New Char Griller w/questions...

ssoutlaw · Joined: 16 Dec 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Greenwood, Indiana

Hi all, new to posting here, but been reading for a couple months!
I just bought the Char Griller, put it together then started the seasoning. I have to tell you, it was 12* last night and it was hard to get it to the 300* it said to do it at! I really had to use a lot of charcoal which left the flame from the fire box pouring heavily into the cooker section. I had to leave the air intake to the fire box wide open to keep any temp up!
I did notice that the door to the fire box does not seat air tight, anyone have any suggestions?? Also the fit between the fire box and the cooker when smoking is not air tight so to speak, any thoughts for a cure to that one??
I have been using a 4 burner gas grill for smoking with a box built on the inside on the right side over 2 burners for many yrs now and has worked pretty good, just wanted to move up and bought the Char Griller to practice on till I get a barrel one put together. I have a plan to use 2 side by side drums cut slightly, then welded back together with a square fire box cut into both drums, does this sound doable???
How do you guys in the colder areas do you r smoking in the cold months???
Sorry for the book of questions...lol

Teleking · Posted: Dec 17 2009 Post subject: Re: New Char Griller w/questions...

springfield xd .40 · Posted: Dec 17 2009 Post subject:

as far as the seasoning for the grates in the char griller I did mine in the oven. The offset is not really designed to cook at higher temps. when I first got mine I did a couple of pizzas in it and tried to reach temps upwords of 350 and ended up burning all the paint off the firebox in one shot.
As for as the cold goes the pit I use is all 1/4 inch and holds heat well just have to use more fuel like 20-30% more if I were you I would get a welding blanket and do like teleking that seems to be the thing to help the most.
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BluDawg · Posted: Dec 17 2009 Post subject:

The welding blanket is a good solution to stabilize the cooking chamber temps in cold weather. A few tips that I will pass on to you to keep your temps stable and your fuel consumption down:
Get a length of 1/2" angle iron and cut tree pieces 12 1/2" long place them in your fire box in place of the CI grates and lay a piece of expanded metal 12 1/2" wide and the length of your fire box on top. This will put your fire centered on the intake allowing the air to move through the fire and give the ash some where to go. It also allows you to empty ashes on long cooks.
Seal up all air leaks, plug up all holes with bolts and flat washers, The leaks on your fire box are easily fixed with a tube of Perm-a-tex copper-coat gasket sealer.Unbolt the fire box apply a bead around the opening and bolt it back up. Apply a bead around the perimeter of the firebox door and put a coat of Crisco on the firebox around the area where the door contacts it close the door and tie a weight to the handle once it is dry remove the weight and you will have a perfect seal.
Take the two CI grates from the fire box and remove the Charcoal tray from the cooking chamber place the two CI grates that where in the FB and place 1 at each end of the cook chamber and turn the charcoal tray upside down on top of them and slide it as close to the FB end as it will go replace the cooking grates, this will even out the temps in the cooking chamber.
Obtain a 32 oz juice can remove both ends and cut the can from top to bottom and fit it into the bottom of your exhaust stack so that it is close to the cooking surface, this will force the heat closer to the food before it exits out the exhaust.
The last thing is to make a Gasket to fill the void between the top and bottom halves. This is easily done with heavy duty aluminum foil, fold the foil over on its self to obtain the proper thickness. One other thing that I did on mine was to add 4 1/2"washers to the hinge pins so the lid closes in the same spot.
You can do these mods for under 30.00 and turn a low dollar loaded with problems smoker into a pretty decent little pit. Oh 1 last thing get a good thermo the one in the lid is a piece of chit .
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caliel · Posted: Dec 17 2009 Post subject:

I am in the midst of doing a bunch of mods to my chargriller. You favorite search engine will turn up more ideas than you can imagine. The main difficulty I am having is deciding how to prioritize what I want to do so that I don't bury myself in projects. My list currently looks like this.

1. Wood stove gasket ropes to seal edges
2. Charcoal basket
3. Baffle and tuning plates
4. Ducting to lower the chimney intake
5. Homemade Temperature Monitor/Controller Blower Fan Thing

The wife won't let me do the 7 inch chrome wheels with spinners Sad

ALSO ... the local grocery has the Pro Deluxe on special for $75. So I might grab a spare Smile

ssoutlaw · Joined: 16 Dec 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Greenwood, Indiana

ssoutlaw · Joined: 16 Dec 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Greenwood, Indiana

ssoutlaw · Joined: 16 Dec 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Greenwood, Indiana

BluDawg · Posted: Dec 18 2009 Post subject:

PaulOinMA · Posted: Dec 19 2009 Post subject:

A fireplace shop should have the fireplace door gasket kit. I bought one this week, as I needed to replace a section of the gasket on my fireplace insert. The gasket comes in a few sizes. Here's what you are looking for ...

http://www.rutland.com/category.php?category_id=8

The following site also has a list of modifications.

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq/7.html