Gonna do it. COS. Yep!

I have been on the fence about the cos .. I have access to a char griller with firebox but it is missing pieces. I want to have built a new firebox something a little bigger with a larger door for easier access to a firebasket. I think reverse flow but instead of the exhaust on the back I wan to try putting it on the side of the lid. directly above the hotbox. Everything else is pretty much what you plan to do. Time is not on my side though. I wish you good luck and take many pics. I am now subscribing to your thread.

Mike

Best of luck. As long as you go into it understanding what it will and will not do, you will be just fine.

Spend $269 and get this COS :


http://m.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Trailmaster-Vertical-Smoker-855-6303-SB/203703110?N=5yc1vZbx92

Heres where I'm at

I bought a COS without realizing my first smoke would require about $20 in fuel and constant panic/attention. I schooled up on a few old threads and made a list of mods I thought would give me a better chance of success. I don't own welding equipment. In fact I'm a finish carpenter. I searched for videos to help with ideas, noting that having a video camera on your phone doesn't qualify anyone to give advice on video sites I disregarded most of it and came up with this.

1. Lower the stack. I used a 3" flex 90 and removed one section giving me the angle I wanted. I had to cut the flanged end and hammer it down to fit. I drilled thru the stack and attached it with a screw.

2.Seal it up. This model hinges off two Shoulder Bolts and tabs on the lid. So the lid sits on the front edge, but increases in gap along the sides to about 3/8" in the back. So. I used piano hinge along the back and aluminum angle (hopefully doesn't get too hot) on the sides and front to attach fiberglass rope with the high temp black stuff.

3. I also had to make a retaining cable to keep the piano hinge from falling all the way open.

4. And I think most important. Make a baffle. I used and 8" stovepipe. Cut, bent, hammered, reattached, and hammered some more to shape it. then cut the flanged end every 3/4" or so and bent tabs over inside firebox.

5. This metal is thin so I added the firebricks to retain heat. I plan to place an additional layer of sheet metal in the bottom to prevent scraping, and wrap the bricks in foil to keep them cleaner.

6. I'm in the camp that will use water from time to time so my diverter also serves as a water tray.

7. No weld charcoal basket, goes without saying, right?

If nothing else it's been fun over the winter to tinker with, but I need to wrap it up and get cooking. Not sure if I want to just throw a few tuner plate on top of the bricks or make a graduated diffuser. I also plan on adding thermometers at each end at grate level. I need to wash it, take it apart, paint it, put it back together, and burn that sucker in. I'm a journeyman griller but I really want to slow it down and spend some more time in the yard with a silver bullet in hand and feed some neighbors

If your planin on using Charcoal as the main fuel source you had better by it by the pallet load. JM2C that basket is gonna make it hard to get a good Small hot fire that will burn clean. It will take a long time and allot of charcoal to get those bricks hot enough before you can start to cook.( If the bricks are holding the heat they take a while to get hot) They are called Stick burners for a reason; My advice burn sticks it will cost you less and you get more usable Btu's also the food will taste so much better, it is the burning wood fire that makes an offset special. If you gonna use Charcoal might as well stick with the WSM so you don't turn into a Painter I mean a Drunk, no a Painter.:razz:

If you gonna use Charcoal might as well stick with the WSM so you don't turn into a Painter I mean a Drunk, no a Painter.:razz:[/QUOTE]

I agree with not using charcoal, but what is wrong with being a drunken painter? Is it worse than a drunken BBQ'er? :grin:

My theory is based on Coors Light intake per pound of charcoal. But I had planned on burning chunks with my lump. The bricks might take a while to heat up, that's true. But I'm hoping it will help on longer cooks to achieve final temps. Keep in mind I'm new. But farklf seemed pretty gung ho about a COS. So I thought I'd post some pics of the mods I tried because a lot of the threads I found are so old the links don't work anymore. Also I'm currently trying to source some hardwoods with local tree services, and other avenues as they occur to me. If I could just talk the woman into cutting down the 50' Maple in the back yard I could focus on stock piling beer

Hrm bury most of it in earth -- very insulative I wanna buy a $100 cos and cover it with cob.

EDIT: I'm just being silly.

My biggest piece of advice is to lower the stack to grate level. I believe that alone will have a bigger impact on improving the way it cooks than any other mod. I'm also with Bludawg. I would burn wood in it. Small hot clean burning fire is the way to go. Its gojna take babysitting, not two ways about it. However if you do use charcoal, I strongly advise that you use lump and not briquettes. Ash buildup in COS's can be a huge issue. The lump just doesn't produce enough for it to be a problem.

I had one for my first smoker and it was a lot of fun. I think it made me better in the long run. Baffles, exhaust hose to grate, and the firebox mods helped for sure.

Lowering the exhaust is a double edge sword! By Lowering the exhaust you force the smoke and heat to the bottom of the pit but it don't take care of the hot spot at the FB side & it interferes with the draft. Stick burners are all about a free flow: the faster you move the air the more efficient they are just like Engine in a Funny car the better they breath the more efficient the combustion the faster they go. Lowering the exhaust causes the Dirty air to back up to the fire box thereby reducing the combustion rate. This is why you you hear " I can't get the temp above???? I have to run with the firebox door open to get up to temp and control temp with the size of my fire I hate this thing, ect... A baffle at the fire box and some tuning plate will allow the (I use this loosely) Pit master to control the temp with just the intakes provided the fire box isn't leaky like a Screen door.
This is from experience I tried all that basket with lump and chunk lower the pipe BS and went to war every time I fired up. Then my brains came in and I tore all that nonsense out. I built a log rack installed a "Horizion Style" baffle / tuning plate results even temps +/- 3 deg end to end front to back and 1 split every 45 min complete control over the temp with the intake.

Cruisin at 300 on post oak intake is open about 1/4 of the way

Great advice guys. I guess I could have mentioned I live in Western Wa. and I haven't used this thing in warm weather/calmer winds. That first Q was a battle for sure. Now it rains til June... But I got her all painted up and oiled down, parked in the garage for a bit. Getting by with the new Infrared grill for our winter meat fix. But I can't wait for some backyard weather. It's gonna be the summer of Pork, Brethren, the summer of Pork

Have fun with your new hobby this summer

Bludawg said:

Lowering the exhaust is a double edge sword! By Lowering the exhaust you force the smoke and heat to the bottom of the pit but it don't take care of the hot spot at the FB side & it interferes with the draft. Stick burners are all about a free flow: the faster you move the air the more efficient they are just like Engine in a Funny car the better they breath the more efficient the combustion the faster they go. Lowering the exhaust causes the Dirty air to back up to the fire box thereby reducing the combustion rate. This is why you you hear " I can't get the temp above???? I have to run with the firebox door open to get up to temp and control temp with the size of my fire I hate this thing, ect... A baffle at the fire box and some tuning plate will allow the (I use this loosely) Pit master to control the temp with just the intakes provided the fire box isn't leaky like a Screen door.
This is from experience I tried all that basket with lump and chunk lower the pipe BS and went to war every time I fired up. Then my brains came in and I tore all that nonsense out. I built a log rack installed a "Horizion Style" baffle / tuning plate results even temps +/- 3 deg end to end front to back and 1 split every 45 min complete control over the temp with the intake.

Cruisin at 300 on post oak intake is open about 1/4 of the way

Click to expand...

Makes a lot of sense. Are those chunks actually the size that you use?

Inside pix please.

Thanks,
Steve