Finished Cooker

jdmrivera · Joined: 08 Apr 2014 Posts: 12 Location: Colorado

I started this thread over in the "introduce yourself" forum a while back. Finally got 'er done and had her maiden voyage this past weekend. Smoked 80lbs of pork butts in addition to two pigs on open pits for 300+ people.

Packed up heading to brother in law's (former auto body guy) for paint.

Three coats of Thermolux paint.

Swapped the previous "wagon" axle for a new "steerable" version. Lot's of pieces to build and weld.

Added heat shields to firebox to protect tires. Makes a huge difference on tire temps.

Can't really tell but there is 80lbs of pork shoulders in there smoking away. I am super duper happy with the way this baby turned out. No baffle plates or other devices and it heats evenly end-to-end with only a 5 degree difference. Good smoker karma I guess!

Unfortunately I had so much going on I never got pics of finished butts. In addition to all the pork cooking I was also competing in a Dutch Oven Cooking Competition (1st place in main dish with a Short Rib Pot Pie!). I'm cooking ribs for 80 folks Aug 1 so will post new pics then.

You can see all the pics here:
http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/jdmrivera9/library/New%20Smoker?sort=6&page=1

Smokin Mike · Posted: Wed Jun 18 14 7:37 pm Post subject:

That turned out really well jdmrivera. Congrats on a job well done! So how do you like the Thurmalox paint? Did you use the #245 primer? Just curious because I was planning on using that paint on my cooker.
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jdmrivera · Joined: 08 Apr 2014 Posts: 12 Location: Colorado

Thanks Smokin Mike. I did not use the primer because I was concerned about how well it would hold up to the heat. Time will tell if that was a good idea or not. I have noticed some paint wearing off where I use straps to hold it down. Not sure if that is a lack of primer issue or if it really needed some more coats. I used a gallon but it might have been better with two.

Maniac · BBQ Super Pro Joined: 02 Oct 2010 Posts: 2432 Location: Pa

jdmrivera She looks good all dressed up. Glad she works like a charm for you...next a little electric motor to make it easier to move Wink

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SoEzzy · Posted: Thu Jun 19 14 8:59 am Post subject:

So can we see a picture or two of the inside?

Are you running an upper draft like a Jambo?

Or does your exhaust scavenge the heat and return it to the pit?
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crb478 · BBQ Fan Joined: 06 Dec 2010 Posts: 126

That is a great looking build, lots of work and attention to detail. I also would love to see some pictures of the inside, actually more pictures of it in general.

Wreckless · Posted: Sat Jun 21 14 6:09 am Post subject:

Nicely built cooker! Almost looks like a toy with the mobility built in. I know better tho, that is one heavy backyarder, no toy here. Enjoy and as also posted, some inside pics please.

jdmrivera · Joined: 08 Apr 2014 Posts: 12 Location: Colorado

crb478, the full set of build pics are at:
http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/jdmrivera9/library/New%20Smoker?sort=6&page=1

Here are a couple pics of the inside. Pretty normal offset smoker.

The top of the exhaust opening is right at grate level.

The smoke inlet.

A couple things to note: the exhaust stack is 6in diameter. My doors don't have gaskets and did not leak smoke at all so I'm guessing I had a nice draft that kept the smoke moving steadily through the smoker. Once up to temp the fire in the firebox was maintained pretty low, only adding about a log an hour. So maybe I did not have a lot of intense heat at the firebox end and that's why it stayed really even end-to-end.