What are some design features you would want? Looking at possibly having a backyard smoker built and want to have it done right.






..."yell 'Farmers Fight' when our boys are backed up"

3/8 inch steel.

Yeah, definitely going with the 3/8 steel and offset firebox. Been hearing stuff about "reverse heat". Stack is on same side of pit that firebox heat/smoke is. The smoke/heat travels underneath a plate that extends a lot of the way across the pit before coming up and back to the stack. Supposed to keep a more uniform temp in the pit and avoid hot and cool areas.

Does anyone have a similar setup and is it worth it ??





..."yell 'Farmers Fight' when our boys are backed up"

I would have an offset firebox and a vertical chamber put on the far end. 3/8" steel would also be my preference.

quote:

---

Stack is on same side of pit that firebox heat/smoke is. The smoke/heat travels underneath a plate that extends a lot of the way across the pit before coming up and back to the stack. Supposed to keep a more uniform temp in the pit and avoid hot and cool areas.

---

That's called a baffle. I would go that route if it were mine. I had a great home made pit that I sold a couple years back that had this design. If you loaded the firebox up with enough wood, you could actually get flames to shoot out of the end of the baffle.

I have a Lifetime pit w/firebox and vertical smoker.

If I could improve it, I would change the design so the firebox side would not be so flippin hot when the opposite side is cool. I dont know how exactly, but I would do it with baffles and possibly a little different dimensional relation between the firebox and the main center part.

Anybody that owns the design like mine gets real adept at rotating the meat into & back out of the hot spot at the firebox end.

Also, the wheels on mine are steel and about 8" dia. I have moved this heavy thing around a lot with wind direction changes, etc. It is not exactly easy to move. I would put bigger wheels on it.

I have a Pitts and spitts and love the water pan. do not always use it but would absolutly want one.

quote:

---

Yeah, definitely going with the 3/8 steel and offset firebox. Been hearing stuff about "reverse heat". Stack is on same side of pit that firebox heat/smoke is. The smoke/heat travels underneath a plate that extends a lot of the way across the pit before coming up and back to the stack. Supposed to keep a more uniform temp in the pit and avoid hot and cool areas.

Does anyone have a similar setup and is it worth it ??

---

That sure looks like an interesting design. There's one for sale on the classfieds board (http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1432039&forum_id=50) with that design. I like how it incorporates the vertical box too.

Other than that, I'd say build more shelf space than you think you need. Also, slide-out racks in the horizontal and vertical spaces would be a big positive IMO.

First firebox to burn down wood into charcoals. Some sort of open air grill that could sit on top when needed. On a crank to lower/raise.

Smoke box for coals and wood. Baffled into the chamber just in case of flare ups. I'd want a nice vent system with a lot of play in it.

Vertical chamber with at least 8 movable racks. Big enough for a turkey or a long brisket.

Question for those of you that have used pits with baffles .......... do they use quite a bit of more wood than an offset without baffles ??





..."yell 'Farmers Fight' when our boys are backed up"

I'll add (and this might be what cclearman was saying), a great feature would be an external fire pit you could use to prep wood for putting in the firebox. Sure, you could always use something separate, but it would sure be handy for it to be attached to the smoker. Maybe something like an open firebox on top of the offset firebox.

Thanks to all who have replied with the voice of experince so far. TmanAg, I saw the pit advertised and while it is superduper nice, i think that is too much pit for me right now unless the price drops a lot or the guy will deliver to the brownwood area. I've sent him an e-mail. Been cooking on an "Old Smokey" forever and do a dang good job at it (if I may say so myself), have a little extra spending cash and want to step it up. Got relatives in the Thorndale area who cook competitively and have been hounding them for advice as well. The seperate firepit is a new idea that I haven't heard before, but I like it.

Thanks for the input so far and keep it coming,I'm old enough to realize that I don't know everything.





..."yell 'Farmers Fight' when our boys are backed up"

make sure it has a damper.

Our Aggie buddy Clay lives in Anson, he has a great cooker of the baffle redirected smoker kind -



[This message has been edited by TheSheik (edited 10/29/2009 3:17p).]

If I were doing a permanent pit in the backyard, I'd really consider putting in something like this:

I would want a built in table that is wide enough for a large sheet of aluminum foil...would make wrapping briskets a lot easier.

Salt Lick huh?

My dad built his own pit in the state of Texas. In the bottom was the firebox. Then the heat was baffled twice before it actually hit the meat. There was also a rotisserie in it. He also made it that, if needed, you can use charcoal and grill in the NE part of Texas. It is quite nice to smoke on.

A few questions:

What kind of smoking are you looking to do? Mainly briskets/ribs?

Do you want to slow smoke sausages and other items in a vertical stack?

How much do you want to be able to cook at once? 2 briskets? 4 briskets? 4 racks of ribs? How many chickens?

Do you want it to be mobile or stationary? 3/8" steel will make a HEAVY smoker. I have a 20"x40" main chamber smoker of 1/4" steel and the whole thing weights in around 450lbs, and I got the builder to put some larger 10" semi-pneumatic wheels on it, and it is still a bear to move around in the yard to set up.

3/8" may be nice, but I am perfectly happy with 1/4" and it is more than heavy duty enough for what I want.

How much are you looking to spend?

Where are you located? Some places further away may be cheaper, but delivery of a 500lb monster will make them non-competitive. I got mine from Gator pits because they are 5 miles down the road, and it was nice to talk to the owner to get what I wanted and be able to see several of their units and the build quality prior to purchase.

I spent about 1500$ for mine, here is a breakdown of what I got for the money to give you some basis of comparrison:
-20x40 main chamber, 20x20 fire box,
-baffled with spaced 'tuning' plates under the smoking chamber to balance heat from the fire box
-they mounted my purchased custom wheels

The link below is to the smoker on their website:

http://www.gatorpit.net/backyard_pits/party_gator.htm

The only difference with mine is the wheels and the shelf on the front and over the firebox is one solid shelf, not split over the fire box.



I would be happy to send you more information of all the places I looked and the pictures of mine if you want me to, just post your email.

quote:

---

Salt Lick huh?

---

Yes sir!

quote:

---

Question for those of you that have used pits with baffles .......... do they use quite a bit of more wood than an offset without baffles ??

---

The baffles will help reduce the amount of wood you use over the course of a long smoke.
If you are looking at having one built the term you want to use is "Reverse Flow" just FYI

I agree with spending the extra money on 3/8 steel this also will reduce the amount of wood you use as it will contain the heat better.

You can also insulate your firebox and that will help with wood consumption also. Some guys use real heavy duty fire insulation. I even saw a guy that built another box around his fire box and filled it with sand before he welded the last plate on. I think he used 3 sticks of wood for a 16 hour cook ( ok maybe slight exaggeration but you get the point)

Your options truly are only limited by your imagination and your pocket book.

Here are a couple of links to look at for ideas

BBQ Pits by Klose

Dave Klose is an awesome individual and one heck of a pit builder.In Houston

Gator Pits
Also in Houston

Lang Cookers

Hope this helps

Good luck And let us know what you wind up with

a bit off topic, but I'm still taking offers on our tailgate grill/trailer. would be great for a hunting camp:

http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1500766&forum_id=50

You can get horizon smokers through Bass Pro Shops. This may save you some in shipping and make them a more viable option.

Horizon is out of Perry, OK, and is the original Oklahoma Joes (they sold their name to Charbroil).

I have a Gator Pit...my choices were limited to my budget. There are some awesome pits out there if I were a King...

tlfw378, that is the same as mine, only difference is i got two thermometers. Did you get the tuning plates in yours?

I broke mine in the other weekend with a nice fat 17lb brisket.

tuning plates? I don't even know what that is... so I guess not. I've had this pit for about 5 years, I don't even remember what the specs were. Party Gator with a few options if I remember correctly. Air tires vs. the current wheels now. I also notice the birdhouse on the smokestack vs. my adjustable damper.

Ritch makes some great pits. I like his work.

[This message has been edited by tlfw378 (edited 10/30/2009 4:06p).]

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20771