My new 275 Gal smoker fire basket help! Pron

[smokedgoose]

I well I upgraded today to say the least from Craigslist 275 oil tank smoker with a compressor tank for a fire box. All I can say is wow its a beast. I cant wait to smoke some serious amounts of meat in it. But before then I have few questions.

Do I still assume 1 hour a 1lbs at 200-250 degrees for smoking if I have 100 lbs of butts in 100 hrs your kidding me. So how do you determine how much time for a cook in a big smoker with a bunch of weight?

Next I need help designing a fire basket so I can get a 10-12 hour burn with charcoal. As you can see from the pics the fire box has 4 smoke inlets in the smoking tank. The basket that was in their was a small 12" by 12" basket. If I make a rectangular basket the size of the fire box light it on the left side only the left side will cook faster than right the right side faster then the left as it burns down. Also the air intake in the middle of the fire box. Or do I make say a 3 foot basket and center it?

Thanks again for helping me out.

 

[Pyle's BBQ]

You can make a rectangular fire basket and light it in th middle and the fire will spread to the sides. This will keep the temps somewhat even. The Good-One smokers are set up this way.


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[jestridge]

I hate to be a bearer of bad news , but I don't think you will ever get a 12 hour smoke out of it. Also those type of tanks will will rust out very quick. But for the good news they cook really good and will hold a lot of meat. I make a stick burner out of it.

 

[tmehlhorn]

I agree with Pyle i would go with a Rectangular basket with the bottom off bottom of smoke box at least a little above that bar i see in the bottom now. i would worry about clogging up that air intake with a larger basket though, putting an air intake on side may work better, or a guard to block ash from building up, this would be simple ot make. I would be tempted with charcoal to use the minion method and fill big basket most of the way up and put a small layer of lit coals across top. And the 1 hr per 1 lb assumption is for individual cuts IE a 3 lb butt will cook faster than an 8 lb butt, however 2 3 lb butts will not double your cook time over 1, 3 lb butt. Assuming you leave some space between your meat and do not sit them touching your cook time will not be greatly increased over doing just one. That is also assuming you can maintain your temps. But not sure the 1 hr thing is quite accurate, An 8 lb butt at 250 takes more like 11 hrs for me. But all meat cooks a little different and times will vary. many other things affect it. i would get your basket made and make sure your air intake will not clog. make sure you have some space between your meat, start with a small cook and make sure you can maintain your temps and master that first. Some of these guys might have one like this or experience with a similar cooker and can give better advice this is just my thoughts. I do have a couple good thoughts on your basket design and a way to keep your air intake clear.

 

[colonel00]

Can you take a few more pics to help? I am interested to see where the firebox vents into the cook chamber. This will factor into how you want to have your burn go. Also, can you take a pic of the inside of the cook chamber too? I have concerns when I see the smoke stacks coming out of the back. I fear much of the heat will just travel up that back wall and out.

 

[smokedgoose]

I will post some more pics when I get off work today. The vent has mesh on it and its right behind the bars that hold the basket.

 

[Zak]

I highly doubt you'll get 10-12 hours out of charcoal unless you put a LOT of charcoal in there and still i don't think you'll be able to maintain good temps. I tried running my 275 gallon smoker on charcoal and it didn't go very well at all. I didn't have a basket but i wasn't able to generate enough heat with charcoal alone. Now i just burn sticks in it. You can give it a try and if it works then great but in my setup, charcoal wasn't an option. Not to mention the cost of all that charcoal.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

The item per pound estimate is for each piece of meat, not the whole cooker. A 10 lb butt is going to take about 1.5 hours per pound to cook. His buddies next to him will do the same thing. 15 hours for the entire cook as an estimate.

 

[smokedgoose]

Here is the build thread for this smoker.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39271&highlight=

 

[smokedgoose]

Here are some more pics

First pic is of the intake port witch slides to open or close



This pic is of the 4 ports from the fire box to the 275gal smoking area



This is a pic of the exhaust port and one port from the fire box

 

[smokedgoose]

Any further fire basket advice?