new offset build

[Daves87gn]

One of the easiest things you can do is use a blocking log. Just lay a log on your grate at the fb end of the pit to redirect heat away from the grate.
Or, you can try making a throat baffle like you mentioned - a lot of builders angle them down, I angle mine up. You can read about mine in my Ben Hur build. I posted some temp tests I ran as well.
https://smokerbuilder.com/forums/viewto ... =13&t=7888


TBH, however, 25° diff is pretty good.


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Cool, thank you. I have some 3” angle iron and the I think 5/16” 6’ X 24/26” that I might cut some tuning plates and play with. I’ll put some probes down and see what the cooking grates actually see.

[Brewmaster]

It's always fun trying to fine-tune these things, but I'll just add that it's pretty "normal" for the firebox end to always be hotter for the first foot or so of the grate space, I think most of us come to realize it's good to have another heat zone. Unless you put a 3 or 4 ft long firebox on it, it's the nature of the beast so to speak.

Good luck!

[dacolson]

Cool, thank you. I have some 3” angle iron and the I think 5/16” 6’ X 24/26” that I might cut some tuning plates and play with. I’ll put some probes down and see what the cooking grates actually see.

I did a standard with tuning plates for a buddy a while back. I only fired it a couple times but it seemed pretty easy to handle. Just reached out to him. He’s really happy with it. And it’s an easy mod to make.


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[Daves87gn]

The pizza 1/2 calabrese 1/2 BBQ, man was it good. Wife couldn’t pick a favorite, I liked the BBQ, both were amazing. The slices missing stayed with my brother in law, cost of business I guess .

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[hogaboomer]

I've done a few smokers with tuning plates, I found 3/16 x 6 inches wide worked out pretty good. Put them right above the throat. They work really well for evening out temps side to side.
I've been trying to see if I can build without them here lately, but I still seem to need one or two to help regulate things.

[Daves87gn]

I've done a few smokers with tuning plates, I found 3/16 x 6 inches wide worked out pretty good. Put them right above the throat. They work really well for evening out temps side to side.
I've been trying to see if I can build without them here lately, but I still seem to need one or two to help regulate things.

hey hogaboomer,

if you don't mind me asking, how many tuning plates and how far apart? I could use a starting point and work from there

[hogaboomer]

However many you need to get all the way across, with a gap at the end for convection. Put them real close together at the firebox side, and a little farther apart as you go across. I put them on rails, so I can adjust them on the fly, according to what the probes read. It all depends on how hot your fire is.

[Daves87gn]

update, I put the perforated metal over the expanded metal in the firebox and it was to restrictive. the firebox side was almost 100* hotter than the stack side, it took about 20 minutes to settle back to normal after removing the perforated metal.

I did add some rails to the CC and have 2 plates cut and plan to cut some more in the next few days.

I cooked 3 +8lbs pork butts for labor day weekend everybody loved them.

question, I have seen how some pits only have 1 gauge by the smoke stack, when I had the 3 butts I had them on the same rack side by side by the stack and the temps were significantly lower on that gauge compared to the others. I assume it was because of the mass of meat by that gauge, how do you adjust for that with just one gauge?

do you just try to maintain the target temp say 275* even if that means that the actual temp on the other side is closer to 325-340?

I got the Meater probes the day after the butts but will be smoking some brisket in the next few weeks and record temps.

food pic

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[dacolson]

Temp gauges on the outside of the pit are not much use for accuracy of what your temps actually are at the grate. Your MEATER probes can get you ambient temp which will be more accurate. I only use my external gauges so I can see if temps are rising or dropping or if one side is much hotter than the other.


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[Dirtytires]

I clip a remote probe to the grate on either side of my meat. ObViously they are going to be different so I just try to keep them within range of my target temp. The door gauges are pretty much eye candy only...I use mine to tell me if my pit is warming up or cooling down based on which side is hotter.

[Big T]

[Daves87gn]

thanks guys

[Daves87gn]

Finally got to use the grill side

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[towtruck]

Looks good!

[Daves87gn]

Got some pork loin from Costco on sale, we’ll see how the final product turns out, but here’s some pictures for now.

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[Daves87gn]

Forgot to add the pictures of the finished product, it was amazing. Cooked at 180 ( which started of difficult) and seared at the end.

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[Big T]

Looks great

[Daves87gn]

so I have a rotisserie from my gas grill, decided to take some of the scrap metal I had and make a stand so I can cook rotisserie over the open firebox. I will clean the stands and paint them during the week and hopefully next weekend cook a chicken.

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[Dirtytires]

Cool idea. Rotisserie chicken is good but smoking it is better!

[towtruck]

I put a small spit in my smoker and it smokes a whole bird beautifully. I plan on putting in a 4' spit rod once I can get my hands on a motor to turn it. I want to be able to cook two or three turkeys at once or a 75 pound pork roast.

[Daves87gn]

it was probably the best whole chicken I've/we've ever had.

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[Daves87gn]

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[towtruck]

Nice....you are motivating me to get my big spit installed....

[ThinBlue]

I love it!

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