redchaserron
Full Fledged Farker
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- Sep 14, 2015
- Location
- Lafayett...
Man that's a great looking smoker, make mine 24" x 50"
20 inch horizontal offset build
- Thread starter Bigwoods4x4
- Start date
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
Yeah, I went back and forth with the idea of 24 vs 20. Deciding on 20" for weight restriction reasons. I wanted something on casters that I could roll around and I'm going to place a wager that the 20" I built is right around 600lbs if not a little bit more. EVERY and I mean EVERY piece of material on the thing is .25 thick (with the exception of the door flanges which are .1875-can't bend .25 very easily).
It sounds like it wouldn't make much of a difference, but when you don't have a crane or a tractor with a bucket it gets rather difficult to flip the thing around to place welds where you need them.
Maybe someday I'll build a 24" but I'm retiring from welding at this point in my life lol.
RT
Full Fledged Farker
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- Jul 27, 2013
- Location
- Shrevepo...
Well done, great looking pit.
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
Smokin J's PIts
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2014
- Location
- College...
Great looking pit, one last suggestion would be on your fire rack I would add a double layer of crossed #9 expanded metal ( one on top of the other at 90 degrees ) this will help keep more of your coals in the heat zone and make them last a little longer too.
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
Thanks I appreciate it!
I know exactly what you're saying though. It's going to be a thing I add down the road, for now I just pulled it out and have done the burn-in cooks (I've done two) with the coals directly on the bottom of the firebox to build my base of embers-not the best for the paint/firebox but I figure the thing is built pretty well where it doesn't hurt if you do it a couple times.
Qkooker
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2016
- Location
- Victoria...
Great looking pit!
Hillbilly BBQ
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Location
- Haymarke...
Where are the update pics?
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
Bottom of page 3 on this thread
Big Swole
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2016
- Location
- Atlanta, Ga
I think he meant anything "newer" than those, which is what I was going to ask too.
Peteg
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2008
- Location
- Madison, WI
Great job man! I here what your saying about the fall in Wisconsin! This is without a doubt my favorite time of the year to bbq! Nothing beats pulling a rack of ribs off the smoker just in time for kickoff. Enjoy the new smoker. It looks sweet!
Pete
Pete
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
It's done except for the thermometers, which are in the mail after the first order was damaged. I'll do the first cook when I get them installed. Is that the pics you guys are wanting? Or just different ones in general?
I'm not happy with the moisture content of the red oak I have after the burn in process so I may have to call a few people and look for something more dry.
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
Did a quick afternoon snack today with the aid of an oven thermometer before my Tel-Tru arrives. Rack of baby backs with salt, pepper, onion and garlic....did the 2-2-1 method wrapping with apple juice and some sauce on top.
Turned out pretty good. I'm very impressed with the ability to hold temperature. Ran the entire cook from 250-290 (except when I first put them on and the temp dropped to 225 while I was taking the picture) .......and the new weedburner helped Immensely. Ran red oak and only red oak from start to finish-good results, Im starting to favor smaller splits as they burn much better.
While this is a lonely looking rack of ribs, I did't see the logic in doing a large cook while still trying to dial in how to run it.
-Thanks for the kind word Pete, the ribs help with my mood after losing to Michigan today lol.
Turned out pretty good. I'm very impressed with the ability to hold temperature. Ran the entire cook from 250-290 (except when I first put them on and the temp dropped to 225 while I was taking the picture) .......and the new weedburner helped Immensely. Ran red oak and only red oak from start to finish-good results, Im starting to favor smaller splits as they burn much better.
While this is a lonely looking rack of ribs, I did't see the logic in doing a large cook while still trying to dial in how to run it.
-Thanks for the kind word Pete, the ribs help with my mood after losing to Michigan today lol.
Big Swole
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2016
- Location
- Atlanta, Ga
Nice!
You not use a fire grate? My last cook I built the fire directly on the bottom like that. It seemed a bit harder to manage and get air to. But I need to get my splits cut down and build a smaller fire.
You not use a fire grate? My last cook I built the fire directly on the bottom like that. It seemed a bit harder to manage and get air to. But I need to get my splits cut down and build a smaller fire.
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
I used the firebox grate I made for a while and then pulled it out. It seems (at least for this cooker) that I get more consistent temps when I can spread out the coal bed on the bottom-a new log igniting doesn't cause a spike in temp this way, but you have to prop them up on another chunk so air circulates underneath them.
Bigwoods4x4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2016
- Location
- Crivitz, WI
Hello all! It's been ages since I've been on here and I feel that this thread never got a true proper update as far as a legitimate cook.
What happened? When I completed the build on this offset, I was in need of wood. So I drove halfway across the state for half cord of what was supposed to be dry red oak. Well, it turned out the wood I picked up was low quality and pretty green. This took the wind completely out of my sails after spending so long building this. Wood didn't ignite and burn properly, I was getting thick smoke, couldn't hold temps. So dismayed, I parked the smoker off to the side in my garage. I pulled it out for wings once since then and had bad luck.... I still had green wood.
WELL, now that I think my splits are properly dried I'm hoping to do a brisket or two at least in the next few weeks with DRY wood for a change. :thumb: I will post updated when I get to that point. Wonder if any of the same users are still around here?
What happened? When I completed the build on this offset, I was in need of wood. So I drove halfway across the state for half cord of what was supposed to be dry red oak. Well, it turned out the wood I picked up was low quality and pretty green. This took the wind completely out of my sails after spending so long building this. Wood didn't ignite and burn properly, I was getting thick smoke, couldn't hold temps. So dismayed, I parked the smoker off to the side in my garage. I pulled it out for wings once since then and had bad luck.... I still had green wood.
WELL, now that I think my splits are properly dried I'm hoping to do a brisket or two at least in the next few weeks with DRY wood for a change. :thumb: I will post updated when I get to that point. Wonder if any of the same users are still around here?
SmoothBoarBBQ
is Blowin Smoke!
If you're having trouble with your wood you can check out Craigslist and search "firewood." I just looked and there's quite a bit of oak in your area and it looks like quite a bit of maple in Green Bay.
Personally I like having my wood be a bit more on the green side as I like to cook with all vents wide open so I get a really clean smoke. As long as you have a good coal bed you should be able to ignite wood that's on the greener side pretty easily.
Good luck with your current supply of wood though! Looks like a really nice pit you've built there.
Personally I like having my wood be a bit more on the green side as I like to cook with all vents wide open so I get a really clean smoke. As long as you have a good coal bed you should be able to ignite wood that's on the greener side pretty easily.
Good luck with your current supply of wood though! Looks like a really nice pit you've built there.
