Bandera 101 Document

Which basket are you using(open or maze), and how did you do the initial lighting?

Open basket. I started lump in a chimney.

[FONT=&quot]I have had my Bandera for many years, learned so much on this site it isn’t funny. I welded up a basket for the firebox the other day and will try it for the first time tomorrow. What is the best way to use the basket? This is heavy gauge expanded metal, no channels (yet, just saw that mod and may end up making a maze) My understanding of the process is: Start the briquette in a chimney and place them closest to the smoke box and then put unlit briquette in so that the fire will slowly expand and burn for a long time. Won’t the unlit charcoal briquettes smolder and create white (bitter?) smoke as it starts to burn? I normally use aluminum foil as a baffle, a sheet metal one is on the list. Thanks for any help[/FONT]

Read some more on the fire control and used the charcoal basket for the first time. Great mod. well worth the effort to make one. :-D

I posted my frame off New Braunfels Bandera restoration in Q-Talk, but it seems appropriate to post the pics here instead. I bought this from seattlepitboss for $75 in 2009, it was in pretty good shape, but I immediately set out to clean it up and do some Mods.







I bead blasted, wire brushed and sanded down to bare metal as much as I could.















































Some of the mods that went into the restoration include:

Firebricks for cook chamber and firebox
Folding shelf brackets for the table
Baffle mod with water pan cut out
BGE felt/Permatex silicone door gasket
12"x12" perforated steel charcoal basket
custom cook grates from seattlepitboss
New spring door handle
fitted cover

























Looking for ideas or input from anyone that has installed a Guru or other ATC to the Bandera.

First of all, let me say yummm. I need a large napkin to wipe the drool off. Second, great job on the resto. Is that a flip-up shelf?

Second, regarding the Guru. I recently modded my Bandera to add a BBQ Guru. Unlike others, I did added it to the side door rather than the bottom from corner of the firebox. I figured that, if I had to undo the mod, it would be cheaper and easier to replace the door than the firebox. I also like that the fan is blowing across the length of the grate rather than across one end of it and into a wall. But that's just me.

First, I removed the sliding baffle and pin. I bolted on a 1/8" steel plate that covered the slots. I drilled my 1 3/8" hole for the Guru fan adapter in the plate (also had to remove one "baffle" on the door behind the hole so that the fan's airflow would not be obstructed). By adding the plate, I was able to locate the fan adapter at whatever height/centering I wanted to rather than some awkward location above/below or to the side of the baffles. Worked great on the temp, but I had an issue.

I was starting with a chimney of charcoal followed by cherry chunks all day long. I never really seemed to get to the blue smoke. Seemed like it was always grey. Also, the inside of the firebox (in fact the inside of everything) got covered with a glossy coating. I almost want to call it a creosote coating. Not sure what it is.

I was using the 10 cfm fan. I had made previous mods, such as sealing the main door and firebox lid that made this s pretty tight smoker. Is it possible that the fan was simply not big enough? That the fire not enough oxygen? Or was it something else. Has anybody ever had this issue?

Thanks

texasmfp said:

First of all, let me say yummm. I need a large napkin to wipe the drool off. Second, great job on the resto. Is that a flip-up shelf?

Second, regarding the Guru. I recently modded my Bandera to add a BBQ Guru. Unlike others, I did added it to the side door rather than the bottom from corner of the firebox. I figured that, if I had to undo the mod, it would be cheaper and easier to replace the door than the firebox. I also like that the fan is blowing across the length of the grate rather than across one end of it and into a wall. But that's just me.

First, I removed the sliding baffle and pin. I bolted on a 1/8" steel plate that covered the slots. I drilled my 1 3/8" hole for the Guru fan adapter in the plate (also had to remove one "baffle" on the door behind the hole so that the fan's airflow would not be obstructed). By adding the plate, I was able to locate the fan adapter at whatever height/centering I wanted to rather than some awkward location above/below or to the side of the baffles. Worked great on the temp, but I had an issue.

I was starting with a chimney of charcoal followed by cherry chunks all day long. I never really seemed to get to the blue smoke. Seemed like it was always grey. Also, the inside of the firebox (in fact the inside of everything) got covered with a glossy coating. I almost want to call it a creosote coating. Not sure what it is.

I was using the 10 cfm fan. I had made previous mods, such as sealing the main door and firebox lid that made this s pretty tight smoker. Is it possible that the fan was simply not big enough? That the fire not enough oxygen? Or was it something else. Has anybody ever had this issue?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I would love to see which Guru adapter you used and the placement on the firebox door.
I'm wondering if the "glossy coating" you described is from the Guru fitting? My BGE is a straight shot and the WSM has a deflector that blows downward. I have noticed some gray ash in the interior on some of my BGE cooks.

OK, I'll try and snap a few pix this weekend. I used the Bulkhead Adaptor (800-1001-015).

Just to be clear, I referred to grey smoke and to a thin black oil-like coating on the metal surfaces. I did not find grey ash anywhere.

texasmfp said:

OK, I'll try and snap a few pix this weekend. I used the Bulkhead Adaptor (800-1001-015).

Click to expand...

Definitely try to post! I would be interested too. I've wanted to do something with a controller unit, but I too wasn't keen on putting the fan on the side of the unit. Would rather have it on the door, since I thought that would provide the most direct method of forcing the air into the cooking chamber. Only issue I see there is if it blows ash into the chamber where the indirect may not....

@Swamp... Nice work! Good look'n grub too!

OK: Here are some shots.

My Bandera has moooved on to a new home. I shed a tear as I helped load it up and wave buhbye!
Good luck to John & Ray and your new smoker!

Dear Brethren/Sistren, please help me with my fire control in my bandera.

I've had my Bandera for a little over a year now, and lots of successful cooks in it, but it seems like my fire control is a bit out of whack with what most people say, so I'm looking for tips on what I can do differently, mostly looking for longer burn times.

I don't have a charcoal basket (yet), so I have a grate up on the lowest rack setting in the firebox to hold my charcoal. Lump charcoal is dang near impossible to find around here, and when I can find it, it's very expensive, so I use good ole kingsford blue, haven't had any problems with off flavors or bad smoke, though the excessive ash kind of sucks.

My typical routine is to fire up about 3/4 of a chimney (off brand, slightly smaller than a webber chimney) with KB. Line the bottom of the firebox with about 1/2 a chimney of unlit briquettes and when the chimney is ready dump those on one side of the firebox. It takes about half an hour to get up to temp, with the top damper fully open and the intake about 1/4 closed. By this time most of the charcoal is fully lit and going strong. Food goes in, temp drops, comes back up to temp. About this time I start dumping in 1/2 to 3/4 chimney loads of unlit briquettes, alternating sides, about every half hour. The intake damper needs to be about 1/2 closed or sometimes even 3/4 closed to maintain temps in the 225-235 range. Smoke is always thin blue, except for about 5 minutes after I add the briquettes it gets a little heavier but then settles down to thin blue again. Sometimes I can get it to go 45 minutes to an hour before I need to add more coal, but that's usually if I've thrown in a stick of maple for smoke.

I would like to be able to extend the time between adding more coals if possible, but it seems like if I add more briquettes then I just get a bigger fire and temps spike out of control, even with the intake fully closed. I tried a minion method attempt once, where I loaded about 2 chimneys full of unlit in the fire basket and added a couple lit briquettes (maybe 8 or 10) on top, and that worked for a little bit, but after a while all the briquettes were going and temps were way out of control.

Any ideas for me?

PitRow,
A couple of things... When I first got my bandera, I used it with no mods for quite a while. I was feeding it pretty frequently also. Temp control got easier as it built up more ash, as the ash kept the fire from breathing as well. I did a fire grate mod and WOW. Temps took off because of the better ventilation. I could run 235 - 250 with top all the way open and intake almost closed. I would suggest you build a fire basket. I almost fill it with K blue and wood and light about 1/2 to 3/4 of a chimney and dump it on the smoke chamber side so the fire has to burn back towards the vents. I usually cook at 275 to 300 now and have no problem holding those temps with the intake 2/3 to 3/4 shut. Nice clean fire and I get 4 to 6 hours of burn time depending on outside conditions.

Here's a couple of pics of the basket.

Guess I really need get on building a basket then. Thanks!

One thought on the types of wood NOT to use. If you are cutting your own and you see an otherwise perfect tree with a hairy looking vine on it... stop and walk away! That may be a poison ivy vine and it is very hazardous even to cut, let alone smoke with!

Doubled Bandera

Has anyone ever heard of or tried adding an additional smoke box to the opposite side of the fire box with success?

I believe in fire/oven bricks as well. The first time I was introduced to them was when I rented a a whole hog rotisserie. It was doulble walled with oven bricks between the walls. Getting to 250 degrees was easy once the bricks were heated and it would stay there for a long time. Believe it or not, I could get a 12-13 hour slow burn ought of just 2 to 3 - 16 .lb bags of Kingsford. It was awesome but a damn heavy grill.

I have a bandera smoker in Milwaukee wi. If anyone needs one it is in pretty good shape. There is some surface rust on the firebox, but that's the norm. For a bretheren member, they can take it home for 50. I built my own grill/smoker this year so this didn't get used this summer.

Email me @ wasilvers1074@gmail.com

Bandera Mods

I have a Brinkman Smoke' N Pit Smoke King deluxe, that looks like the Bandera but smaller. Would those Bandera mods work on my smoker as well?