I got a Red Box Smoker last October and in its stock form, I had some good cooks and some bad cooks. Being so small, I found it to be tempermental and requiring a lot of attention to get the temps up, keep them stable, keep good smoke (avoiding smoky campfire), and to be able to last the duration of a smoke. The lack of air flow in the tiny unit was also concerning. It was actually quite frustrating and made me consider selling it.
Another member reached out to me with some questions about the stock RBS and he ended up helping me decide to get a electric controller for the RBS as he was doing the same for himself. (Thank you).
After hearing his initial results with his electric setup, I decided to keep the RBS and get a BBQ Guru DigiQ kit as this was the most economical setup I could find. I chose the DigiQ as opposed to the DynaQ and UltraQ due to cost and just wanted to keep it simple.
One other consideration was if I could make the RBS fit into a cutout in my patio island, which I made years ago with a cutout to fit a WSM 18" (which is now long gone). While the RBS itself fits easily into the space, the fan and bulkhead pipe for the BBQ Guru would require at least 6-7 inches on the left side, which would not work. If I could find an appropriate elbow for the pipe, I could make it work. I found a copper 1 3/8" OD "Street Elbow" at supplyhouse.com that I thought might work.
I received the BBQ Guru kit and "street elbow' on Monday. The installation of the bulkhead was easy and just like the install video on youtube for the RBS. I then attached the "street elbow" and used a strip of Nashua silicone tape to seal the connection at the elbow and bulkhead. (Nashua silicone tape is good to 500 deg and sold in the HVAC section of Home Depot. That tape has tons of other uses also). The BBQ Guru fan fit a little loose into the other side of the elbow, but another strip of silicone tape solved that problem.
I did a trial run to cook a small rack of Baby Backs (it was on sale) yesterday and immediatlely noticed that the RBS behaved diffierently with the BBQ Guru. I was able to run a stable 275 for about 3 hours until the water pan ran dry (I was using a shallower water pan than stock). The temps started to increase without water, but by that time the ribs were done. It was a successful first run and next time I'll do some more tweaks like use the bigger water pan and some more wood chunks. But, overall, I'm very happy with the DigiQ and pretty excited about further cooks with the Red Box.
Here's some pics of the setup with the street elbow for the fan and the cutout in my island where the RBS will eventually end up when the weather gets better. Thanks for reading my long post.
With the Green DigiQ
Close up of the street elbow mod
Cutout in the island where the RBS will live for the summer
Ribs from First Cook with BBQ Guru DigiQ
Another member reached out to me with some questions about the stock RBS and he ended up helping me decide to get a electric controller for the RBS as he was doing the same for himself. (Thank you).
After hearing his initial results with his electric setup, I decided to keep the RBS and get a BBQ Guru DigiQ kit as this was the most economical setup I could find. I chose the DigiQ as opposed to the DynaQ and UltraQ due to cost and just wanted to keep it simple.
One other consideration was if I could make the RBS fit into a cutout in my patio island, which I made years ago with a cutout to fit a WSM 18" (which is now long gone). While the RBS itself fits easily into the space, the fan and bulkhead pipe for the BBQ Guru would require at least 6-7 inches on the left side, which would not work. If I could find an appropriate elbow for the pipe, I could make it work. I found a copper 1 3/8" OD "Street Elbow" at supplyhouse.com that I thought might work.
I received the BBQ Guru kit and "street elbow' on Monday. The installation of the bulkhead was easy and just like the install video on youtube for the RBS. I then attached the "street elbow" and used a strip of Nashua silicone tape to seal the connection at the elbow and bulkhead. (Nashua silicone tape is good to 500 deg and sold in the HVAC section of Home Depot. That tape has tons of other uses also). The BBQ Guru fan fit a little loose into the other side of the elbow, but another strip of silicone tape solved that problem.
I did a trial run to cook a small rack of Baby Backs (it was on sale) yesterday and immediatlely noticed that the RBS behaved diffierently with the BBQ Guru. I was able to run a stable 275 for about 3 hours until the water pan ran dry (I was using a shallower water pan than stock). The temps started to increase without water, but by that time the ribs were done. It was a successful first run and next time I'll do some more tweaks like use the bigger water pan and some more wood chunks. But, overall, I'm very happy with the DigiQ and pretty excited about further cooks with the Red Box.
Here's some pics of the setup with the street elbow for the fan and the cutout in my island where the RBS will eventually end up when the weather gets better. Thanks for reading my long post.
With the Green DigiQ
Close up of the street elbow mod
Cutout in the island where the RBS will live for the summer
Ribs from First Cook with BBQ Guru DigiQ
