Poor Mans Smoker

[ShaggyC6593]

Well when I posted my beef ribs I made I said I would post some pics of my smoker. Now she isn't much to look at but she sure can make some good 'Q. Everything I used to make the smoker was laying around the garage. The only thing I went out and paid money for was a $16 cooking grate.
What I did was took a 55Gal drum and cut the lid off of it. I then proceeded to cut another 7in off in height. Near the bottom I cut a pretty good size hole so I would have a place to shovel coals in. I then took the and placed it on the underside of the bottom of the barrel. I drilled a hole in the center and bolted the lid to the bottom of the barrel. I used a hole saw and put a few big holes in the both the lid and the bottom. This made a nice spin draft to try and control the fire temp with. I then took my 22 1/2 in Weber kettle and took the legs, spin drafts, and side handle off of it. This made it so the kettle would fit nicely into the barrel. I took my old cooking grate and put in side the barrel on some bricks. This elevated the coals off the bottom a little. This let the coals burn down to ash and gave room for the ash to fall through the grate. This makes for easy ash removal. With the coal grate elevated and the 7inches cut off the barrel this puts the cooking surface at 18inches above the coals.
When cooking with her I have no problem maintaining a temp of 225-250. The kettle itselfs blocks the heat from directly hitting the wonderful meat by allowing the heat to come throught the spin draft holes. I have cooked whole pork shoulds, beef brisket, ribs, beef ribs, chicken, and hope to try Prime Rib Roast soon. I know the smoker isn't very fancy and certainly doesn't look as pretty as most but with money being tight and my love for "Q I had to do something.

[zilla]

Shaggy, That isn't the poor mans smoker that is the smart mans smoker Dude. Very cool. You can smoke three times as much as a wimpy WSM. Check out this link. I think you will like it. When you get there scroll to the top of the page and you will find picture links of a very large smoker like yours. Your smoker rocks!!! Zilla

http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1780069052/m/4300027763/r/8430058763#8430058763

[ShaggyC6593]

Thanks for the compliments Zilla. I saw the huge smoker your links leads to earlier today. Here I thought I was the only one putting Kettles in the barrels. That thing is huge. I hope to build a Double Barrel smoker over the winter, But in the meantime I will be smoking up some chickens this weekend with this one.
I do have one question though. The lower grate in the kettle which is only 5 inches lower then the top grate runs about 50deg hotter then the top. I thought if I take the old ash catch tray from the kettle and drill some holes in it and put it under the lower grate but cover the 3 spin drafts this would even out the heat and I could you both grates for smoking. Do any of you think this would work? If not do any of you have and inexpensive ideas to acheive what I am looking to do?

[zilla]

Shaggy, If you look at how an offset pit works, at least the good ones, the builders install two devices that help even out the heat and eliminate hot spots. The first is the baffle, which is right in front of the heat, and the second are the tuning plates which help distribute smoke and heat evenly across the cooking chamber. You will have to do this to keep the rack temps even. Have you ever seen either of these?

Zilla

[allsmokenofire]

Shaggy, that smoker looks just fine to me. Some of the best Q chefs I know have the simplest pits, and they like it that way.

On using the old ash pan to stabilize the heat, as long as the smoke can get around it, try filling the pan with sand and then covering the sand with foil so you don't have to change it out every time. A lot of folks who use WSMs do this to help even out the heat.
_________________
Mike
Team Enoserv

[ShaggyC6593]

Thanks for the input Zilla. I haven't seen what you are talking about but I have never looked at an offset pit closely. If you have some pics that would be great.

[BBQMAN]

Ruh roh Shaggy, looks like its time for a Scooby snack!
_________________
BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.