DPP have a tuning plate?

[CJATE]

Do the DPP smokers have something to dissipate the heat from the center? I fear that the center will run hot, just like the business end of an offset?

I am cloning the DPP to get the most cooking space from a small chamber.
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3rd best chicken in Arkansas, 2005. It was dumb Luck

[rashley]

The DPP do not have a tuning plate in the center. There are two heat inlets from the firebox. One on the left and one on the right, both about 1/4 in from the edge. This splits the heat to two sides of the pit. The hottest spot on the pit is right at the end of the inlet pipes. They extend about 3/4 of the way into the cook chamber, so right in front of the pipes, next to the doors is the hottest area. The center of my pit runs no hotter than the left or right sides. I just avoid that spot in front of the pipes, or rotate my meat in and out as needed in that area.

Randy
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DP Fat 50
CG Grill
Traeger

[Robert & Keri C]

I also have dampers built into the two "snout" pipes that run from the firebox into the cooking chamber. Just basic old round stove-pipe type dampers that are turned sideways to allow all heat to pass, or closed a little or a lot, depending on how much heat you want to allow to pass through to that side of the cooker. Travis fabricated them for me upon my request, and I believe that he's now had quite a few requests for what he claims people have called "Keri Dampers" now. These simple dampers allow me to channel all heat to one side of the cooker. They allow me to run one side at warming temps and one side at cooking temps. They allow me to adjust for an off-level cooker where the heat runs up hill. They allow me to adjust for the effect of having a fire going closer to one snout than the other. Side-to-side temperature variances are no longer an issue, as these dampers allow instantaneous heat adjustment side to side.

The two hot spots that Rashley describes are about dinner-plate size. I use them to heat sauce, for quicker heat hits on chicken, and, most recently, to set a half pan of beer, onions, and butter over to heat quickly for my brats that were cooking right behind them outside of the hot spot. With the "snout" pipe design of heat transfer that Travis came up with, the front of the cooker tends to run a bit hotter than the back while it is heating up, or when it's recovering from an extended door-open period. After a heating period or after the doors have been shut for a while again, the heat that's coming through the snout pipes and rolling through the cooker tends to equalize by convection effect again. I have two thermos on the doors, and also keep probes further back into the cooking chamber so that I can monitor the differences between different areas of the cooker to monitor this very thing.

The DPP is a great cooker. We've been very pleased with ours. As reasonable as his prices are, it's possible that you might spend more building it yourself than if you bought a DPP from Travis. Unless, of course, part of the fun is building it yourself. That's why we will soon have a XL Stumps Clone in our family.

Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time