as well. I was able to move my hot spot from the fire box side to the exhaust side just by changing how much the door was open. I also gave up on that. Now i leave the smoke stack wide open and control the heat with the damper on the door. The biggest thing i noticed with the lip being cut out is my fire doesn't die down when I reduce the intake. It keeps burning good but it does cool the cook chamber down some. I do feel very confident that i can manage the temp with just how big the fire is now and leave the dampers wide open. The increased air flow made a huge difference and i don't believe that its going to change how the meat cooks i just think its going to take that hot spot and spread it out over the cook grate. After putting that much meat on my smoker i don't think there is anything wrong with the design. The meat in the middle will need to be rotated to keep it from burning but that's it. When its not loaded with a bunch of meat i put everything between the center of cook chamber and the exhaust. My next test will be to load it up with racks of ribs from end to end just to see what kind of impacts ribs will have on it and will they get burned. I was able to use the fat cap on the butts to my advantage.


----------



## Smokin Okie

I just smoked three butts yesterday and put them fat cap down to take the bottom up heat.   Worked out well.    And I rotated the butts every hour.    I'd rather keep the chamber door shut,  but on this size cooker I have to rotate.

I'm running with the FB door closed and the damper all the way open.   When I try to cut the damper down to half open,  I start getting gray or even white smoke.

My Brazos wanst to run between 250 and 275,   with 7 to 8" splits,  maybe 2" X 2" .    I can deal with that.


----------



## daveman92789

Smokin Okie said:


> I just smoked three butts yesterday and put them fat cap down to take the bottom up heat.   Worked out well.    And I rotated the butts every hour.    I'd rather keep the chamber door shut,  but on this size cooker I have to rotate.
> 
> I'm running with the FB door closed and the damper all the way open.   When I try to cut the damper down to half open,  I start getting gray or even white smoke.
> 
> My Brazos wanst to run between 250 and 275,   with 7 to 8" splits,  maybe 2" X 2" .    I can deal with that.


Yeah i was running into that issue with closing the damper. Getting nasty smoke however since i removed that lip i dont have that issue no more. I shoot for 275 on all my cooks. I think its the easiest temp to maintain on this grill and keep clean smoke plus coals that hot make a fresh log start easily. 

For the cook in the pic with all those butts i left the door shut for 4hrs before i even opened it that 1st time. After the 4hr mark I will start opening every hour for spritz or mop. I try to time it for when i throw a new log on. By the time i get done spritzing and rotating the log is lite and no dirty smoke. 

Another thing i did which i did this to a cheap smoker i owned 6 years ago was i installed a temp gauge on the firebox. I have noticed not only on that old cheap one i had but also this Pecos that the firebox temp will start to drop before the cook chamber reflects the temp drop. so as soon as i see the firebox drop 50 degrees ill add a new log if its needed and the cook chamber doesn't fluctuate as much.


----------



## MightyMike1

I have owned a Pecos smoker since 2015 and I love it. It cooks well and held up really well to the outdoors. I live in Houston, Tx where it get miserably hot & humid... My favorite things to smoke is brisket, beef ribs, and spare ribs.

I’m always looking to better my smoking skills, and like many others on this thread I have had some trouble maintaining temps. With a lot of trial an error I think I figured everything out and would like to share with everyone my experience.

First thing I did is cut my wood no longer than 10in long which is the size of the door. Next I cut the wood into 3rds and sometimes quarters. Doing this help tremendously with fire management. I like to cook with my stack wide open, and the firebox wide open to ensure clean fire. I just added some fire brick to the inside of my firebox to retain heat. Lastly I extended my smoke stack about 2ft for better draw.

I tried to get even temps across the entire grate, and surprisingly enough I found that with the extended stack and firebrick I had a fairly even heat, but the temps didn’t show an even heating. At times I was 40-50 degrees difference. So I took the metal plate that goes in the bottom of the fire box and used it as a tuning plate. After some adjustments I found that the metal plate is best right in the middle of the smoker. After doing this I was staying 5-9 degrees difference in the entire pit. I was also able to figure the difference in temperature from grate level to the door thermometer was about 25 degrees difference. So if the door says 225 then the grate is at 250.

Im going to include some pics of everything. Hope this info will help someone out. Thanks for your time.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Why did you reduce the diameter of the stack with the extension ?


----------



## MightyMike1

Smokin Okie said:


> Why did you reduce the diameter of the stack with the extension ?


Yeah that was a tough decision. I didn’t wanna reduce the diameter but I also didn’t wanna take my smoker to a welder to tack on a piece.  So I measured the pipe and found out the pipe is 5in on the inside circumference and 5 1/4 on the outside circumference. Went to the hardware store and they don’t sell any 5in pipe. The 6in pipe they had was to big... After searching for an alternative I found some sleeves that was a reducer from 5in to 4in, they also had a 6in to to 4in. Thinking the 6in would be to big i went ahead and got the 5in to 4in. That piece is also galvanized so I was really trying hard to find something else but just couldn’t. I found a 4in aluminum pipe and it fit perfectly in the reducer. When I got home the reducer fit perfectly into the inside of my stack. So I attached the 4in pipe to the reducer with some screws painted it black and it went in perfectly.

It’s not what I wanted to do, but for now I think it’s a good start. Eventually I will order me a 5in b vent gas tube for a chimney and see if that fits, but I’m one of these guys that don’t like to return stuff so I try to make sure what I get works. Also a side note I didn’t attach the extension to the stack so I can Easily remove it whenever. That’s good cuz when I’m done with the smoker, the cover won’t fit over the extension, I just remove the extension and sit aside til next time.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Here's what I did with my Brazos,  which has a 6 " stack.   I found a 6"


MightyMike1 said:


> Yeah that was a tough decision. I didn’t wanna reduce the diameter but I also didn’t wanna take my smoker to a welder to tack on a piece.  So I measured the pipe and found out the pipe is 5in on the inside circumference and 5 1/4 on the outside circumference. Went to the hardware store and they don’t sell any 5in pipe. The 6in pipe they had was to big... After searching for an alternative I found some sleeves that was a reducer from 5in to 4in, they also had a 6in to to 4in. Thinking the 6in would be to big i went ahead and got the 5in to 4in. That piece is also galvanized so I was really trying hard to find something else but just couldn’t. I found a 4in aluminum pipe and it fit perfectly in the reducer. When I got home the reducer fit perfectly into the inside of my stack. So I attached the 4in pipe to the reducer with some screws painted it black and it went in perfectly.
> 
> It’s not what I wanted to do, but for now I think it’s a good start. Eventually I will order me a 5in b vent gas tube for a chimney and see if that fits, but I’m one of these guys that don’t like to return stuff so I try to make sure what I get works. Also a side note I didn’t attach the extension to the stack so I can Easily remove it whenever. That’s good cuz when I’m done with the smoker, the cover won’t fit over the extension, I just remove the extension and sit aside til next time.



Here's what I did with my Brazos.     The first duct pipe I purchased, the 5" , was too small for the 6" stack on the Brazos.   I bet it would fit a Pecos.






						Extending stack on OC Brazos
					

I'm considering an experiment to raise the height of the stack on my Old Country Brazos.    The stack is 5 1/2" wide with about 5 1/8  Inside Diameter.   I found this galvanized steel duct pipe at Home Depot ,  5" X 2 ft.      I would like to add this to the stack temporarily,   just to see if...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


----------



## MightyMike1

Smokin Okie said:


> Here's what I did with my Brazos,  which has a 6 " stack.   I found a 6"
> 
> 
> Here's what I did with my Brazos.     The first duct pipe I purchased, the 5" , was too small for the 6" stack on the Brazos.   I bet it would fit a Pecos.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Extending stack on OC Brazos
> 
> 
> I'm considering an experiment to raise the height of the stack on my Old Country Brazos.    The stack is 5 1/2" wide with about 5 1/8  Inside Diameter.   I found this galvanized steel duct pipe at Home Depot ,  5" X 2 ft.      I would like to add this to the stack temporarily,   just to see if...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.smokingmeatforums.com


How has that worked out for you? I’m finding definitely more even heat throughout the cooker. I’m not constantly messing with the fire anymore.


----------



## Smokin Okie

I'm sure I'm getting more air flow, but the only way to know that is by watching the flame as the wood burns.    Its pulling the flame to the cook chamber in a greater way than without the extension.

As far as impacting temps end to end,  I can't tell much.   I quit worrying about keeping temps even.   I just rotate meats.

I'd found before, that too much air flow can cause bottom burn on meats.   Not sure how that happens,  I think maybe it moves direct radiant heat into the cook chamber,  IDK for sure.     But I was cooking with the Firebox door open 2 or 3 " to increase air flow and get a cleaner burn.    That also threw higher temps to the stack end and I was using the door to try to keep temps even end to end.

I don't do that anymore.  As long as I'm within 25* degrees end to end, I'm good with it.   I cook with the door shut and the damper 3/4 to wide open.    Opening the FB door just created another variable that muddied the water.    I've come full circle .


----------



## MightyMike1

Smokin Okie said:


> I'm sure I'm getting more air flow, but the only way to know that is by watching the flame as the wood burns.    Its pulling the flame to the cook chamber in a greater way than without the extension.
> 
> As far as impacting temps end to end,  I can't tell much.   I quit worrying about keeping temps even.   I just rotate meats.
> 
> I'd found before, that too much air flow can cause bottom burn on meats.   Not sure how that happens,  I think maybe it moves direct radiant heat into the cook chamber,  IDK for sure.     But I was cooking with the Firebox door open 2 or 3 " to increase air flow and get a cleaner burn.    That also threw higher temps to the stack end and I was using the door to try to keep temps even end to end.
> 
> I don't do that anymore.  As long as I'm within 25* degrees end to end, I'm good with it.   I cook with the door shut and the damper 3/4 to wide open.    Opening the FB door just created another variable that muddied the water.    I've come full circle .


I noticed that my cooker cooked pretty evenly before I put in the metal plate in. I did the biscuit test and all the biscuits were pretty consistent for the most part. Still though some of the biscuits were cooked more than others. The  temps were actually pretty far apart about 50-60 degrees difference. When I got the metal plate in there and got more consistent temps i did the biscuit tests again, all the biscuits were cooked exactly the same this time. Im try this out for a while and see how it goes


----------



## Smokin Okie

MightyMike1 said:


> How has that worked out for you? I’m finding definitely more even heat throughout the cooker. I’m not constantly messing with the fire anymore.



Just ran a small fire on my Brazos this morning to look at leaking.   I took my stack extension off ,  so I could choke off the stack and create more smoke.

And I also got the smoker balanced out end-to-end by using damper on the FB to control air intake.     Both ends right at 180*.

I put the stack extension on.    Stack end of smoker rose to 200,    FB end steady at 180 to 185.

I took stack extension off.    Stack end dropped in temp.    FB end steady.

Put it back on,  stack end rose.

Sooo ,  does a taller stack = greater draw and air flow ?

Yes,  that is a fact jack.


----------



## EL BBQ

Man this is a pretty good thread, I read it from the beginning back in 2014. I just bought a Brazos off the market place a couple months ago. It was a little sun baked and rusted here and there but I sanded it down and repainted the outside and its back to looking showroom new! I've probably done 3 or 4 empty burns to try and get a good feel of the pit and so far I've done about 7 or 8 cooks and I really like it. I also added two analog temp guages on each end of the cook chamber at grate level. Tel-tru bq 300s little pricey but I like em so far. I ordered the lava lock heat convection plate and should be receiving it this week so I'll post in here and let yall know that goes. So far I've done pork ribs, beef ribs, pork butt and a couple briskets all very successful. I love it so far, got some more ideas for some mods ill post once I get em done.


----------



## Amos_Moses

I joined after reading this thread to thank you fellows (and gals!) for all of the excellent information posted here!  I bought a Pecos last week and I love it!  I seasoned the inside of mine with filtered bacon drippings Ms. Moses had been saving and it's beautiful.  I can't wait for my parts to come in so I can make it better.

Thanks for having me and I can't wait to share my experiences with y'all.

-Amos


----------



## TheBBQChef

Very interesting thread here on the Pecos. I've got the Brazos and I've noticed the consistent theme with airflow and temp consistency issues. I have also experienced the same and will highlight my thoughts, experiences, and theories here as well.

As others have noted, these cooker get almost too much airflow. If you try and run it like an open offset, the baffle and draw of the stack pull all the heat underneath your food and you get bad bottom burn. If you manage by temp at grate level and run at the temp you want to cook at, food takes a long time to cook through. If you close it down you get a dirty fire using the supplied coal grate. Not only that, with the stack wide open the stack pulls heat out of the cook chamber faster than the firebox can replace it.

I've noted that by using an alternate coal grate you start to move in the right direction. That gets heat a little closer to the cook chamber. A well designed open offset should create some backpressure in the cook chamber. I'm beginning to believe that is why Old Country left the oriface going to the stack at 4.5". They know that too much heat leaves the cook chamber too quickly. What I don't understand is why they haven't just fixed it completely.

I haven't done any math, but I would venture an educated guess that the stack should really be 3.5" to 4" in diameter, and should be 2 ft taller. I have tested this by running the FB with the door closed and using only the damper on the door, while closing down the stack damper to about the same relative ~ 3.5" size. This creates some backpressure in the CC and allows the temps to even out and still provides ample airflow for a clean fire. I can leave the FB door damper open and adjust my temps with the fire if needed. I prefer to cook in the 250 - 275F range most of the time. I'm toying with the idea of cutting out the heat deflector to run this way as well. It impedes the heat's ability to rise up in the CC quickly and then move across your food and out the stack. If we wanted heat under our food we would have all bought a reverse flow setup!

Of course, smaller offsets are harder to run than big offsets, but there is a significant price gap unless you build your own. The trade-off in running this way might mean running at 225 F to 250 F as the heat will be around the meat longer as the air will not be moving as quick.

I've done some dry testing this week and this so far seems to work well, but it will need more experimentation. In theory, it makes perfect sense and I think I'll see more improvements if I cut out the deflector when running the cooker this way. I'm half tempted to cut off the stack and build a new stack with a collector as well, as when you have back pressure you get a hot spot near the stack. I'm also half-tempted to just set out to build my own, but we shall see if that materializes. I have some friends that could make it happen, so one never knows.

I'll post my further findings here and hopefully it will help!


----------



## daveomak

A mod that seems to even out temps and reduce fuel consumption is....

Close of the upper half of the pie opening with sheet metal...
Add upper air inlets to move heat into the CC.....


----------



## Smokin Okie

TheBBQChef said:


> Very interesting thread here on the Pecos. I've got the Brazos and I've noticed the consistent theme with airflow and temp consistency issues. I have also experienced the same and will highlight my thoughts, experiences, and theories here as well.
> 
> As others have noted, these cooker get almost too much airflow. If you try and run it like an open offset, the baffle and draw of the stack pull all the heat underneath your food and you get bad bottom burn. If you manage by temp at grate level and run at the temp you want to cook at, food takes a long time to cook through. If you close it down you get a dirty fire using the supplied coal grate. Not only that, with the stack wide open the stack pulls heat out of the cook chamber faster than the firebox can replace it.
> 
> I've noted that by using an alternate coal grate you start to move in the right direction. That gets heat a little closer to the cook chamber. A well designed open offset should create some backpressure in the cook chamber. I'm beginning to believe that is why Old Country left the oriface going to the stack at 4.5". They know that too much heat leaves the cook chamber too quickly. What I don't understand is why they haven't just fixed it completely.
> 
> I haven't done any math, but I would venture an educated guess that the stack should really be 3.5" to 4" in diameter, and should be 2 ft taller. I have tested this by running the FB with the door closed and using only the damper on the door, while closing down the stack damper to about the same relative ~ 3.5" size. This creates some backpressure in the CC and allows the temps to even out and still provides ample airflow for a clean fire. I can leave the FB door damper open and adjust my temps with the fire if needed. I prefer to cook in the 250 - 275F range most of the time. I'm toying with the idea of cutting out the heat deflector to run this way as well. It impedes the heat's ability to rise up in the CC quickly and then move across your food and out the stack. If we wanted heat under our food we would have all bought a reverse flow setup!
> 
> Of course, smaller offsets are harder to run than big offsets, but there is a significant price gap unless you build your own. The trade-off in running this way might mean running at 225 F to 250 F as the heat will be around the meat longer as the air will not be moving as quick.
> 
> I've done some dry testing this week and this so far seems to work well, but it will need more experimentation. In theory, it makes perfect sense and I think I'll see more improvements if I cut out the deflector when running the cooker this way. I'm half tempted to cut off the stack and build a new stack with a collector as well, as when you have back pressure you get a hot spot near the stack. I'm also half-tempted to just set out to build my own, but we shall see if that materializes. I have some friends that could make it happen, so one never knows.
> 
> I'll post my further findings here and hopefully it will help!



I own a Brazos.   I agree with some of your statements, and disagree with others.

I think the baffle in the cook chamber ..... is baffling.    It restricts air flow.    I think it creates a mild venturi effect,  in that it slightly increases speed of air flow into the cook chamber,  which amplifies the loss of cooking grate on the FB end.

IMO,  air flow has to be balanced through the cooker,  the same amount of air entering , has to leave at the same rate.    We can control air flow entering by using the FB door and/or the damper in the FB door.    But the baffle is not adjustable.   Its only gonna allow so much air through the cooker.

I have a theory,  but not enough confidence in my theory to act on it .    I think cutting the baffle in half and putting a Franklin style collector/stack on the other end,  would improve the air flow through the cooker and create better temp balance.    Increase air flow creates better convection , which creates better cooking.

The baffle makes the use of tuning plates difficult.   I've done multiple biscuit tests with tuning plates in diff configs and without tuning plates.    And because of the baffle,  plates create a whole nother set of variables,  and we aleady have enough variables to deal with. 

And I gotta cut this short,  my wife needs this laptop for a Zoom meeting,  but I got more to add.


----------



## Smokin Okie

I'm back.

On the air flow issue.    I've put a stack extension on my Brazos and it does increase air flow.     But I'm having huge questions on whether I should even be trying to increase air flow.

I can also increase air flow by cooking with the FB door open, to varying degrees.

But when I increase air flow,  I think it increases the venturi effect that the baffle creates.    Heat shoots further into the cook chamber.     That's my theory ,  anyway.

I look at a stream for a comparison.     Water flows through a pool and then hits a rapid.    The water speed increases in the rapid because of shallower water ( somewhat of a venturi effect ) .     Then it hits the next pool.     The water will shoot into the pool.   The more water coming down the stream,  the faster it flows and the further it shoots into the next pool.

And I think a dam on a river is another analogy for the stack end of the cook chamber.     Its like a dam with floodgates in the middle that are wide open.     What that creates in the corners where the dam meets the bank, is a lot of flotsom from dead water.    In the Brazos,  what i found with my biscuit tests, is heat building in the back corner, away from the door.    The door side is always a bit cooler.

Bottom line,  I'm cooking with the FB door closed and the damper about 1/2 open.    That's about all the air flow it can handle.   I'm thinking about removing the stack extension.    It does create better draw through the cooker,  but in the end, its limited by the baffle and the size of the exhaust.     

The amount of air coming in needs to be equal to the amount that can be exhausted.    That keeps temps balanced.

As much as I'd like to improve this smoker,   I think its best to just cook with it as Old Country designed it.


----------



## TheBBQChef

Thanks for your input and feedback.  I think we are in agreement on most things, and were saying the same things in different ways. The large stack on the Brazos creates a low-pressure situation in the CC - really too low IMO.  Instead of being able to fill that void with the heat from the firebox and having that heat flow over the cooking crate, the low-pressure situation is exacerbated by the baffle which forces heat under the grate and right up to the exhaust.

That said, this is why I believe that having a smaller diameter stack that is extended up another 2 feet (and preferably with a collector) and removing the baffle will help solve the issue. What I am thinking of doing at this point is just cutting out the baffle and then increasing pressure with the stack damper to mimic a smaller diameter stack.  

The more I think about it, the more I'm ready to head out to the Brazos with my angle grinder and do some testing this weekend!


----------



## Smokin Okie

I would not reduce the size of the stack.    A collector with a 6" stack and some additional height would be my choice.   I want it to handle a lot of air.    I want to increase the stack and then open up the FB end by cutting out half of the baffle.    It needs some baffle to protect the FB end of cooking grate from direct heat.

Workhorse makes a pit just about the size of the Brazos,  its 20 X 42 ,   collector with big tall stack

https://www.workhorsepits.com/product-page/1969-1

On another note about direct heat,  early on with my Brazos,  I was trying to cook with FB door open.    I got some bottom burn on ribs.   I'll never prove it, but I really think the air flow was so strong under that baffle,  that it moved direct heat sideways into the ribs.


----------



## Smokin Okie

The Franklin pit is 20 X 47 ,  it also has a large tall stack with a collector,  and he has a concave cap on the end to reduce resistance to air flow 

https://franklinbbqpits.com/


----------



## TheBBQChef

That is a nice looking pit and the price is very attractive as well! With the 3/8" steel construction, that's hard to beat. Even adding a cover, top rack, and Cowboy Grill you're only looking at ~ $2,500 before tax and shipping. You can't really tell from the pics, but it looks like they are using a stepped heat deflector like Aaron Franklin uses in his pits. It certainly doesn't look like it's angled downward.  

I concur on the strong airflow under the baffle. In the end, I want my airflow to go up and over my food, so that's why I'm leaning toward taking it out completely. I want to cook top-down and usually have my food more toward the stack side.  A compromise might be to cut the baffle and weld it back in level.


----------



## Smokin Okie

I've heard there's a deflector in the Workhorse pits, but its not too large.    I strongly suspect its similar to what he installed here when he modified this Yoder Wichita.     This is Jimmy Daniels of Workhorse and Primitive Pits .


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## Smokin Okie

This is the best look at the inside of a Franklin Pit,  that I've seen


----------



## TheBBQChef

Yep, I've seen both of those before. I wondered if Daniels was behind Workhorse Pits when I saw "sister company" on their website and the stack on the Workhorse looked like the same design that Primitive Pits has.  That's the only drawback for me is that I can't stand to look at that folding stack. The flange in the middle of the stack just looks so out of place - especially for a backyard pit.  I get it on a large trailer pit where clearances might be a concern while transporting.  Workhorse has the 1975 which is still moderately priced.  I'd like to talk to someone who owns one and see what their thoughts are on it!


----------



## Smokin Okie

TheBBQChef said:


> Yep, I've seen both of those before. I wondered if Daniels was behind Workhorse Pits when I saw "sister company" on their website and the stack on the Workhorse looked like the same design that Primitive Pits has.  That's the only drawback for me is that I can't stand to look at that folding stack. The flange in the middle of the stack just looks so out of place - especially for a backyard pit.  I get it on a large trailer pit where clearances might be a concern while transporting.  Workhorse has the 1975 which is still moderately priced.  I'd like to talk to someone who owns one and see what their thoughts are on it!



For all of these offset builders,  the stack causes shipping problems,  big increase in cost.

LSG has the owner bolt on the stack.

As does Franklin.

I really think that's part of the reason for the short but wide stack on our Brazos.


----------



## TheBBQChef

I figured as much. Dimensions are everything when it comes to shipping and costs, sometimes even moreso than weight. 

The bolt-on makes sense. I just don't care for the foldable stack because of the flange in the middle of the stack. My eye gets drawn right to that.

I'm sure you're spot on about the stack height on the Brazos. I'd bet it would cost quite a bit more to ship or package if it had a 2 ft taller stack.


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## Amos_Moses

Fired up the pecos this afternoon to bbq for the week. Unfortunately it's windy as hell out here so I am babysitting the firedoor.  Still ongoing but this is where we are at.

Black Angus Burgers, pork al pastore, and pineapple:








The rig: fueled with kingsford charcoal and pecan splits. The cook is fueled by Jameson & ginger ale.


----------



## bamapig

Is the pecos really 14 gauge steel with 11 gauge doors? I really want it to be 12 ga at least lol


----------



## ryebrookbbq

Hi all

recently bought my first offset and got the pecos shipped to me in ny. Luckily the welds were good. Very excited. After burn off I could see the cc and fb had material leaks so I installed gaskets in both. Help dramatically and now both at acceptable levels. Also note I put 4 firebricks in cc and 3 in fb to help with heat retention. Also note using the sear grate in place of the coal grate that cones

I have two cooks under my belt and have a few questions and observations.

1.  I seem to get very wide temp gaps between fb side and stack side. I tried using the fb grate as a tuning plate. Moved it to center. Gap was still 40-50 degrees. I am using two digital fire board probes. Perhaps probe placement caused issue but was odd gap was so large. See .#2

2. Note I started both cooks with .75 of a chimney w kingsford. first cook I tried 12 x 2-3 splits. The initial burst of heat when it caught fire made it tough to control temps. Was constantly fighting fire. Pos note once I got it under control lasted 45 mins. On second cook I used 8 x 2 splits. These were great as burned up right away. Easier to control temps. But I needed a new split every 25-30 mins. I’m thinking 10-12 x 1.5-2 is ideal.

3.I tried to manage temps with size of fire only. I would put each new log in, leave fb door open for 5 then close without latching. Vents open. I was trying to run at 250-275. Achieved this on stack side. Fb side I was closer to 315-325. As I had to large racks of beef ribs I rotated every hour so they stayed close to each other.

I’d welcome any advice here. Maybe I need to try the tuning plate concept again. But my temp gaps seem larger than most.

good news is I had no issue with smoke. Tbs most of cook. Just haven’t dialed it in well yet.


----------



## SmokeIron

Hello All,

I have been a Pecos owner for a few years now.   I use high temp gasket on the cook chamber and have installed temp gauges just above grate level about a quarter the cook chamber door's width in fro each side.  Other than those changes, I have ran mine pretty much stock.  It seems to hold within 10 degrees on both sides of the cook chamber but I may tinker with baffle plates some this season.



ryebrookbbq said:


> 3.I tried to manage temps with size of fire only. I would put each new log in, leave fb door open for 5 then close without latching. Vents open. I was trying to run at 250-275. Achieved this on stack side. Fb side I was closer to 315-325. As I had to large racks of beef ribs I rotated every hour so they stayed close to each other.
> 
> I’d welcome any advice here. Maybe I need to try the tuning plate concept again. But my temp gaps seem larger than most.
> 
> good news is I had no issue with smoke. Tbs most of cook. Just haven’t dialed it in well yet.



I would try running with the firebox door open 3-5 inches, this may push some of that 315-325 degree air further into the cook chamber and help even it out.


----------



## daveomak

If you add upper air inlets to the FB, you won't have to open the door and add air to the fire...


----------



## Smokin Okie

SmokeIron said:


> Hello All,
> 
> I have been a Pecos owner for a few years now.   I use high temp gasket on the cook chamber and have installed temp gauges just above grate level about a quarter the cook chamber door's width in fro each side.  Other than those changes, I have ran mine pretty much stock.  It seems to hold within 10 degrees on both sides of the cook chamber but I may tinker with baffle plates some this season.
> 
> 
> 
> I would try running with the firebox door open 3-5 inches, this may push some of that 315-325 degree air further into the cook chamber and help even it out.



This would work on my Brazos.    But IDK if the Pecos has the same baffle that the Brazos has.     On the Brazos,  the baffle restricted the air flow,  causing it to speed up a little as it passed under.   Opening the door , increased air intake and would cause the hot air to go to stack end.     I could move heat from one end to the other,  just by varying how far the firebox door was open.

But extending the stack changed that.   When  I put a two foot stack ext on the Brazos,  the increased draw pulled heat to the stack end.


----------



## SmokeIron

Here is a picture of the baffle in my Pecos, I assume it is similar to the Brazos.  I would like to cut the lip out of the entrance to the stack and increase stack height at some point.  I may add an air inlet above the firebox door as well, but it seems to stay pretty even with the firebox door open as shown.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Yes, that baffle looks familiar.     If you have a digital temp device or two,  put a probe on each end of the grate.    Shut the damper on the FB door.    Play around with the FB door opening and monitoring the temp on both ends.   The more the door is open, the hotter it will get on the stack end.   The less air flow, the hotter it gets on the FB end.

All due respect to Dave who posts here about having air inlets higher on the FB,  but IMO,  you're better off with lower vent openings.    Look at Aaron Franklin's pit, I'll add a pic.      One of the changes he's made to his prototype,  was to add air inlet ports along the bottom of the FB door.   His original version just had the " Franklin " cut into the door.

What I found on my Brazos after extending the stack, is that it was better to cook with the FB door closed and the damper 1/2 to full open.    And then not worry about end to end temps.  I cooked on the stack half of the cooking grate.    It seems counter intuitive to increase the draw through the smoker and then cut off the air intake,  but it worked for me.


----------



## Smokin Okie

BTW,   that FB door opening in your bottom pic,  was pretty much the sweet spot on my Brazos also,   pre stack extension.


----------



## SmokeIron

Smokin Okie said:


> What I found on my Brazos after extending the stack, is that it was better to cook with the FB door closed and the damper 1/2 to full open.    And then not worry about end to end temps.  I cooked on the stack half of the cooking grate.    It seems counter intuitive to increase the draw through the smoker and then cut off the air intake,  but it worked for me.



So with the stack extension, do you just need to rotate the meats every so often or do you lose the capacity of the firebox side of the cooking grate?


----------



## Smokin Okie

SmokeIron said:


> So with the stack extension, do you just need to rotate the meats every so often or do you lose the capacity of the firebox side of the cooking grate?



Both.

But on any offset , the approximate third of the grate near the FB is not gonna be usable.    But the baffle really confuses that.    The thing to do is run a biscuit test.    Or some just use white bread.    And find out where the hot spots are at.   

Here's one of many I did on the Brazos.   I did biscuit test with tuning plates,  plates in diff configurations,  and no tuning plates.    I think this one is no plates,  best I can tell.   And its done with the FB door shut,  damper 1/2 open.   If I open the door , that hot spot will move toward the stack.

I put a row of biscuits right in front of the baffle,  can see how the heat came out from under the baffle and rose almost straight up.

Also,  just about every offset that does not have a collector for the stack,  will have a hot spot in the far back corner on the stack end.


----------



## SmokeIron

Thanks for the info.  I've been meaning to do the biscuit test just to establish where I'm at currently, that way I will know if I'm helping or hurting with each modification.


----------



## BsCraftBBQ

Hi all,

Just wanted to share a few simple but effective mods....

1)Build the fire on the floor - Tried several different firebox setups, including one with "V" shaped grates to funnel coals, surrounded by firebrick. However, the simplest and most effective setup so far has been to build fire on the floor. Using ~12" L x 2" W splits of oak. Never going back to any other setup.

2) Add a chain drying hammock/brazerro - The rails at the top of the firebox that hold the direct cooking grate can be repurposed as a) an argentinian brazerro/burn box to produce coals for your grill and b) when chains pulled to the side, creates a 'drying hammock' for splits that you are warming/drying for the next one to put on the fire. Sometimes they catch, but rarely. Much more effective than setting on top of the firebox or in the cook chamber where they take up space. 6' of chain at your hardware store. Cheap. Grab some chicken wire or a carabiner to help secure it to or around the rails.

3) Top cooking rack - Went on Thumbtack (amazing app) and found a welder to make a custom top shelf. Doubled the cook space. $160, but worth it to me.

4) Lavalock/gasket - Nothing special, but works.

The problem I have is the STACK side getting hotter than the firebox side. Temp testing on upper and lower racks indicated strong flow (not weak, where hot air might get stuck in upper chamber). To remedy, and short of restricting airflow to the firebox or on the stack, there is a need to modify the baffle and airflow inside the chamber. I am working with the welder to come up with a solution (eg. a customizable baffle that can push air both UP and DOWN, depending on current conditions. She is also going to cut a water pan shelf for under the lower grate on the firebox side to open up more cook space.

It's a good amount of money, but not exorbitant, and is valuable to me for a better cooking experience and a better end product.

www.bscraftbbq.com


----------



## Smokin Okie

BsCraftBBQ said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Just wanted to share a few simple but effective mods....
> 
> 1)Build the fire on the floor - Tried several different firebox setups, including one with "V" shaped grates to funnel coals, surrounded by firebrick. However, the simplest and most effective setup so far has been to build fire on the floor. Using ~12" L x 2" W splits of oak. Never going back to any other setup.
> 
> 2) Add a chain drying hammock/brazerro - The rails at the top of the firebox that hold the direct cooking grate can be repurposed as a) an argentinian brazerro/burn box to produce coals for your grill and b) when chains pulled to the side, creates a 'drying hammock' for splits that you are warming/drying for the next one to put on the fire. Sometimes they catch, but rarely. Much more effective than setting on top of the firebox or in the cook chamber where they take up space. 6' of chain at your hardware store. Cheap. Grab some chicken wire or a carabiner to help secure it to or around the rails.
> 
> 3) Top cooking rack - Went on Thumbtack (amazing app) and found a welder to make a custom top shelf. Doubled the cook space. $160, but worth it to me.
> 
> 4) Lavalock/gasket - Nothing special, but works.
> 
> The problem I have is the STACK side getting hotter than the firebox side. Temp testing on upper and lower racks indicated strong flow (not weak, where hot air might get stuck in upper chamber). To remedy, and short of restricting airflow to the firebox or on the stack, there is a need to modify the baffle and airflow inside the chamber. I am working with the welder to come up with a solution (eg. a customizable baffle that can push air both UP and DOWN, depending on current conditions. She is also going to cut a water pan shelf for under the lower grate on the firebox side to open up more cook space.
> 
> It's a good amount of money, but not exorbitant, and is valuable to me for a better cooking experience and a better end product.
> 
> www.bscraftbbq.com



I just sold my Old Country Brazos that I cooked with for three years.

The Lone Star Grillz Fire Basket was the best thing I found for managing the fire.  Building directly in the bottom of the firebox made it too hard to get new splits to ignite.   Can't get air under the splits .   I put the fire basket on fire brick, to create air space under the basket.

I like 8 to 10" splits , bout as round as a beer can.

In one of your pics,  you have your fire built way too close to the cook chamber.   You're getting a lot of direct heat into the cook chamber.    The other benefit of the LSG Fire Basket,  is it allowed me to keep the fire next to the firebox door,  away from the cook chamber.   That extra 6 to 8" made a difference .    It effectively increased the length of my firebox.

I don't like your chains idea.   I don't want my splits to dry out that much,  you might as well be using kiln dried wood.   Removes most of the moisture from the wood.   I don't want green wood,  but I don't want completely dry wood either.   Warming on top of the firebox is plenty enough drying,  really more than I like.

I did not use the upper grate in the Brazos.    I don't like juices dripping down on meats on the lower grate.   The upper grate is also just a drag on air flow.   

I don't like loading up my smoker with a lot of meats.  It changes air flow inside the cooker.   Thus it changes how the smoker cooks.     Capacity was not something I was looking for in a smoker.

Just cutting the baffle out , or reducing its size ,   is only gonna work if you open up the exhaust end with a collector or some way to improve the draw and get heat out of the cooker.    The reason the stack end is hotter,  is due to the baffle acting as a mild venturi effect and shooting heat to the stack end.    Compare to putting thumb halfway over the end of the garden hose.     Ya can't just open up one end ,  without opening the other.   Heat will build on the stack end.    It can't get out that 4.5" exhaust port fast enough.     And likewise,  if ya increase the draw by modifying the stack,  ya also have to cut out the baffle.


----------



## BsCraftBBQ

Smokin Okie said:


> I just sold my Old Country Brazos that I cooked with for three years.
> 
> The Lone Star Grillz Fire Basket was the best thing I found for managing the fire.  Building directly in the bottom of the firebox made it too hard to get new splits to ignite.   Can't get air under the splits .   I put the fire basket on fire brick, to create air space under the basket.
> 
> I like 8 to 10" splits , bout as round as a beer can.
> 
> In one of your pics,  you have your fire built way too close to the cook chamber.   You're getting a lot of direct heat into the cook chamber.    The other benefit of the LSG Fire Basket,  is it allowed me to keep the fire next to the firebox door,  away from the cook chamber.   That extra 6 to 8" made a difference .    It effectively increased the length of my firebox.
> 
> I don't like your chains idea.   I don't want my splits to dry out that much,  you might as well be using kiln dried wood.   Removes most of the moisture from the wood.   I don't want green wood,  but I don't want completely dry wood either.   Warming on top of the firebox is plenty enough drying,  really more than I like.
> 
> I did not use the upper grate in the Brazos.    I don't like juices dripping down on meats on the lower grate.   The upper grate is also just a drag on air flow.
> 
> I don't like loading up my smoker with a lot of meats.  It changes air flow inside the cooker.   Thus it changes how the smoker cooks.     Capacity was not something I was looking for in a smoker.
> 
> Just cutting the baffle out , or reducing its size ,   is only gonna work if you open up the exhaust end with a collector or some way to improve the draw and get heat out of the cooker.    The reason the stack end is hotter,  is due to the baffle acting as a mild venturi effect and shooting heat to the stack end.    Compare to putting thumb halfway over the end of the garden hose.     Ya can't just open up one end ,  without opening the other.   Heat will build on the stack end.    It can't get out that 4.5" exhaust port fast enough.     And likewise,  if ya increase the draw by modifying the stack,  ya also have to cut out the baffle.


Sounds like you ha e a really nice set up, fine tuned for your style, preferences, and applications. This set up is the analog for me. Three years of R&D and produces the best results at the volume I need it to in my environment with the least amount of babysitting. Recall that it’s the stack end that gets too hot, not the firebox end. Will def keep an eye on the air flow post baffle mod.


----------



## TheBBQChef

Smokin Okie said:


> I just sold my Old Country Brazos that I cooked with for three years.
> 
> The Lone Star Grillz Fire Basket was the best thing I found for managing the fire.  Building directly in the bottom of the firebox made it too hard to get new splits to ignite.   Can't get air under the splits .   I put the fire basket on fire brick, to create air space under the basket.
> 
> I like 8 to 10" splits , bout as round as a beer can.
> 
> In one of your pics,  you have your fire built way too close to the cook chamber.   You're getting a lot of direct heat into the cook chamber.    The other benefit of the LSG Fire Basket,  is it allowed me to keep the fire next to the firebox door,  away from the cook chamber.   That extra 6 to 8" made a difference .    It effectively increased the length of my firebox.
> 
> I don't like your chains idea.   I don't want my splits to dry out that much,  you might as well be using kiln dried wood.   Removes most of the moisture from the wood.   I don't want green wood,  but I don't want completely dry wood either.   Warming on top of the firebox is plenty enough drying,  really more than I like.
> 
> I did not use the upper grate in the Brazos.    I don't like juices dripping down on meats on the lower grate.   The upper grate is also just a drag on air flow.
> 
> I don't like loading up my smoker with a lot of meats.  It changes air flow inside the cooker.   Thus it changes how the smoker cooks.     Capacity was not something I was looking for in a smoker.
> 
> Just cutting the baffle out , or reducing its size ,   is only gonna work if you open up the exhaust end with a collector or some way to improve the draw and get heat out of the cooker.    The reason the stack end is hotter,  is due to the baffle acting as a mild venturi effect and shooting heat to the stack end.    Compare to putting thumb halfway over the end of the garden hose.     Ya can't just open up one end ,  without opening the other.   Heat will build on the stack end.    It can't get out that 4.5" exhaust port fast enough.     And likewise,  if ya increase the draw by modifying the stack,  ya also have to cut out the baffle.


What did you end up going with since you sold your Brazos?!

I've done some additional experimentation and I think I've decided what I'm going to do to my Brazos. I ran it for a while with the cooking grate upside down in the FB and built fires on it toward the back side of the FB and built them relatively small. I only used the door damper for inlet air as I had added a 2 ft extension to the stack that slipped over the original stack. This worked ok. I more recently tried building the fire in the bottom close to the FB door and only used the door damper at about 1/2 open and this has worked the best, provided you use 12-14" long splits. They will sit above the coals and airflow is great. Because the fire is lower, you can add more fuel and not have to babysit as much. 

I am going to cut off the original stack and design and add a collector and longer stack to match the height I currently have now. Stack diameter will be 5.5" ID.  I'll continue to build fires and manage air in with the FB door damper.

I'd like to go ahead and build my own pit as well. Something in the 150 -250 gallon range would be perfect. Then I can build a longer FB to give me more control and better fire management.  Until I can make that happen though, I believe the changes to my Brazos will serve me really well.


----------



## TheBBQChef

Well, I said I wasn't going to do it but after some Labor Day beers I decided I was going to cut out the baffle. No need to worry, I waited until Tuesday morning to do it so there was no beers influencing the angle grinder! 

But I can tell you this, I am VERY glad that I did it. One thing I noticed from my biscuit test is that even with temps well under control, the bottoms were more done than the tops. I really wanted my Brazos to cook from the top down. I did a test burn that afternoon to see how she would handle. Last night I started a fire, trimmed and seasoned my brisket, and stayed up all night to cook it. I rested it all day long and just finished dinner. THESE are the kind of results that I wanted and how I wanted to get them. Hands down, the best brisket I've cooked in my life and I know I could repeat the process again tonight if I needed to.

I'm still going to cut off the existing stack and add a collector and new stack, but with my clamp-over 6", 2 ft extension this thing cooks like a true Texas offset. The risk was TOTALLY worth the reward. If anyone out there is considering it and you want to cook top-down, I'll be happy to answer any questions or help in any way that I can.


----------



## BsCraftBBQ

TheBBQChef said:


> Well, I said I wasn't going to do it but after some Labor Day beers I decided I was going to cut out the baffle. No need to worry, I waited until Tuesday morning to do it so there was no beers influencing the angle grinder!
> 
> But I can tell you this, I am VERY glad that I did it. One thing I noticed from my biscuit test is that even with temps well under control, the bottoms were more done than the tops. I really wanted my Brazos to cook from the top down. I did a test burn that afternoon to see how she would handle. Last night I started a fire, trimmed and seasoned my brisket, and stayed up all night to cook it. I rested it all day long and just finished dinner. THESE are the kind of results that I wanted and how I wanted to get them. Hands down, the best brisket I've cooked in my life and I know I could repeat the process again tonight if I needed to.
> 
> I'm still going to cut off the existing stack and add a collector and new stack, but with my clamp-over 6", 2 ft extension this thing cooks like a true Texas offset. The risk was TOTALLY worth the reward. If anyone out there is considering it and you want to cook top-down, I'll be happy to answer any questions or help in any way that I can.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 510104
> View attachment 510105


Love this! Do you have pics of your setup in action (oven and firebox)?


----------



## Smokin Okie

TheBBQChef said:


> Well, I said I wasn't going to do it but after some Labor Day beers I decided I was going to cut out the baffle. No need to worry, I waited until Tuesday morning to do it so there was no beers influencing the angle grinder!
> 
> But I can tell you this, I am VERY glad that I did it. One thing I noticed from my biscuit test is that even with temps well under control, the bottoms were more done than the tops. I really wanted my Brazos to cook from the top down. I did a test burn that afternoon to see how she would handle. Last night I started a fire, trimmed and seasoned my brisket, and stayed up all night to cook it. I rested it all day long and just finished dinner. THESE are the kind of results that I wanted and how I wanted to get them. Hands down, the best brisket I've cooked in my life and I know I could repeat the process again tonight if I needed to.
> 
> I'm still going to cut off the existing stack and add a collector and new stack, but with my clamp-over 6", 2 ft extension this thing cooks like a true Texas offset. The risk was TOTALLY worth the reward. If anyone out there is considering it and you want to cook top-down, I'll be happy to answer any questions or help in any way that I can.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 510104
> View attachment 510105



I came close to cutting out the baffle several times.    The only downside I could think of was losing cooking grate space on the firebox end.    But then, I never used the grate that was over the baffle , anyway.

How much grate do you think you lost ?

In fact,  all I really wanted was the half of the cooking grate on the stack end.   That's where the convection is best.   And I don't load my smokers up with as much meat as I can fit on them.


----------



## TheBBQChef

Smokin Okie said:


> I came close to cutting out the baffle several times.    The only downside I could think of was losing cooking grate space on the firebox end.    But then, I never used the grate that was over the baffle , anyway.
> 
> How much grate do you think you lost ?
> 
> In fact,  all I really wanted was the half of the cooking grate on the stack end.   That's where the convection is best.   And I don't load my smokers up with as much meat as I can fit on them.


I only lost between a 1/4 and a 1/3 of the cooking grate on the firebox side. I never used that side either for the same reason you mentioned. I have never placed food much beyond the halfway point. I want food over by the stack end. And it would be the same for me with a larger cooker too. Most of the time I'd be cooking on the stack end. I did have a bread loaf pan that I use for a water pan right at the firebox side of the grate. This serves as a bit of a heat shunt and since humid air is more consistent than dry air, I believe it makes enough of a difference to continue to use it. I had no problems with bark either. The bark was nice and crunchy before I wrapped in butcher paper for the last two hours of the cook. 

Other than the increased cooking capacity and easier fire management that I would gain from building a bigger cooker, once I add the collector and new stack I suspect I won't have as much desire for a new pit. There is definitely an attraction of making BBQ on something that you created though! 

What did you end up going with after selling your Brazos?


----------



## Smokin Okie

TheBBQChef said:


> I only lost between a 1/4 and a 1/3 of the cooking grate on the firebox side. I never used that side either for the same reason you mentioned. I have never placed food much beyond the halfway point. I want food over by the stack end. And it would be the same for me with a larger cooker too. Most of the time I'd be cooking on the stack end. I did have a bread loaf pan that I use for a water pan right at the firebox side of the grate. This serves as a bit of a heat shunt and since humid air is more consistent than dry air, I believe it makes enough of a difference to continue to use it. I had no problems with bark either. The bark was nice and crunchy before I wrapped in butcher paper for the last two hours of the cook.
> 
> Other than the increased cooking capacity and easier fire management that I would gain from building a bigger cooker, once I add the collector and new stack I suspect I won't have as much desire for a new pit. There is definitely an attraction of making BBQ on something that you created though!
> 
> What did you end up going with after selling your Brazos?



I bought a Franklin


----------



## TheBBQChef

Smokin Okie said:


> I bought a Franklin


That's awesome. I don't think you'll be disappointed one bit! What was the lead time?


----------



## TheBBQChef

BsCraftBBQ said:


> Love this! Do you have pics of your setup in action (oven and firebox)?


I haven't taken any pics since I cut the baffle out, but I'll get some that show how it's set up and will post them here.  I've got a brisket flat that is in brine this week to make some pastrami, so that might happen this coming weekend.  I might also just run another biscuit test this week, too.  Those biscuits when smoked with post oak go really well with some butter, salami, and cheese for a tasty little sandwich!


----------



## Smokin Okie

TheBBQChef said:


> That's awesome. I don't think you'll be disappointed one bit! What was the lead time?



It was 2 or 3 years,  I really don't recall.    Franklin made a list of everyone who was interested and I put my email in , but I can't remember when that was.

I was in the process of making major mods to the Brazos when I got an email from Franklin.    I posted here and got no germane replies.   At that time,  I'd not heard of anyone else doin these mods.   They did not pop up on the Old Country Facebook group till this summer.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/a-major-brazos-modification-need-your-opinion.306795/

So I went with the Franklin.   They delivered in four weeks.


----------



## TheBBQChef

Smokin Okie said:


> It was 2 or 3 years,  I really don't recall.    Franklin made a list of everyone who was interested and I put my email in , but I can't remember when that was.
> 
> I was in the process of making major mods to the Brazos when I got an email from Franklin.    I posted here and got no germane replies.   At that time,  I'd not heard of anyone else doin these mods.   They did not pop up on the Old Country Facebook group till this summer.
> 
> https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/a-major-brazos-modification-need-your-opinion.306795/
> 
> So I went with the Franklin.   They delivered in four weeks.


Gotcha. I signed up for the email notification for more info, but never signed up for the waiting list. That's excellent that order to shipment was about four weeks. Many builders are much longer. I'm sure that is because they aren't taking all orders at once, which makes sense. 

That extra 11 inches of cook chamber will help and I think he's really made those cookers to almost be fool-proof. Thus the vents and logo in the firebox door. I also like that the firebox is longer, so you have more room to adjust coal bed placement. How's the cooking experience been?

After removing the baffle on the Brazos, I ran this cook with the firebox door closed and damper opened between 1/4 and 1/2. I would have one split above my coals on the bottom of the firebox. The draw was excellent - you could hear it whipping through the split and coals, which was awesome to see. I could load a big split and get 45 min of steady temps before needing to add wood and always had plenty of coals. 

This weekend I'm going to move my Tel-tru from the original location to the stack side of the door. I've got another Tel-tru that I'll place on the FB side of the door. I used my Signals with two air probes this weekend to gauge the temps. The faster response is nice, but you have to be patient because 3-5 degrees of jumping around doesn't mean that you need to take action. The slower response of the dial thermometers don't feed into OCD as bad! 

Soon I'll knock out the stack/collector mod. I'll be sure to post pics of the results when it's done.


----------



## TheBBQChef

Got some pics of my setup to share with everyone. Got a brisket flat on the Brazos today that's been brining for a week, so it will make some excellent pastrami. Burning seasoned post oak exclusively.


----------



## Newglide

TheBBQChef said:


> Got some pics of my setup to share with everyone. Got a brisket flat on the Brazos today that's been brining for a week, so it will make some excellent pastrami. Burning seasoned post oak exclusively.
> 
> View attachment 510584
> View attachment 510585
> View attachment 510586
> View attachment 510587
> View attachment 510588


Looks good, I know this is a couple of months late but a couple of questions on your setup.
How tall is the stack extension, and does it help?
I see the firebox and cook chamber doors are outlined with a piece of steel to over lap the edges. I've been seriously thinking about doing this to my Pecos, did the Brazos come with it or did you add it? Does it help seal the doors up?
I talked to a welder this weekend and he's wanting $150 to add it to mine


----------



## TheBBQChef

Newglide said:


> Looks good, I know this is a couple of months late but a couple of questions on your setup.
> How tall is the stack extension, and does it help?
> I see the firebox and cook chamber doors are outlined with a piece of steel to over lap the edges. I've been seriously thinking about doing this to my Pecos, did the Brazos come with it or did you add it? Does it help seal the doors up?
> I talked to a welder this weekend and he's wanting $150 to add it to mine


The stack extension is 24" tall x 6" in diameter. Held in place with a big hose clamp. I did notch out a section for the stove pipe to slip over the bracket for the exhaust damper. 

The Brazos came with the edges on the cook chamber and firebox doors. I used some OK Joe's gasket on the inside lips to help seal it up a little bit. I don't believe that these pits are built precise enough that the strapping would be enough to seal the doors on its own.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Newglide said:


> Looks good, I know this is a couple of months late but a couple of questions on your setup.
> How tall is the stack extension, and does it help?
> I see the firebox and cook chamber doors are outlined with a piece of steel to over lap the edges. I've been seriously thinking about doing this to my Pecos, did the Brazos come with it or did you add it? Does it help seal the doors up?
> I talked to a welder this weekend and he's wanting $150 to add it to mine



What happens to the doors on almost all pipe offsets, is they " spring " once they're cut out.   When the steel is rolled to form the pipe,  there's tension put on the steel.  Once the door is cut out, it releases tension in the door section.

I had a Brazos and almost all of them and the Pecos I've seen have this problem, and it most generally occurs in the lower left corner.

I used RTV sealant on my Brazos.   But the door was sprung so badly that there was a gap of 3/8 to 1/2" ,  and I could not put a large enough bead of sealant to close it off.  I solved the issue with latches in the bottom corners.    That did the trick,  along with the RTV , it sealed it up tight.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Newglide said:


> Looks good, I know this is a couple of months late but a couple of questions on your setup.
> How tall is the stack extension, and does it help?
> I see the firebox and cook chamber doors are outlined with a piece of steel to over lap the edges. I've been seriously thinking about doing this to my Pecos, did the Brazos come with it or did you add it? Does it help seal the doors up?
> I talked to a welder this weekend and he's wanting $150 to add it to mine



BTW, the stack extension will improve the draw through the smoker.     But .....  its gonna be limited by the size of the exhaust port.    I believe your stack is 5" OD, but if you measure the port, its like 4" opening.   

My Brazos had a 6" OD stack and the port was 4.5" .     Heat would build on the stack end of the cook chamber, because it could not exit as fast as it came in.     One solution would be to talk to your welder about putting a collector and a new stack on.

But on both the Brazos and the Pecos, there's another problem with the baffle on the firebox end.  It restricts air flow into the cook chamber.    So if you open up the stack end, that baffle has to be taken out also.    The downside of that,   is losing about 1/3 of the cooking grate on the firebox end.   Now , I never used that space on my Brazos, but some people do.

Soooo bottom line,  what you gain from opening up both ends of the smoker is an increase in air flow.   The 2/3 of the grate on the stack end will have more even temps.  But how much is that actually worth ?     More air flow = more convection = more even cooking of meats and less cooking time.    Some say more air flow creates better bark on the meats,  my experience says there may be truth to that.    But both the Brazos and the Pecos will cook just fine without these mods.

I extended the stack on my Brazos,  it did increase the draw some.  It only cost $5 to do the mod.    But it wasn't necessary and really did not do a lot without dealing with the baffle.


----------



## Newglide

TheBBQChef said:


> The stack extension is 24" tall x 6" in diameter. Held in place with a big hose clamp. I did notch out a section for the stove pipe to slip over the bracket for the exhaust damper.
> 
> The Brazos came with the edges on the cook chamber and firebox doors. I used some OK Joe's gasket on the inside lips to help seal it up a little bit. I don't believe that these pits are built precise enough that the strapping would be enough to seal the doors on its own.


Thanks for the info, I may pull the trigger on the strapping knowing I still may need to seal that also. The gaps on my Pecos doors are so wide I can't get enough sealer to fill it, they cut them too short


----------



## Newglide

Smokin Okie said:


> BTW, the stack extension will improve the draw through the smoker.     But .....  its gonna be limited by the size of the exhaust port.    I believe your stack is 5" OD, but if you measure the port, its like 4" opening.
> 
> My Brazos had a 6" OD stack and the port was 4.5" .     Heat would build on the stack end of the cook chamber, because it could not exit as fast as it came in.     One solution would be to talk to your welder about putting a collector and a new stack on.
> 
> But on both the Brazos and the Pecos, there's another problem with the baffle on the firebox end.  It restricts air flow into the cook chamber.    So if you open up the stack end, that baffle has to be taken out also.    The downside of that,   is losing about 1/3 of the cooking grate on the firebox end.   Now , I never used that space on my Brazos, but some people do.
> 
> Soooo bottom line,  what you gain from opening up both ends of the smoker is an increase in air flow.   The 2/3 of the grate on the stack end will have more even temps.  But how much is that actually worth ?     More air flow = more convection = more even cooking of meats and less cooking time.    Some say more air flow creates better bark on the meats,  my experience says there may be truth to that.    But both the Brazos and the Pecos will cook just fine without these mods.
> 
> I extended the stack on my Brazos,  it did increase the draw some.  It only cost $5 to do the mod.    But it wasn't necessary and really did not do a lot without dealing with the baffle.


Lots of good info, thanks! The more I cook on my Pecos the more I like it. I'm on the fence with the stack extension. I agree it will help flow which is a plus all around, but won't that also burn more wood for a long cook? 
Right now that is what I am trying to fix if possible,  see if I can make it more efficient and use less wood. 
I have got mine dialed in pretty well, This weekends cook I only had 5 degrees temp difference across the cook chamber which I am extremely happy with.
last biscuit test all the biscuits were cooked fairly even. My hot spot is on the cook chamber side.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Newglide said:


> Thanks for the info, I may pull the trigger on the strapping knowing I still may need to seal that also. The gaps on my Pecos doors are so wide I can't get enough sealer to fill it, they cut them too short



Not to be argumentative, but I think what you mean by " cut them too short " is the symptom of the door springing.   It bows up in the middle.

Here Sonny Moberg explains what happens,  even on his $4,000 backyard smokers.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Newglide said:


> Lots of good info, thanks! The more I cook on my Pecos the more I like it. I'm on the fence with the stack extension. I agree it will help flow which is a plus all around, but won't that also burn more wood for a long cook?
> Right now that is what I am trying to fix if possible,  see if I can make it more efficient and use less wood.
> I have got mine dialed in pretty well, This weekends cook I only had 5 degrees temp difference across the cook chamber which I am extremely happy with.
> last biscuit test all the biscuits were cooked fairly even. My hot spot is on the cook chamber side.



You won't notice a diff in your meats with the stack extension.    After I figured that out on the Brazos , I left it on .   But I don't think it made any difference.

I did not notice the Brazos burning more wood with the stack ext.    

However, if both ends are opened up and the air flow is increased, it probably would use a bit more wood.   But I don't notice that on my Franklin , it burns the same wood as the Brazos.


----------



## Neil McCauley

Think I have my Pecos pretty dialed in with these mods:

-Lavalock baffle tuning plate
-12x6" double walled stove pipe for the stack
-Welding blanket over the cook chamber
-BBQ gasket on the cook chamber door edges
-water pan (1/6 pan half full)
-Telltru thermometer








I actually can walk away from a cook for 30-40 mins once it's heated up and burning clean. Also found I can close the firebox door, you can see the flames blowing and feel the air getting sucked in through the vents. Pre-heating splits on top of the firebox, and having a pan of burning charcoal on the ground under the firebox helps a lot also.


----------



## vipgenesis

This solves alot of the problems. This is borrowed from b.sully on YouTube following Mike browns BBQ steps on youtube.  Basically evens out the temps and pushes the hotspot in the smoke collector. Also apparently the regular brazos uses less thick metal on the sides. Mike brown said it was thinner after cutting into it .


----------



## Jeromy Lambert

I am curious if anyone has added the collector to the Pecos and does having the 4" stack works better than having a 6". Also what about cutting the firebox opening to be bigger similar to Franklin's smoker.


----------



## Newglide

Just saw a video on you tube by mad scientist bbq. He did 2 videos one was how a collector affects the cook chamber and heat distribution. He did another on changes to a Pecos and did comparisons with the Franklin smoker. It was how to make a $1k smoker cook like a $4k smoker


----------



## Smokin Okie

Mad Scientist is wrong about the value of the collector.

I had a Brazos and I put a stack ext on it to improve the draw.    And it did improve the draw.   But the stack end would heat up because the air could not exit as fast as it entered.   So I had to cut the air flow down on the firebox door.  

Why put a stack ext on to improve air flow and then have to cut the air flow down at the firebox ?

Same thing happens when cooking with the firebox door open.    The increase in air flow drives heat to the stack end and it can't get out fast enough.   And the stack end heats up.

On other offsets,  opening the firebox door will cool temps on the stack end of the cook chamber, because they have good air flow and it lets in more cool air.     Mad Scientists says that's because heat is escaping out the firebox door.    He's wrong.

If you're trying to improve the air flow through the cooker, it needs a collector, no matter what Mad Scientist says.   Or it needs a stack like Moberg puts on their backyard cookers or Austin Smokeworks " noodle " stack.

On the Brazos,  the back corner on the stack end will collect heat.   Its like a dam across a river with flood gates in the center.    The corners where the dam meets the bank,  will collect flotsam.

And a smaller stack diameter will improve the draw over a larger diameter stack.   It creates a venturi effect.   That's how Moberg and John Lewis noodles work.

The difference in the cookers is about air flow, not even temps end-to-end.

I also question his thermal camera as a gauge of temps inside the cooker.   There's other variables, like the size of the fire and the air intake settings on the firebox door.    Stronger air flow will pull more heat into the cook chamber.    Digital temp probes,  like four of them or more, will give a better picture of what's happening inside the cooker.  

Also, it takes steel time to heat up, it does not absorb heat quickly.    So the camera is not going to capture changes inside the cook chamber.

And he always quotes the price of the Franklin including shipping.   But does not do that on other cookers.    The Franklin is priced in a range with other offsets , whether its LSG , Mill Scale,  Moberg, etc.   Anybody building them cheaper is giving them away at current steel prices.    I don't understand his propensity to be a Franklin critic.    He seems to have a thing for discrediting Franklin.


----------



## Jeromy Lambert

Sorry, I guess I should have let everyone know but I am new on here and I just purchased the Pecos from someone. I did the stack extension and removed the baffle before I even started using it. So I have not seen higher temps at the stack compared to the firebox side and that may be that I do not have the probes sitting at the right place on the firebox side. I did notice when doing over-the-top chili a few weekends ago that when I had the firebox door open the firebox side would get hotter but when I closed the door temps from end to end would be pretty close to each other. I haven't done the biscuit test yet to kinda see where the hot spots are but plan to. Though looking on here or maybe it was on youtube someone did the biscuit test and the back corner stack side would show more color which makes me think the collector would make a difference to have even temps from front to back at the stack side. Now I do have one question that has seemed to be mixed from my reading but how well would putting fire bricks in the firebox and not using a grate to build a fire affect things? Would it hurt or help, is it worth trying?


----------



## Newglide

Good info Smokin Okie thanks.
I saw the video the other day and thought it had good info. Always good to get info from somebody who has been there. You have never steered me wrong with my old country.



Smokin Okie said:


> And he always quotes the price of the Franklin including shipping. But does not do that on other cookers. The Franklin is priced in a range with other offsets , whether its LSG , Mill Scale, Moberg, etc. Anybody building them cheaper is giving them away at current steel prices. I don't understand his propensity to be a Franklin critic. He seems to have a thing for discrediting Franklin


This is very true



Jeromy Lambert said:


> Now I do have one question that has seemed to be mixed from my reading but how well would putting fire bricks in the firebox and not using a grate to build a fire affect things? Would it hurt or help, is it worth trying?



I have been pondering the same thing about using fire bricks. Kinda like an insulated firebox.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Heat building on the stack end depends upon air intake.


----------



## Smokin Okie

I put firebricks in the bottom of the firebox on my Brazos and I used an LSG fire basket.   I did that to insulate the bottom of the firebox.    My reasoning was,  it would direct more heat up into the cook chamber.    

If possible, I'd lined the entire inside of the firebox with firebrick.

The primary value of the LSG fire basket was to keep the fire away from the cook chamber.   A longer firebox allows a bit more discretion on where to build the fire.   The firebasket effectively lengthened the Brazos firebox.


----------



## Smokin Okie

Mad Scientist also has some kind of connection to Old Country.   In the early days of his YT channel,  Old Country would send him pits to test.   They sent him an " over and under " cabinet style  pit.    He made a vid about it that I think has since been removed from his channel.

And they sent him a prototype of the Old Country Gravity Feed.  He made two or three vids on that cooker.   He says he left it in California when he made his move to Kentucky.

He has a loyalty to Old Country and I imagine he's selling a lot of Brazos pits for them and he's doing it on Franklin's back.   Whether he has a financial interest,  only his hair dresser knows for sure, to quote an old TV ad.

And he promotes Fat Stack smokers because his buddy from Cali makes them.   He claims no financial interest.    Well........ he's an awful nice guy to do that kind of favor for an old friend.

I never understood why he bought the Franklin PK grill.    It appears to me, he only bought it to trash it.   Because he already owned a PK grill.   Anybody with a half a brain can figure out the diff between the two grills without spending $600 to find out.


----------



## Smokin Okie

How bout we look closer at Mad Scientists " unbiased " comparison ,  start with these two pics


----------



## Smokin Okie

I won't say that Mad Scientist comparison is dishonest.  I would term it disingenuous .   He's got his thumb on the scales. 

Camera shows the temp in celsius.   That's the surface temp of the smoker, but I would guess it would also translate to cooking temps inside.

He's running the Franklin at 133* celsius = 271 Fahrenheit 

The Brazos at 112* celsius =  233 Fahrenheit

First, he's built the fire in the Franklin right next to the cook chamber, where more direct heat can enter the cook chamber.   Not so in the Brazos.

Why not run both smokers at same temp ?   At 271 that's a bigger fire that produces more air flow.   The Franklin already has strong air flow so its gonna pull more heat into the cook chamber.   Franklin has designed his smoker for maximum air flow.

I could run my Brazos at 233 with just a coal bed.   To get that temp,  would take a tiny fire.   And because of the air flow problems with the Brazos,  I would cut my air intake down to just the amount necessary to burn a clean fire.   That would get me pretty even temps from end-to-end.    The Brazos does better at low air flow.

If he runs that Brazos at 275, the firebox end of the cook chamber is gonna get hotter than the stack.   That's just basic physics.   He knows that, he taught physics.    By putting on the stack extension and cutting out the baffle, he's increased the air flow in the cooker and a bigger fire is gonna get pulled into the firebox end of the cook  chamber.

People who have removed the baffle and added a collector to their Brazos, report higher temps on the firebox end.   They lose up to 12" of cooking grate.  

Mad Scientist also says the cooking grates on both smokers are the same size.   That's a half truth.   They are the same size, but the Franklin has an 8" shelf on the firebox end, because Aaron Franklin knows that space is not gonna be usable.   The Franklin has a 47" cook chamber,  brazos 40".    MS is trying to tell you that the space on the Brazos grate next to the firebox is usable.  He's rigged his comparison.   Its not usable.

He showed us his fire in the Brazos and I strongly suspect this was the coal bed when he took the thermal picture.    Its big coal bed.  Not much fire.


----------



## Smokin Okie

And in his next vid, he says he's gonna do a cook in both smokers and compare.  He says to find out which one " cooks better "  .................. I give you three guesses which smoker is gonna win his " unbiased " taste test of some meat cooked on the smokers.    His evaluation is pretty worthless, to me.

Just don't bother.

MS wants subscribers.   His YT channel  is monetized to the hilt and he's started a patreon.   This comparison is about getting the optimum views, thus the optimum cha-ching.   There's far more Brazos and Pecos owners, than Franklin owners.

This is also why he's been doing the pellet smoker vids,  there's far far more pellet smoker owners than offset stick burner owners.   If I were him, and wanted to appeal to the masses,  I would do a series smoking barbecue on a Kettle.


----------



## Jeromy Lambert

Hi everyone just have a few questions on what I might be doing wrong. I am going to post some pics but I have the stack extension and have removed my baffle plate and here are my temp differences the lower number is at the stack.


----------



## Smokin Okie

What is your settings of your firebox door ?


----------



## Jeromy Lambert

I had the door shut but did notice as I was cooking that if I adjusted the damper it would even out


----------



## Smokin Okie

When I had a Brazos,  I could take the stack ext on and off.   I put it on and the stack end would heat up because it increased the draw.  I take it off and temps even out.   That was with the Firebox door closed, damper 1/2 open.    And I still had the baffle in it.   I always thought it reacted this way because of the baffle.    But maybe not.


----------



## vipgenesis

Smokin Okie said:


> And in his next vid, he says he's gonna do a cook in both smokers and compare.  He says to find out which one " cooks better "  .................. I give you three guesses which smoker is gonna win his " unbiased " taste test of some meat cooked on the smokers.    His evaluation is pretty worthless, to me.
> 
> Just don't bother.
> 
> MS wants subscribers.   His YT channel  is monetized to the hilt and he's started a patreon.   This comparison is about getting the optimum views, thus the optimum cha-ching.   There's far more Brazos and Pecos owners, than Franklin owners.
> 
> This is also why he's been doing the pellet smoker vids,  there's far far more pellet smoker owners than offset stick burner owners.   If I were him, and wanted to appeal to the masses,  I would do a series smoking barbecue on a Kettle.


He has been doing it for a while. King grifter I call it sometimes. I like how nobody remarks about how he used GALVANIZED STEEL. Dude is using zinc coated metal near a high heat source. First of all he did absolutely no research on how to take the baffle off. You break the side welds then just keep moving it up and down and it breaks off. Then you see the chemist is using zinc coated metal. At least watch or read one forum about how it's done. Then he does select/prime brisket comparison and rests it for 10 plus hours lmfao. Results-the select is dry....imagine that resting a garbage piece of meat for half a day and you dry it out. You have to rest is one hour at most. It's one thing to be incompetent but another to poison people


----------



## jaxrmrjmr

I'm supposed to be picking up a brazos this weekend.  It will be my first stick burner.  This thread was very interesting to read.  I am going to try a few of the mods mentioned here and maybe a couple that haven't been talked about.  Also, going to use a PID controller I built for another project to control an inline fan for temperature control - much like the Perfect Draft that costs dang near $300.


----------



## Smokin Okie

jaxrmrjmr said:


> I'm supposed to be picking up a brazos this weekend.  It will be my first stick burner.  This thread was very interesting to read.  I am going to try a few of the mods mentioned here and maybe a couple that haven't been talked about.  Also, going to use a PID controller I built for another project to control an inline fan for temperature control - much like the Perfect Draft that costs dang near $300.



If what you want, is to set the temp and walk away from it,  you bought the wrong smoker.   ATC's won't work with a stick burner.   You are the ATC.   You stay with it, watch your temps, and feed it splits.


----------



## jaxrmrjmr

I don't expect it to be a set it and forget it type of thing, but, hopefully it will increase that time window of checking on it a bit. I hear people talk about checking on them every 15 minutes or so.  I would love to try and stretch that out to 30-45.  We'll see - it might not work at all. Worst case I'm out $25 for the fan because I already have the PID built from a previous project.

With the air flow aspect of an offset, I expect it will dirty up the smoke somewhat, which is actually fine with me.  I have never chased that "clear" smoke but I don't want clouds of white either.  Just a new toy to tinker with and learn about but thanks for the head's up.

Oh, yeah, the best part is that I'm only paying $150 for it.  Yes, it is a brazos and not a Pecos.  So, if I don't like it I can always sell it at a profit.  The fire box is a little rusty with a little surface rust on a couple of other spots, but at that price I decided to try my hand at it.


----------



## Retired Spook

jaxrmrjmr said:


> I don't expect it to be a set it and forget it type of thing, but, hopefully it will increase that time window of checking on it a bit. I hear people talk about checking on them every 15 minutes or so.  I would love to try and stretch that out to 30-45.  We'll see - it might not work at all. Worst case I'm out $25 for the fan because I already have the PID built from a previous project.
> 
> With the air flow aspect of an offset, I expect it will dirty up the smoke somewhat, which is actually fine with me.  I have never chased that "clear" smoke but I don't clouds of white either.  Just a new toy to tinker with and learn about but thanks for the head's up.
> 
> Oh, yeah, the best part is that I'm only paying $150 for it.  Yes, it is a brazos and not a Pecos.  So, if I don't like it I can always sell it at a profit.  The fire box is a little rusty with a little surface rust on a couple of other spots, but at that price I decided to try my hand at it.


I have an O/C Wrangler (smaller than a Pecos / Brazos) and with the right size bed of coals AND the right sized splits (learned by experiment/experience) I can go 40-minutes between splits. I was using 12" splits in a LavaLock 12x10x6 coal basket, but now I cut the splits in half on a miter saw and the basket rests on the firebox cooking grate that is set on the bottom of the firebox rotated such that it gives the greatest distance from the bottom of the firebox.

Nevertheless, I still wish it would draw just a little bit better so I am going to try adding an 8-inch stack extension. As many others have noted, a previous 24" stack extension was off the charts hot on the stack side of the grill.

With experimentation you should be able to arrive at an acceptable solution whichever route you choose.


----------



## Smokin Okie

jaxrmrjmr said:


> I don't expect it to be a set it and forget it type of thing, but, hopefully it will increase that time window of checking on it a bit. I hear people talk about checking on them every 15 minutes or so.  I would love to try and stretch that out to 30-45.  We'll see - it might not work at all. Worst case I'm out $25 for the fan because I already have the PID built from a previous project.
> 
> With the air flow aspect of an offset, I expect it will dirty up the smoke somewhat, which is actually fine with me.  I have never chased that "clear" smoke but I don't want clouds of white either.  Just a new toy to tinker with and learn about but thanks for the head's up.
> 
> Oh, yeah, the best part is that I'm only paying $150 for it.  Yes, it is a brazos and not a Pecos.  So, if I don't like it I can always sell it at a profit.  The fire box is a little rusty with a little surface rust on a couple of other spots, but at that price I decided to try my hand at it.



In my opinion, and I mean that sincerely its just my view,  to enjoy a stick burner ya also have to enjoy feeding the fire splits.   Ya gotta be a bit of a firebug.   

If ya light a fire in your fireplace, and ya can't just sit back and enjoy it, ya gotta be up messing with it, moving spits around, poking at it, adding to it ......... then ya might be a candidate for a stick burner.

Its the whole process that I find enjoyable.  I feel like I cooked the meat when I manage the fire.

Maybe others don't get that,  but that's how I see it.


----------



## Retired Spook

Smokin Okie said:


> In my opinion, and I mean that sincerely its just my view,  to enjoy a stick burner ya also have to enjoy feeding the fire splits.   Ya gotta be a bit of a firebug.
> 
> If ya light a fire in your fireplace, and ya can't just sit back and enjoy it, ya gotta be up messing with it, moving spits around, poking at it, adding to it ......... then ya might be a candidate for a stick burner.
> 
> Its the whole process that I find enjoyable.  I feel like I cooked the meat when I manage the fire.
> 
> Maybe others don't get that,  but that's how I see it.


Getting the fire right is half the fun in my humble opinion! I've smoked mucho bacon and pastrami in a simple Kingsford barbecue pit/grill/barrel looking thing, with the meat on the left side and a very small fire on the right side, separated by bricks to block the radiant heat.

Sure was not easy, but I did it and it was fun!

However, I sure am glad that I have a real offset smoker now.


----------



## jaxrmrjmr

Cleaned up the inside today.  I was surprised at how much "gunk" came out of the cook chamber.  If this thing would have caught fire... it would have burned for a solid day!  It was scoop after scoop, etc, of greasy chunks.  Metal is still nice and thick though.

I fired it up tonight and played around with controlling temperatures for about 5 hours.  Lots of things to think about... I left the smoke stack open the whole time.  The only adjustments I made were to the fire itself and/or the damper or door.  I learned a lot.

The smoke smell was amazing.  I'm going to like this pit!


----------



## Newglide

jaxrmrjmr said:


> . I left the smoke stack open the whole time. The only adjustments I made were to the fire itself and/or the damper or door


That's the trick.


----------



## jaxrmrjmr

How much wood to you guys usually go through during a 10-12 hour brisket cook?  If you measured it by the splits that would fit into a 5 gallon bucket, how many buckets?


----------



## Retired Spook

jaxrmrjmr said:


> How much wood to you guys usually go through during a 10-12 hour brisket cook?  If you measured it by the splits that would fit into a 5 gallon bucket, how many buckets?


I do not keep track of individual splits per cook but I can tell you that once I zeroed in and got my smoker running right it uses less wood than it ever has.


----------



## Newglide

my splits are about the size of a 16oz can. I typically burn 1 every 30 minutes or so. Sometimes I need to put on 2 depending on how it's going.
On longer cooks my coalbed usually starts to burn down around 4  hours so I have to add extra splits to get the coalbed back up.
Not exactly what you're looking for but that's how my cooks go


----------



## jaxrmrjmr

I want to thank you guys.  My first cook on the brazos was a success. Everything ya'll said was accurate from the size of the splits,  to how often you have to add them, to how attentive you have to be.

I started off with a bed of charcoal from a chimney, added wood splits, and adjusted the vent with the firebox door closed.  It held temps like a champ UNTIL I almost lost my coal bed just short of about 3 1/2 hours into the cook.  Lesson learned..... the coal bed provides the heat while adding wood mostly creates the smoke but also has to replenish the coal bed.  I opened up the door to the fire box and the rest is history. 

I let the temps spike past 300° three times but I opened the cook chamber door open slightly when the fire was too hot.  Just an inch or so would make a temperature drop of ~30 degrees at the grate level.  Wrapped in paper and and let it rest for 14 hrs at 150° in one of those old fashioned countertop ovens with a towel over the top of the thin metal lid (5° temperature swing vs my oven's 50° swings).  Best brisket I have ever cooked.  Never quite got the fat render like that before without drying out the flat.


----------



## Newglide

Good to hear, I haven't braved the brisket yet. It's on my list.
Gotta share some pics next time


----------



## jaxrmrjmr

Newglide said:


> Good to hear, I haven't braved the brisket yet. It's on my list.
> Gotta share some pics next time


You gotta try a brisket.  That's what these things are built for, IMO.  That top down heat that renders the fat on top but doesn't over cook the lean bottom.  I basically bought it to be able to cook brisket.  My propane smokers make great ribs, butts, and chicken.  The one thing that they would not do is a brisket.  It would turn out good, but not great.


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## ConrodM

Smokin Okie said:


> In my opinion, and I mean that sincerely its just my view,  to enjoy a stick burner ya also have to enjoy feeding the fire splits.   Ya gotta be a bit of a firebug.
> 
> If ya light a fire in your fireplace, and ya can't just sit back and enjoy it, ya gotta be up messing with it, moving spits around, poking at it, adding to it ......... then ya might be a candidate for a stick burner.
> 
> Its the whole process that I find enjoyable.  I feel like I cooked the meat when I manage the fire.
> 
> Maybe others don't get that,  but that's how I see it.


I’m with you- managing the fire makes it a blast for me!  Also picking the splits that you want to do a certain thing and have it work is also a sense of accomplishment.  My charcoal smoker (WSM) hasn’t seen a spark since I got my Wrangler


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