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I've had this old Brinkmann smoker in my back yard for at least 20 years. It was never used for anything other than grilling.
I recently decided it was time to use that old smoker the way it was intended to be used. My first smoke was a beer can chicken.
It was by far the best chicken I had ever eaten and I was hooked on smoking meat. I had a terrible time maintaining temperature and it was obvious that my old smoker needed some work to make it more efficient, and easier to use. While researching I discovered this forum and found many ideas to improve my smoker.
As I said, this smoker is at least 20 years old and very well made. The lids fit tight and don't leak. It is made out of 1/4" material and is very heavy. The first thing I did was to replace the old 4" steel wheels with 8" rubber wheels.
This made a big difference, however it is so heavy it is still very difficult to move around. The next mod I will do is add wheels to the other two legs.
Next was to work on the heat control. I added this elbow to the stack to move it closer to grill level. It comes down to about 1" above the grill.
I also lined the bottom with fireplace bricks, and those heat retaining briquette things.
I don't know how well this will work, but for the tuning plates I used some old ceramic tile I had left over from a kitchen remodel. I just cut it to the size I needed with the ceramic tile saw I bought for the remodel. Each piece is 4" wide x 13" long. Before I smoke meat I will cover each piece with aluminum foil.
I have no doubt that steel plates would work much better, but I had this on hand and thought it was worth a try. When I burned it in I had about a 15 degree difference from the firebox side to the smokestack side. For my first smoke (tomorrow) I will place a water pan on the firebox side. We'll see if that helps at all.
When I smoked the beer can chicken, I used charcoal. As I said, I had a terrible time maintaining temperature for many reasons. I decided it would be a little easier if I could use propane rather than charcoal. I discovered the Afterburner - H at www.gassmoke.com. This makes it very easy to convert a charcoal smoker to propane. It's not a permanent conversion and can be taken out easily when I want to use charcoal.
It seems to be very well made and worked quite well when I burned it in. I did have to cut the expanded steel around one corner in order to get it into the firebox. I still need to do some work to the butterfly on the intank of the fire box to keep it adjustable.
Notice the cutout on the right side of the burner. This is to accomodate a 46 ounce juice can which holds the wood for smoke. I put one large chunk of wood in the can with foil covering the open end. I punched a few holes in the foil and it produced smoke for about an hour.
The last mod I've made so far is to add temperature guages to the lid at grill level.
I know two would have been sufficient, but I added three. Is there such a thing as too much information?
Future mods, in addition to two more wheels, will be to add a temperature probe grommet to the front of the smoker below the lid. I also already have the expanded steel to make a charcoal basket for the firebox. I'm sure I'll prefer to use charcoal as opposed to propane when the weather gets warmer. Then maybe I can find time to get some of the rust off of that poor old smoker and make it happy with some fresh paint.
I'll be testing the mods with a slab of ribs tomorrow.
I recently decided it was time to use that old smoker the way it was intended to be used. My first smoke was a beer can chicken.
It was by far the best chicken I had ever eaten and I was hooked on smoking meat. I had a terrible time maintaining temperature and it was obvious that my old smoker needed some work to make it more efficient, and easier to use. While researching I discovered this forum and found many ideas to improve my smoker.
As I said, this smoker is at least 20 years old and very well made. The lids fit tight and don't leak. It is made out of 1/4" material and is very heavy. The first thing I did was to replace the old 4" steel wheels with 8" rubber wheels.
This made a big difference, however it is so heavy it is still very difficult to move around. The next mod I will do is add wheels to the other two legs.
Next was to work on the heat control. I added this elbow to the stack to move it closer to grill level. It comes down to about 1" above the grill.
I also lined the bottom with fireplace bricks, and those heat retaining briquette things.
I don't know how well this will work, but for the tuning plates I used some old ceramic tile I had left over from a kitchen remodel. I just cut it to the size I needed with the ceramic tile saw I bought for the remodel. Each piece is 4" wide x 13" long. Before I smoke meat I will cover each piece with aluminum foil.
I have no doubt that steel plates would work much better, but I had this on hand and thought it was worth a try. When I burned it in I had about a 15 degree difference from the firebox side to the smokestack side. For my first smoke (tomorrow) I will place a water pan on the firebox side. We'll see if that helps at all.
When I smoked the beer can chicken, I used charcoal. As I said, I had a terrible time maintaining temperature for many reasons. I decided it would be a little easier if I could use propane rather than charcoal. I discovered the Afterburner - H at www.gassmoke.com. This makes it very easy to convert a charcoal smoker to propane. It's not a permanent conversion and can be taken out easily when I want to use charcoal.
It seems to be very well made and worked quite well when I burned it in. I did have to cut the expanded steel around one corner in order to get it into the firebox. I still need to do some work to the butterfly on the intank of the fire box to keep it adjustable.
Notice the cutout on the right side of the burner. This is to accomodate a 46 ounce juice can which holds the wood for smoke. I put one large chunk of wood in the can with foil covering the open end. I punched a few holes in the foil and it produced smoke for about an hour.
The last mod I've made so far is to add temperature guages to the lid at grill level.
I know two would have been sufficient, but I added three. Is there such a thing as too much information?
Future mods, in addition to two more wheels, will be to add a temperature probe grommet to the front of the smoker below the lid. I also already have the expanded steel to make a charcoal basket for the firebox. I'm sure I'll prefer to use charcoal as opposed to propane when the weather gets warmer. Then maybe I can find time to get some of the rust off of that poor old smoker and make it happy with some fresh paint.
I'll be testing the mods with a slab of ribs tomorrow.
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