Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Bustanut joker]

Bah! I didn't let the cold an snow stop me. I smoked just about every week so far this winter.

The Komodo holds the heat great, not enough temperature fluctuation to be concerned. Also it's only 10 feet from breezeway slider to my secondary smoking area.
I just make sure I have a decent amount of "liquid warmth". 12 yr. Old Macallan. or 10 yr. old Laphroaig are great helpers, never need to be told how to do their assigned jobs.

 

[Knifemaker]

Ribs are on. ETA 5:30pm. Got a Rocky Patel and a glass of Oban 14. Life is good.

As far as the Royal Oak XL...yep there were about a dozen fairly large chunks of lump

in the bag. But the rest was smaller pieces same as their "regular" bags of lump. So not sure it's worth the few bucks more....

 

[Knifemaker]

Ribs came out good as usual. Used A LOT of applewood and a few chunks of Hickory.

Ate the one pictured, the other five going in the freezer for the futures.

Here's your food porn:

 

[Fred W]

Yumm! Looks great. Of course I’m in Barbeque withdrawals so any Que looks great.

 

[Fred W]

Well, the glaciers have receded, so it's getting near time for BBQ in New England. I wheeled the OK Joe out of the shed to its flagstone perch for the summer. And I started working on a (not so) UDS that I'll be selling on Craigs List this spring.

I learned a few lessons on my own build, so I think this one came out even better than the one I use regularly.

One thing I learned was that on most of the drums with a removable lid the OD of the lip is too large to fit a Webber domed lid on. But if you flip the barrel upside down the bottom's diameter is perfectly fine. I've heard that the same is true for the closed head drums. So, I flipped the drum over and cut-off the bottom with a sawzall and thyen ground down the sharp edges with my angle grinder.

I kind of like the bottom being the removable lid as it gives you some added options during use. If you leave the clamp off, you can pull the entire drum off the lid and set the charcoal basket on the lid while lighting, then just lower the drum down over the basket instead of lifting the basket into the drum. Thaty way if you need to mess with the fire for some reason (Which you really never should) you can pull the barrel body off with the food still on the grates. Also, you can easily clean up after a cook by lifting the drum body off the lid and have at it!

I put the upper grate 4" from the top because I knew this would always be used with the domed lid, and put the second grate is 6" below that. Still lots of room below that for a third tier if someone wanted one. I prefer to keep the racks as high as possible to stay away from the fire's radiant heat.

Got the drum for free from my son at the brewery, so it was well worth trying this, and it seems like it will work fine. That's a Chinese stainless steel ball valve that I bought 4 of on eBay for $26. Found an old Webber Kettle on Craigs List for $35. I think the domed lids really are worth having.

Burned the barrel out with my propane weed burner bought from Harbor freight a while ago. Then re-painted it with 500 degree Engine enamel. It's not super glossy, but it look pretty good and should hold up fine.

Coal basket made from a new Webber 13.5" charcoal grate and 24'x24" piece of expanded metal cut in half and welded onto the lower grate. Made the ash catcher pan out of the bottom of the barrel I cut off with my sawzall. Just made a bunch of slits around the edge and bent them up into a small lip to help catch the fallen ash.

Cost for all materials came up to $135. Not sure what I'll be able to get for it on Craigs List. What do you all think it"s worth? I've seen the kit ones (Big Poppa and Pit Barrel) go for a lot of money when pre-built. And the Gateway drums are ridiculous ($800!!) I'm thinking of starting out at $250 and see how much interest there is.

Oh, and just for fun, I also turned my old Smokey Joe tailgater grille into a Micro Smokey Mountain tailgater smoker.

Ive heard those little things are very stingey with the charcoal. Haven't tried cooking on it yet.

 

[Knifemaker]

Nice work Fred. Complete UDS's around here start at $250 so I think your price is good. Not sure how the market for them is there however.

Love the mini one. Be great for sausages or quick cooks like pork tenderloins

 

[Knifemaker]

Hey, a bit off topic for this thread..was at a school event for my granddaughter at her school. A breakfast slash Easter egg hunt. A guy brought in a six burner portable griddle that cooked up a **** load of of pancakes. I was very interested in the idea of having something similar. My 15 year old grill is slowly falling apart. It got me to thinking about replacing it with a combination grill/griddle with something similar to something like this:

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/outdoor-gourmet-triton-7-burner-propane-grill-and-griddle-combo?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_YDM6IW_4QIV1LXACh2hDwerEAQYASABEgLeYPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I love Japanese tapan type cooking, so the idea of having an outdoor flat steel griddle is something I'd love to have.

My question is does any one have something like this and what do you think about them?

Being able to do vegetables without the issue of them falling through traditional grill grates, or

Just being able to do a steak or a handful of shrimp fast and clean is appealing.

So, anyone ever have experience with something like this?

 

[Bounce]

Get a griddle for your smoker. Free up that space except when you need it. Unitaskers are no beuno.

 

[Knifemaker]

Get a griddle for your smoker. Free up that space except when you need it. Unitaskers are no beuno.

You're probably right here. (Although the griddle would go on my gas grill, not my smoker) They do make griddles to top your grills with. Some custom sized for specific grills, some that just are placed over the grate and are various sizes. Guess I just need to find one that fits my grill or it's eventual replacement.

These guys sell a pretty big assortment:

https://www.bbqguys.com/bbq-accessories/baskets-racks-toppers/griddles

I do have a reversible aluminum one for the stove inside, but it lacks the real estate I was looking for. Ditto the steel baskets and trays I already have for the grill.

 

[Fred W]

How about just buying a 1/4” thick steel plate the same size as your grates are on the gas grille? Put a handle on each end if you want.

 

[Knifemaker]

How about just buying a 1/4 thick steel plate the same size as your grates are on the gas grille? Put a handle on each end if you want.

Was thinking the same thing. Although a cast iron one with a grease moat would be preferable. There's a few on the link above for under 40 bucks that might work out.
Not really sure at this point what I'm going to do about the grill itself. One of the valves seized up so burner #2 is inoperable, and the drip pan guide on one side broke off (and it was welded) I've had the thing for sixteen years and although it was more expensive than some other gas grills it's paid for itself just by the sheer volume of food that we cooked on it.

I'll likely look into repairing it because similar models to it are even more pricey now.

 

[Bounce]

Repairing is always a good thing.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Definately looks to be worth saving. My sister in law bought a new Weber grill and I picked up her old one. Cleaned it up and repainted it. Looks great and it's on its second season now.

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Hell ya, fix it up! Thats a beauty in my books.

Ive got a Webber Genesis Silver that I bought back in 1996. It stays out on the deck, all year long, under a cover. Ive put a couple sets of burner tubes and flavorizer bars in it over the years. And of course those piezo igniters rust out every time you just get used to using it.

Last summer I found a set of Webber cast iron cooking grates that fit it, so those went in. This winter I Amazoned some heavy gauge stainless steel flavorizers. I figure its good for at least another 20 years now...

I like that old Webber better than the new ones. It has the controls on the side and 3 burners running. Side to side. Easy to set up an indirect heat with the rotisserie installed.

Im sitting out on my deck right now with a nice pork loin roast on the offset smoker with a tidy wood fire in the box. Be using mostly wild cherry on this one. Pork loins are dirt cheap, cook up fast, and taste so great. Its pretty cool out, only in the high 40s, but the wind is stoking the fire like crazy. Hard to keep the temps down. Oh well, pork loin doesnt suffer too bad from roasting anyway. Itll just be done way early than supper time.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Forgot to mention the weber flavor bars were totaly gone when my sister in law gave me the grill. I went down to lowes and bought some steel angle iron and cut them to length. Those babys will most likely out live me. So for those folks whoose flaver bars rot out try it. It's cheap too.

Dave

 

[Auburn]

How about just buying a 1/4 thick steel plate the same size as your grates are on the gas grille? Put a handle on each end if you want.

Was thinking the same thing. Although a cast iron one with a grease moat would be preferable. There's a few on the link above for under 40 bucks that might work out.
Not really sure at this point what I'm going to do about the grill itself. One of the valves seized up so burner #2 is inoperable, and the drip pan guide on one side broke off (and it was welded) I've had the thing for sixteen years and although it was more expensive than some other gas grills it's paid for itself just by the sheer volume of food that we cooked on it.

I'll likely look into repairing it because similar models to it are even more pricey now.

I have a built in version of this grill that we installed when we built our house. I have replaced the cast SS burners three times. They suck. I would expect them to last better than that. Last time I tried to find them, they were no longer available. But I didn't try too hard either. No it is just a big PIA taking up space on the patio. Been using the Treager and RecTec ever since.

 

[Knifemaker]

The original burners in the Jenn-Air were bronze. They lasted about 3 years. The replacements are cast iron, and rust faster a nail in saltwater. I've replaced them about 3-4 times so far. Luckily there's a place in town that sells the burners for about $15.00 each.

https://www.victoriansales.com

I'm not so sure about finding a replacement valve. However there's a side burner I never use and the rotisserie that both have I'm hoping the same valve on them. The four burner valves are ganged together and look to be a PIA to get to and remove. But I'm going to give it a shot.

 

[TomInPA]

Knifemaker, the valves on that Jen-Aire unit can be rebuilt easily. The hardest part is getting them out of the burner console which requires loosening some Philips screws on each end of the control knob housing, and loosening the main manifold (connects to regulator). Like you, I hve the infrared heater on the side and back of the unit, . I rebuilt mine last year, and all it took was watching a YouTube video some time and some high-temperature brake grease to lubricate the valve body. It is just a brass cone that fits into the valve body and it removes with a c-clip. Once taken apart and lubricated, it works 100%. My valves were in better condition than the video shows, but siezed solid. Give it a try, and I think you will be happy with the results.

 

[TomInPA]

Also for that Jenn-Aire grill:

Heat deflectors https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O0HNG3C/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Burners: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O2NS2DI/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I ordered both of these in November 2016 and they are still serviceable. One burner is showing enough corrosion to cause an irregular flame, so these are 2 to 3 year parts, but at $33 for the full set of deflectors and burners, that is acceptable. Also, I purchased GrillGrates to replace the center section of the stainless steel grills. These give me a searing grill that reaches temperatures of 550 to 650 degrees and is consistently better for steaks, fish and poultry than the stock grid. Finally, I have a griddle that replaces one of the surface grates and stores inside the cabinet when not in use.

 

[Knifemaker]

^Thanks for the info. The Heat deflectors look like mine, but those are not the burners I have. Mine are cast iron and look

like this:

https://www.grillparts.com/turbo/parts.asp?src=base&product_id=CIT&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInMLc5tnI4QIVVyCtBh2djg-AEAQYDiABEgL13_D_BwE

The heat deflectors are stainless steel, so other than cleaning them off with a wire wheel there's no need to replace them

really.

The burners however not only rust, but warp and peel over time. Likely just a crappy job of casting or poor choice of metals.