What Did You Do Today???

[Tony]

Pictures do not go full screen. Well, the "Attached Files" pictures do.

Corn starch, yea that is what it is. And just what you said, a blend of 11 herbs and spices kinds of wood, don't like it. lol. I like my Oak lump charcoal, and my stacks of Pecan and Hickory that I have in my back yard.

Making my own charcoal... Seems too much of a pain lol. But would be nice to have some good hickory...

 

[Rob Lancaster]

I never used Oak before. I will the first chance I get though...
Hey you want hickory coal? You could easily have a barrel full. Just make a top lift updraft charcoal cooker or (TLUD) for short out of a 55 gallon barrel.. I could show you how to make it. It's easy, you'll be glad you did. Just think, you don't have to process it down to a small mesh size like I have to do..
Just let me know if you want "Z" plans...……….

 

[Tony]

If you want to send me some plans, I'm all ears. Since the bottom of my barrel rusted out, I'm down to just one barrel though.

You are correct though, I don't have to have a specific size. Having a mixture of sizes is what I'm looking at. Small to medium for those quick "grill" cook's and large to extra large for when I'm smoking.

Just want you to know, my wife and I will hate you forever if you share the plans with me. I have no room for the tub I will need to store this. Did I mention I have 2.5 ricks of wood? lmao.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

What is 2.5 ricks?

 

[RandyDSok]

A rick of wood really isn't a measurement. it's actually how the wood is stacked... but many people use it as a measurement. A cord of wood is 4'x4'x8' ... so when someone says a rick like an amount... it usually refers to about 1/3 of a cord where instead of 48" it is the length of each piece typically about 16"-18". So a rick would be about 4'x8'x 16" or 18" ... or there abouts.

 

[Tony]

Yup, what Randy said. When we talk about it down here, it's always a rick. Lets just say, I have two single stacks that are not that small lol. I need to restack my hickory though and I need to separate out my pecan. It has some soft wood in there that is not good for anything. But that load was super cheap.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Ok sounds like you're set for wood for awhile...

Oh hey Tony, I don't want you mad at me so I'll just send you the redacted plans...

 

[Tony]

1. Why would I be mad at you?

2. 100% redacted is way too "black & white"

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Ok then, I'll draw up the plans...

Hey last night we got a darn fine lightning show. I was nestled between three cells. Some how I managed to be on the dry side of all three so I went outside to watch the spectacle.. Nice long multi branched bolts go for miles across the sky.. I watched for hours! See Hawaii; you can do it when you try!....

 

[Tony]

No need, I know how to make charcoal. It's just so much easier to buy it lol.

 

[Brick]

I've been interested for years to build a smoker. Is the 55 gal drum the easiest way to get started ? I actually work in a metal fab shop, so getting most of the components is not a problem. just not sure how to actually build. I want something I can use to smoke all day, and make the neighbors Hungry. I have a webber 22" kettle right now, and it does pretty good for what we do. I'd like to do a Brisket & more !

 

[RandyDSok]

I've been interested for years to build a smoker. Is the 55 gal drum the easiest way to get started ? I actually work in a metal fab shop, so getting most of the components is not a problem. just not sure how to actually build. I want something I can use to smoke all day, and make the neighbors Hungry. I have a webber 22" kettle right now, and it does pretty good for what we do. I'd like to do a Brisket & more !

Ok... not the expert here on the subject ( that would be Tony since he does this a lot more than the rest of us )... but I should point out that there are smokers... and then there are grills and/or charcoalers ( same things, just some people call them different names ) ... They are not the same thing and do not work exactly the same although you can often use one in place of the other with some caveats.

A smoker will have a separate location for the meat vs where you have the fire and wood chips that you smoke the meat with. The meat isn't directly over the flames and is in a low heat area so you can smoke it for a longer time to get that flavor into the meat. In many cases, you can also create a fire under the meat and use it for a grill.

A grill ( or charcoaler if you prefer )... is where the meat is directly over where the fire is made. It's designed to cook the meat quickly instead of to smoke the meat. However, you often can make the fire on one side and place the meat on the other and get some of the benefits of a smoker but it's still going to be hotter than what a smoker would be, so you won't have as long for the smoke to penetrate and flavor the meat. Your Weber grill is a good example of one of these.

I don't think the 55 gallon drum is considered a good candidate for a good grill or smoker. They tend to get used a lot because of convenience because you can just cut them into two, slap a handle and legs on them and add a grill on them quickly. To make one into a smoker, you'd add a separate firebox smoker on one side of them with a hole or channel to let the smoke into the area you place the meat in. The problem is the thinner metal is prone to burn out and rusting and doesn't hold heat in as well as a thicker type of metal would.

 

[Tony]

Randy hit on a lot of key points about grills and smokers. Such as direct and indirect heat.

Keeping this on the 55 gallon drum, I have seen a thousand different ways to use them. Look up the UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker). That is a vertical smoker that you just use some tubing for air intake. This in a way is direct, but yet indirect at teh same time. The coals go at the bottom, but you choke off the air so much that you regulate it down to about 250º for smoking.

On the other hand, you can cut it in half, grab some 1/4" round stock and weld it into a grate and some flat stock to help it seal up and you can have a perfect little grill. Then, if you take a 30 gallon barrel and cut it down, you can weld that to the side for an offset smoker, my preferred way to smoke meat.

I have an offset smoker that I have used for years that I got for xmas years ago. I have had to weld up some parts, replace the legs and some other things to keep this old beast going. I know one thing though, If you think it's big enough, go one size bigger. It's a lot of fun to set back a day of what would have been work, and just smoke a nice 20lb Packer Brisket. If you can get a smoker that can do one of those evenly, then you have a good one.

I have way more information on smokers, but I will leave it at this for now. Ask any questions you have, I will try to answer.

 

[Tony]

I wish I had some meat thawed out. It's about 55ºf here, just perfect for smoking a huge piece of meat. But, everything is frozen. Since the wife and I both have to work on turkey day, we didn't pull out the turkey for this year. No need if we don't have time to actually make it.

 

[Brick]

Thanks for the info guys ! going to look into the Offset type, that's really what I'm looking for ! Now....best fuel source ? I've seen pellet, wood , and chips

 

[Tony]

I am full on wood. I have stacked wood in my backyard that I use.

Pellets are used only for pellet grills. They don't work that great in any other grill.

Chips are great if you are working with direct heat. Soak the chips in hot water (opens the pores) for 30 minutes and put them on the coals when you start cooking. Not that much smoke since they burn out pretty quickly.

Chunk is great for the offset or indirect heat. Use good lump charcoal like Royal Oak to get a good hot bed of coals and toss some chunks on the fire. If you put the chunks beside the fire, it will dry them out and as soon as you put them on the fire, they will catch very quickly.

Sticks is what I use. Basically it is split wood trunks that are cut to the length of your fire box. Put down some good lump charcoal and get a few good logs on teh fire. Let them fully catch and have a couple more smaller logs beside the fire to dry out. Regulate the airflow in and out and maintain the temp you are shooting for.

The reason to put the wood beside the fire to dry it out is to keep the creosote down (the thick smoke that makes a black bark that is bitter). By allowing it to dry beside the fire it can burn off most of the moisture and stop a lot of the smoke production.

 

[Brick]

Awesome info Tony . Got a good source for any wood on my drive home from work. so that works in my favor right there. Did you build your offset, or buy one already to go ?

 

[Tony]

Mine was given to me about 15 or so years ago for xmas.

For wood, you want nut or fruit bearing for the best flavor. The woods that I have used the most are below.

Pecan
Hickory
Mesquite
Apple
Peach
Pear
Plumb

There are many more that you can use, but those are what I use the most.

 

[Tony]

Tried to do a quick stream today, an hour in and no one there. Can only talk to myself for so long... Didn't fix the issue with the receiver either. Just means I get to try again later

 

[D.O.G.]

I seen the notice but been Christmas shopping most of the afternoon...YIKES! I'll tell you, people are just nuts. Everyone's in the rush to get no where fast and talking about rude. It's just crazy. You have no idea when a fight is going to break out. You also got to be careful too at who or what your might offend or visa-versa. It's crazy time we live in.