What's in your smoker?

[tupacboy]

nice bge! i have el tin can version... she's great so far... i'll use her till she dies and get a ceramic.. unless i come across a sale i can't pass up

[RHNewfie]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Jeff - avoid YT videos. As you have seen, the "authors" have no clue. Trust information from those you know (here) and from sites like this one:
www.amazingribs.com
AmazingRibs is a huge source of information, recipes, tips, and most important, the science behind bbq.

That link is making me need glasses... Can't stop reading...

[kydsid]

Just put some ribs down to smoke.

[Drphilwv]

This weekend it will be pork butts and perhaps some ribs. I plan to throw some meat on the UDS for the staff here at the hospital for Saturday.
The Klose smoker - all hardwood smoke

The UDS

[Jefft72]

Phil, that is an awesome setup there.

I need to research the UDS a bit more. Seems I am missing out on something here.

Last Friday I smoked a brisket that came out pretty dog-on good. It hit 180 internal and I pulled it. The meat was tender and pulled apart so nicely. Unfortunately, there are no pics. I need to work on tweaking my standard rub recipes. I want to shoot for something with a little more spice pop to it. Hopefully brisket will go on sale again soon.

[Drphilwv]

The UDS is pretty easy. People get pretty crazy and spend a lot on the plumbing for the air mixture. I used kitchen magnets. Most of the hardware came from my garage and the charcoal/wood basket is made from some cheap expanded metal. I am less than $100 on mine. I can load it with charcoal/wood and fix the inlet holes 1.5 open and outlet 1.5 open and run 275 for 14 hours on one load of charcoal. I did a small brisket a few weeks ago and it rocked. I went simple on the rub - salt, cracked bp, granulated garlic, cumin, dark chili powder. thats all.
Since the photo the Klose has another few feet on the front end. We mount the turkey fryer or pig roaster up there.

[Jefft72]

Originally Posted by Steve

One suggestion...I did this with my patio offest ( New Breaufuls). Pick up a section og water heater flue pipe (I found mine at a big box home improvement store, i./e. Home Depot/Lowes) and add it to the stack. This will help the airflow thru the smoker. For me, two drew too fast, but with one, it did pretty good. It is the ventura effect. I also do not use the flue damper. I control my heat directly with the firebox intake dampers. If you try to chock back on the flue damper, it slows down the draw and the smoke can cool off and condense. This created creasote that can drip onto your food and give it a bitter taste. Just my , YMMV

Steve, do you have a picture of what you are describing here? Are you extending the stack?

Thanks.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by kydsid

Yes I'm aware I need to get the power washer out and work on my concrete. Definite drawback to living in a swamp.

You know what works well on that, Kyd, get a small container of pool chlorine and mix equal parts
of that and TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) and keep it laying around in a dry mix. When you need to use it,
mix it with water and let it sit on that grunge for a while and then just hose it off. If its really tough,
use a push broom to scrub it after wetting it down again. Really handles that Green mildew we get down
in the swamp, too. That crap that gets all over exterior walls and fencing.

[RHNewfie]

Originally Posted by Steve

The stable

Originally Posted by Jefft72

Steve, do you have a picture of what you are describing here? Are you extending the stack?

Thanks.

Here is a pic of Steve's chimney extension, that's pretty high!

[Jefft72]

Originally Posted by RHNewfie

Here is a pic of Steve's chimney extension, that's pretty high!

Roger that! I did some reading on AmazingRibs.com pertaining to mods to a COS. I am thinking that I have some work to do on my setup. I love a plan that involves having to cook meat to determine the effectiveness of it.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Jefft72

Steve, do you have a picture of what you are describing here? Are you extending the stack?

Thanks.

Yes, I extended the stack by one lengeth, and I also used a bit of flashing rolled up and inserted into the other end to extend the stack down to grate level inside the smoker.

I will look around for a picture, or take one later this evening after I get home from work.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by RHNewfie

Here is a pic of Steve's chimney extension, that's pretty high!

That's the pic...Thanks!

Yes, It looks pretty high, but it works pretty well.

[BigAsh]

Last Sunday...ribs and a bacon-wrapped fatty...umm ummm good!!




Bacon-y goodness!


Made a nice "brunch" sandwich...


Ribs...its whats for dinner!

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by BigAsh

Last Sunday...ribs and a bacon-wrapped fatty...umm ummm good!!




Bacon-y goodness!


Made a nice "brunch" sandwich...


Ribs...its whats for dinner!

Looks delicious.

Where are the pics of the mandatory accompanying martinis?

[Jefft72]

Originally Posted by Steve

Yes, I extended the stack by one lengeth, and I also used a bit of flashing rolled up and inserted into the other end to extend the stack down to grate level inside the smoker.

I will look around for a picture, or take one later this evening after I get home from work.

Thanks Steve. Those mods definitely make sense.

[pnoon]

What is the purpose/advantage of the extended chimney?

[Steve]

It helps with the draw thru the smoker. Ventura effect I'm told.

[BigAsh]

Originally Posted by pnoon

What is the purpose/advantage of the extended chimney?

Originally Posted by Steve

It helps with the draw thru the smoker. Ventura effect I'm told.

Hmmm...Freud sez otherwise..wishful thinking perhaps?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Steve

It helps with the draw thru the smoker. Ventura effect I'm told.

Ventura effect? There is no such thing. Do you mean Venturi?

In which case, unless you have a nozzle in there, it's not a venturi, it's just a long pipe.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Steve

It helps with the draw thru the smoker. Ventura effect I'm told.

Originally Posted by T.G

Ventura effect? There is no such thing. Do you mean Venturi?

In which case, unless you have a nozzle in there, it's not a venturi, it's just a long pipe.

Picky Picky..



By extending the stack down to grate level, the heat does not just travel along the top of the smoker (above your food) and escape out the stack.

By extending the stack higher, the air/heat travels a bit faster thereby drawing more air into the firebox and helping get a better burn. I had to tweek it a bit to find the balance of too fast vs. too slow.

Here are some other interesting mod's for this style pit.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1943

Nice thing for me is, now that I use my Lang most of the time I don't have issues with draw or heat retention.