This Brinkman smoker?

SpanishCastleAle said:

hamiltont,
That Chargriller Pro is the exact one I got but mine only had the middle thermo and no latch for the fire box door (and only 2 wheels but I'm OK with that). Is getting a good (enough) seal on that firebox door going to be a problem?

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I added 2 thermometers at the grill level to monitor the temp by the food & from end to end to make sure the temp is balanced. The latch on the firebox reduced some of the leakage. I used a 6" rock on the handle to weight it down before the latch. 4 wheels just helps moving it around. Push it with a finger. I made baffels to help distribute the heat evenly across the grill. It works. I tried the chimney extension but it kept getting in the way and honestly didn't see a difference when I removed it? I also made a charcoal basket that rests above the ash pan so I can remove the ash without disturbing the fire. I added more ventilation (holes) to the fire box & by the chimney to increase the heat capabilities & provide more control. I start out with lump charcoal for the first hour or two while smoking, usually with hickory. After that I use ash (have tons of ash trees on the property). Cheers!!!

I scored a Smoke N Grill for free, it needs a little TLC, but I have all the parts needed. I have always wanted to smoke some thing and this is the perfect time to try. this summer I'll be drinking my own home brew and smoking meat.

-=Jason=-

SpanishCastleAle said:

dataz,
Could I just roll up some heavy duty foil to extend the chimney? And what's the purpose of that mod? Maybe if I understood the problem we're trying to fix it might help.

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As long as you could get it to stay and not collapse on itself I don't see why it wouldn't work. The problem with the way it is now is that air/smoke with take the path of least resistence. When it enters the cooking chamber it will rise to the top of the lid and go across the lid and just exit. If you lower it to the grate level it causes a draft that forces the smoke and hot air to actually go across what you are cooking. It helps to make more even heating and cooking.

Spanish, that a look at this.

Paisano said:

Here's mine with simple mods to improve performance.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8338840@N06/sets/72157624454371586/with/4843089783/
It's not a superb cooker, but is it quite good with the mods and quite a good value.

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Thanks for the link data.

First smoke was mostly a fail. I had two meat thermometers inside the barrel on each side of the butt (but not in it) and maintained ~235* F but after 6 hours the 4 lb butt was only 170*-ish. Those thermometers on the front aren't measuring the temp at the center of the barrel so I'm not sure what temp I should be shooting for. To get a front-mounted themo to read 235* F would require a much higher temp in the center of the barrel. I'd have been better off just using the cheapo pos thermo that came with the grill (which never got over 170-ish). So the butt wasn't nearly as moist and tender as it should have been. Maintaining (the incorrect) temp wasn't too difficult but it did seem to require a lot of fuel.

Once pulled and sauced it was still tasty just nowhere near what it should have been.

Temp isn't too ultra important with butts. How long did you cook it total? What did you use to determine when it was time to pull (time, temp, feel?). Did you foil it at anytime? How long did you let it rest after cooking and how did you rest it?

Lot of questions I know, but just trying to help.

7.5 hours total. After 6 I foiled it and put in oven (I had let the fire die too much and didn't want to make another chimney starter). I pulled to temp, 195* F and wrapped it in a towel for another hour.

I was under the impression that things need to cook fast enough as to not dry them out but slow enough that the collagen breaks down slowly. I was guessing a 4 lb butt shouldn't take that long and that I cooked it way too slowly.

I have never done one that small but when I do an 8-10lb it takes the better part of 18 hours. With bbq it is done when it is done and no one can know how long that will take.

As far as temps with a butt anything between 200 and 300ish is fine. It is considered the best cut for a first bbq attempt because it isn't very particular.

One more question. When you had it wrapped in the towel was it still in foil? I have done both foiled and unfoiled in towels and the foiled ones turn out far superior.

One last suggestion would be to not go by temp and pull it when a skewer or temp probe or something goes into like it is warm butter.

Toweled it still in foil.

It did have a decent bark though, so I got that going for me.

I'll prob do another Super Bowl weekend.

Doing a first smoke plus a 1.099 Imperial Stout made for a long day but I was still ready by first game.

I had one of these for years and sat it on top of a cabellas outdoor propane burner and instead of using charcoal in the pan i used wood chunks. The propane gave the heat that smoldered the wood chunks. It worked great but eventually rusted out I now have a large stainless steel smoker that I can put a whole pig in if I need to. I also have a grill with a smoler box on the side of it that I use more often when I cook on a smaller scale