In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Custom built smokers

Discussion in 'The Smokehouse' started by Stoveaclaus, Dec 22, 2019.

  1. WeldrDave

    WeldrDave Military Outpost Moderator

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  2. WeldrDave

    WeldrDave Military Outpost Moderator

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    Mine is as simple as could be, but lasted longer than my others, I built it about 10 years ago. I put drain holes for water in the bottom. hasn't rusted through yet but not far from it! This was a 1950's oil tank and was about 1/8" thick, "beefy" steel. She's not pretty but works like a charm! I can get a 125lb pig in there... I've made my last 4 the same.
    DSCN1486.JPG DSCN1509.JPG
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2019
  3. MikeyB

    MikeyB

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    That’s a Beast Dave, well done.
     
  4. WeldrDave

    WeldrDave Military Outpost Moderator

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    Thank you Sir! :handshake: Very easy to make also. I like simple :)
     
  5. fuelrod

    fuelrod

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    The term " the bottles dirty but the liquors clean" or "you can't judge a book by its cover" are applicable here Dave. :cheers:A layer on regular old fire brick laid on the bottom will add years to that rascal.
     
  6. WeldrDave

    WeldrDave Military Outpost Moderator

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    Or the bottom will fall through! :rofl: :lol: It's fine, I have a welder and can get oil tanks fairly easy. I have nothing but "time" invested in these old cookers, I get most of them for nothing and I basically get my metal for nothing as well. :yes:

    That old girl has hundreds of cooked meals through it. Don't owe me anything.
    That was a cold, wet dreary day when I snapped that pic, Thanksgiving 2015.
     
  7. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    I’ve been waiting for a thread like this..... has anyone built a vertical or upright smoker. I’ve started doing more slim-Jim’s, summer sausage & such. My store bought LP smoker is great for ribs and roasts and such. But the ends of sausages closest to the burner get over done. Need something taller. I’ve got some ideas in my head. Just looking for some other input from someone who has been there and done that. The one that lukem posted is interesting
     
  8. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Nice builds all! To answer your question Sandhillbilly, I haven’t done it personally but asked a guy about it and he had shown me a link about it but it’s been about 2 years and I got other grills in the meantime. I had looked at the diagrams for this to remember enough. Anyways it was a steel barrel, I believe he used food safe ones but don’t quote me on that because of a couple reasons: one -they tend to have different linings so burning this stuff off may be a real PITA. If the lining is super thick, best to walk away. Two- finding an oil barrel may be best but pick at your own caution. Having said this I do not recommend burning harmful paints into the atmosphere. Once you get past that point you’re fine.


    The best thing to do is to cut the bottom out and reinforce it so that it’s heavier and then this way you’re using the rest of the barrel as a big lid. At this point you’re good to customize it to your liking. I am far be it any novice about this but this next tangent is from what I remember about the link. He was merely borrowing an idea and was a welder who had some time on his hands. At 300 bucks a pop, they were definitely looking solidly constructed.

    There are many ideas you could couple this with but big emphasis on access. You’ll want to gain access to your fire and abilities to move your food to where the heat level is. The stability part is important because the barrels were either left whole or were cut into half for access points. One was designed so that 4 square hollow bars that were inches shy of barrel height were welded in the bottom and holes were drilled through along the bars so that multiple cooking levels could be achieved and the cooker had rigidity. Since the heat existed In a pan, the cooker was likely to last so long as a structural issue is less likely to happen. I recall that when he was building them,he used pieces that were most wear and tear prone to be easy to replace. Easy to swap out.
    Again I wish I had the link as they had diagrams of the cookers were superimposed to be a stable bottom with the barrel as a heat/smoke shroud and strong so that well over 100 lbs of food could be cooking for hours.
     
    Woodsnwoods, WeldrDave and Screwloose like this.
  9. fuelrod

    fuelrod

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    These guy's are helpful for all sort's of projects that combine welding & meat.:grizz:
    SmokerBuilder.com - Index page
     
  10. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Here I am sitting in front of the phone watching my smoker. :D

    Installed my rec tec pid controller with wifi. Way cool for the cold days when I wanna enjoy food and not be cold!! :)

    Steaks going on shortly!! I'll connect prob a and I can also watch the meats internal temps!! :cool:

    IMG_0096.JPG
     
  11. SKEETER McCLUSKEY

    SKEETER McCLUSKEY

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    Yooz stylin
     
  12. MikeyB

    MikeyB

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    What Rec Tec do you have? I’m this close to pulling the trigger on the Rec Tec Bull
     
  13. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Couldn't afford the rec tec, Bought a cheap Pit boss and swapped out the controller.
     
  14. MikeyB

    MikeyB

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    That’s a great idea.
     
  15. fuelrod

    fuelrod

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    I drug home a 120g vertical LP tank today, 30" wide by about 52" tall. I was thinking about a big grill and a fire pit out of each half (split between the dome ends).
    Told Mrs Fuelrod and she wants one of those Brazilian style where you raise and lower your grate with a chain/shaft/crank. They do have an actual name, I just can't think of it right now. I guess I'll be splitting it the long way, I'm kinda envisioning being able to lower the top half, along with the cooking grate (separately) with the top half serving as a weather "lid) or cover, I don't think this will be portable.
    This might be a month or 2 away, but I'll do a little build thread when I get started.
     
  16. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Really it’s got a few names, some say Argentinian style grill and others Santa Maria grill. Hope this is what you meant. F240F9E6-DBDD-4115-A7CB-87F90A0DF88A.png
     
  17. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    From what you’re saying as a project, looks like this is along the lines of those thoughts? I’m not sure about that cable winch but a good steel wheel and chain pulley with a brake would be more appealing I gather.... staunch if it were. 65B7270D-BA32-4CD1-AE3D-C326510B7E19.jpeg
     
  18. fuelrod

    fuelrod

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    Yes sir, exactly. I'll end up with my little "twists" to it, like the lid or cover idea if I can make it work. Wifey kinda derailed my plans, but I like it. This tank just kinda dropped in my lap, well for $54. According to what I read on the Internet the tank alone is over 200 pounds, this thing will get heavy fast and I don't think that I want wheels on it.
     
  19. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Yeah sounds like that could get cumbersome quickly. With that kind of steel, expect a long life out of it though. Good luck anyways, sounds like a fun project!
     
  20. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    fuelrod did you happen to post anything about your build if you got to it yet?