Modifying the Typical Backyard Off-set Style Smoker
July 7, 2008 by Big Dan · Leave a Comment
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Bought my Hondo over ten years ago and really struggled to get good ‘cue. I researched and researched and bought book after book but still struggled. I was ready to spend big bucks to purchase a fancy rig – or even get one custom made – I Was that frustrated.
But before I did, I used my research to make the following modifications, and my problems disappeared. Then I tried a fire-building technique in addition to the modifications and was finally able to maintain an absolutely steady 220 degrees for 6 to 10 hours with ease. I was thrilled!
Nearly all the “backyard” offset smokers (typically those that sell for under $750) need these modifications. The only exception that I am aware of is the new model Bar-B-Chef
sold by Barbeques Galore.
These modifications are inexpensive and easy yet they work wonders. Try them and see if they don’t work for you, too.
First the Modifications
Stuff to Get
Go to your local home improvement or building supply store and get the following:
1. One roll of aluminum flashing for the chimney.
2. One piece of unpainted, non-galvanized 22 to 16 gauge light steel for the baffle.
3. Pipe plug or metal cap to fill the thermometer hole.
4. If you don’t have one, you will need either a 3/4″ drill bit or a 3/4″ hole cutter.
Lower the Position of the Temperature Gauge!
This is critical. You want to measure the cooking temperature at the grill level, not at the top of the cooking chamber. Heat rises, and the temperature reading with the temperature gauge in its original position will give you a reading up to 80 degrees higher than the temp at which you are actually cooking. 1. Remove the existing temperature gauge. The hole is 3/4″ in diameter. Fill the hole with a pipe plug or a metal cap.
2. With an electric drill and 3/4″ drill bit or 3/4″ hole cutter, drill or cut a new hole a little to the side of the handle (if your firebox is mounted on the left side – if your firebox is mounted on the right side, you want to put the new hole to the left of the handle) and remount the temperature gauge in the new hole.
Note: Another option is to purchase a digital, remote temperature gauge. This eliminates the need for drilling a new hole. Get a small block of hardwood and drill a hole all the way through. Insert the probe of the remote temperature gauge through the hole so that 1″ to 1½ “ of the end of the probe is exposed. You can then place the probe anywhere in the cooking chamber and obtain a very accurate reading.
Improve the Chimney, by lowering it Toward the Cooking Grate
This modification will improve heat retention, helps to even out heat distribution and promotes proper heat conduction over the meat.
1. Unroll the aluminum flashing and cut a piece off about a foot to a foot and half in length.
2. Roll the cut piece of flashing into a cylinder about ½” less in diameter than the chimney.
3. Stick the cylinder up inside the chimney from the bottom leaving enough of the flashing exposed so the chimney is about an inch or so above the cooking grate.
4. Let the flashing unroll and it will unroll to the diameter of the chimney.
Insert a Steel Baffle between the Firebox and the Cooking Chamber
This modification serves two purposes. First, it directs heat downward below the grill for much improved heat circulation, which together with the chimney modification dramatically evens out the temperature in the cooking chamber. Second, it acts as a heat shield between the firebox and the meat to eliminate radiant heat so that you are cooking by heat convection only. This prevents the meat from burning before it is done.
1. Cut a piece of the steel wide enough to cover the opening between the fire box and the cooking chamber at its widest point (side-to-side). Make this piece of steel 12″ to 16″ in length (better to be slightly long than slightly short).
2. Line the piece of steel up with the upper bolts that hold the firebox to the cooking chamber and mark the spots. Drill holes to line up with the existing bolts.
3. At a height just below the cooking grate, bend the piece of steel into an “L” shape, but the angle should be less than 90 degrees. You want the end which extends into the cooking chamber to angle slightly downward toward the bottom of the cooking chamber.You want at least 6″ of the steel baffle extending into the cooking chamber (more is better than less).
4. Mount the piece of steel using the existing bolts and nuts, making sure the bottom half
of the “L” extends into the cooking chamber below the cooking grate.
Building a Fire in a Offset Style Smoker
For the longest, steadiest burn times I recommend you get the best quality hardwood lump charcoal you can find. Briquettes will work, however they produce so much ash that the fire chokes itself out within about 4 hours. High quality hardwood lump charcoal produces very little ash. If you don’t use a charcoal basket, you need to find a way to keep the charcoal away from the air intake. Here is a good way
Fill the firebox with charcoal all the way to the lip of the opening between the firebox and the cooking chamber then hollow out every so slightly — about an inch or so — just enough to make the pile slightly concave — a small area in the middle by pushing the charcoal up around the sides a little.
Fill a Weber chimney with charcoal and light it. When it is going real good (all coals glowing)
This site reviews most all available hardwood lump charcoals. The higher the quality charcoal, the longer your burn time.
It takes some time to learn the individual quirks of your smoker, but if you work with the technique and use the highest quality lump charcoal you will easily get 6-8-10 hours of steady 210-220 degrees. This really does work — I have heard back from hundreds of people who have followed these instructions and all report results just like mine.
I don’t recommend that you use wood as your primary fuel. The backyard sized off-sets have a cooking chamber that is just too small and it is very easy to over-smoke the meat making it taste very bitter and, well, gross. I have been trying for years to figure out why this is and I believe (and others tend to agree) that it is because in order to get the wood to the proper temp to burn off the foul-tasting impurities you will not be able to maintain the low temp required for proper barbequing (remember, low and slow) — the cooking chamber just gets way to hot.
smokermodifications.pdf - Download the document
Is My Barbecue Ready Yet? - Part 2
June 22, 2008 by homebbq · Leave a Comment
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By Kevin Bevington
Ok, we made our rub. Now that we have our barbecue tasting good, we want to make sure we are cooking it properly. BBQ that is cooked properly will actually stand out better than BBQ that may actually have better tasting seasoning and sauce. This is where a lot of new barbecue competition teams miss the boat, and especially those in the backyard trying to cook bbq for their friends and family.
Let’s start with the tools you will need to bring you closer to your tender barbecue goal. First, let’s talk about your cooker, or bbq smoker. Let’s face it, you can cook barbecue on anything, bullet style smoker, offset fire box smoker, ceramic smoker, electric smoker, pellet grill, charcoal grill, and even a gas grill. The most important aspect to cooking barbecue on any of these pieces of equipment is temperature control. You need to be able to maintain a consistent temperature, on whatever you are cooking, this means controlling fuel, and especially air flow. The more air you have flowing through your bbq cooker, the hotter it will be. If you slow down this air draw, you can then control your temperature.
In order to know what temperature you’re cooking your bbq at, you need a thermometer inside your cooker. The cheapest means of doing this is an oven thermometer, place this at the same level your meat is cooking at. An oven thermometer does not adjust quickly to the surrounding temperature, so a quick look will give you a fairly accurate reading of what the temperature is. A better means of checking temperature inside your barbecue cooker is by using an electronic probe thermometer inserted into the pit, at the cooking grate level. By using this means, you can keep an eye on your cooking temperature without opening the cooker to check it. However, you need to make sure that what you’re using to do this is made to be accurate at temperatures above 180 degrees F. Many probe thermometers begin to lose their accuracy pretty dramatically above this temperature. Most cookers come with a thermometer built into the door or lid. You can certainly use this, but keep this in mind, you will need to make sure it’s calibrated, and that is located close to where your meat is, in your bbq cooker.
The next tool in your arsenal, and arguably the most important one, is an instant read thermometer. The simple dial instant read that you can buy almost anywhere, will surely work, as long as you keep it calibrated. This is usually done using an ice bath, which is a container filled with ice, and a small amount of water added to fill the gaps between the ice cubes. This should read 32 degrees F; you can then adjust the lock nut on the back to make sure your thermometer reads properly. You can also use boiling water; however, water boils at different temperatures, based on how close you are to sea level. Again, you can buy electronic probe thermometers, and place them into your cut of meat, and watch the internal temperature throughout your cook, but as mentioned previously, you need to make sure they are accurate above 180 degrees F. Since most cuts used for barbecue, are larger, more fibrous cuts, and the goal is to cook them until they are tender, their finished temperature will be well beyond 180 degrees F.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of “Is my barbecue ready yet?”
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About the Author Kevin Bevington is the Pit master for the Championship BBQ Team, HomeBBQ.com He has won over 50 Championship Titles including 27 Grand Championships, and 27 Reserve Grand Championships. Kevin is releasing 2 DVD’s for the Backyard Cook, Grilling with HomeBBQ.com and Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com. He also sells some of the finest bbq and grilling rubs, and Barbecue Sauce, the actual products he uses in Barbecue Competitions. |
