Red Box Smoker mods

[PaPaQ]

I dislike the lower door venting and noticed it "backdrafting" a little when the wind blew. I'd like to mod the fire box to adapt to a BBQ Guru or PitmasterIQ setup. I'm thinking a hole into the side with a 1" fitting would work well. I'd need to sleeve it to avoid collapsing the insulated cavity. The forced air from the Guru/PitmasterIQ fan should negate backdraft.

I just added a fan to my gravity fed, I drilled a 1 1/8 hole thru the door and used a 3/4 nipple welded on the inside of the door with a electrical washer and nut on the outside. Screwed the 3/4 ball valve on the nipple and the Guru adapter screws right into it. I will take a pic and post it

 

[pjtexas1]

Nice tool and nipple:laugh:

 

[Wesburns]

Maiden cook this weekend. I'm going to try a small shoulder with the waterpan empty. To Smokerkings point above... I'm prepared to finish in the oven if needed since anything longer than a 6 hour cook is unlikely. Hopefully not but it is supposed to be windy in St Louis and I'm not yet comfortable with air control. I'll post the success for the group... And then of course wings for Super Bowl Sunday. http://www.extraordinarybbq.com/smoked-honey-bourbon-chicken-wings/

 

[SmokerKing]

Maiden cook this weekend. I'm going to try a small shoulder with the waterpan empty. To Smokerkings point above... I'm prepared to finish in the oven if needed since anything longer than a 6 hour cook is unlikely. Hopefully not but it is supposed to be windy in St Louis and I'm not yet comfortable with air control. I'll post the success for the group... And then of course wings for Super Bowl Sunday. http://www.extraordinarybbq.com/smoked-honey-bourbon-chicken-wings/

Think I'm going to try those wings out as well since I was going to smoke some up anyway. :thumb:

 

[Wesburns]

Shoulder is almost finished. I ended up wrapping and its in the oven for these last 15 degrees. The smoker did well. It does have a problem with the wood burning instead of smoking which spikes the temp. I blame airflow control on a windy day for this issue a guru/PitmasterIQ should help with that. An 8lb butt fits well on the middle shelf. I think I could squeeze two in if I lower the top shelf.

My paint bubbled right above my firebox door. I think a seal is weak. I will explore fire rope options and most likely paint between the cooking chamber and firebox black. It takes a lot of abuse there with heat and juices.

I did get 6-8 hours out of a very full burn. I did have issues with keeping smoke going. The coal didn't but back to front very uniformly. It seemed to burn slowly, but all at once. All coals were ashy within 2hkhrs. All wood burned at once instead of progressively as it should have (since coal didn't burn back to front very well I need to play with it some more. Overall.. Great day. I'll be pulling it out of the oven I about an hour, then after a rest it will be pulled.

 

[pjtexas1]

Thanks for sharing the cook data. I wonder if the ash not being able to drop caused it to burn a little different than expected. I would also try burning front to back to see if being closer to the air supply makes a difference.

 

[Nukem57]

I just bought one. I was able to try one out before hand, the first thing I'm going to do is get a shallower water pan. I used water and had no problem holding 225-230 for about 5 hours then it dropped before I put new coals in. That was just a chicken though. I was told by my friend (guy I bought it from, local distributor) that if you cover the water pan with foil and put a few dime sized holes the water evaporates much more slowly and temperature is easier to regulate.