I've been researching smokers and BBQ for months now to get a feel for building an excellent all-around home smoker and learning to use it well.
Now that I'm getting ready to gather my materials and build my smoker I wanted to run my plans by all you Smoker Builder guru's on here first. Along with a few questions of course!
Here are the dimensions:
- The outer walls will be 1/8" steel (yellow on the CAD drawings).
- The inner walls will be 1/4" steel (green on the CAD drawings).
- 1" ceramic insulation between the inner and outer walls.
- The frame will be 1" RHS (red on the CAD drawings).
- The diffuser plate will also be 1/4" steel (pink on the CAD drawings).
The diffuser plate rests on brackets between the firebox and cook chamber and has slots cut around the edges. I've added walls to the inner section of the diffuser in case I decide to try cooking with a water pan I can fill it up, but also to catch drippings.
Here are my questions:
- Is the firebox an appropriate size for the cook chamber? Too big? Too small?
- I have a 2" ball valve in the firebox side and a 2" exhaust hole (considering using a ball valve for that) on top. Should this be plenty to work with?
- Is the diffuser with slots a good idea for an even temperature?
- Would a false wall be a better idea than a diffuser with slots?
- Is the smoker a good size for brisket, pork belly (making bacon), whole chickens, pork butt, baby back ribs, and spare ribs? These are the items I want to smoke most.
- Are the steel thicknesses an appropriate size? Overkill?
The smoker without the doors.
The doors are just a frame with insulation between the inner and outer wall exactly like the rest of the smoker.
The frame.
Any help is appreciated! I've already learned so much browsing the forum!!
The diffuser plate from different angles.