Lone Star Grillz Vertical Insulated Cabinet Smoker-For the new Owner

mikes1212 said:

Hi GGW
Go to the first page of this thread to see the results of my first (and only) cook. I had a ruff start, but everything came out pretty good in the end!

I actually do have a Guru, but it's a 10 CFM and Chris recommends a 25. I bought it a couple of years ago to use on my 2 BGE's. I guess I will need one of these to hook it up to the cabinet http://store.thebbqguru.com/weborderentry/2%22%20Ball%20Valve%20Adaptor. Can anyone confirm that this is the right part?

Since I already have a controller, I guess all I would need to buy would be the Pit Bull 25 CFM fan.

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Mike,

Thats the right adaptor, I would give the 10 cfm a try and see if that is enough air

mikes1212 said:

pyroman175@yahoo Welcome to our group! :clap2:

Damn, 120 degrees! You probably don't have build a fire, do you. Just throw some meat inside, wheel her out into the sun, and let her go! :laugh:

The wait for mine was ruff, 10 weeks! I hope we are able to help you make it through the long wait, while Chris is building your smoker!

PS. Do you know what the temps are in the Camp Verde area during the summer?

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Ya the summers here are brutal that's for sure. We bbq all winter and hibernate in doors for the summer. Lol. Camp verde in this summer isn't to bad. Probably 90 for the high but cools off at night which is nice. Lots of rain during the monsoon months July-September

Hopefully I can chime in here and help out with some advice to new users. The water is definitely the key to cooking at higher temps. If you want to cook above 250-275 (which is not a problem I have cooked at 375-400 before) go without water. If you want to use water add it after your food is on, pit is up to temp, and add it slowly and gradually so you don’t overwhelm it all at once. Remember though that water boils at 212 so anything above 250 or so will boil off the water very fast, and creates a lot of steam. One other thing you can try if you want water at those higher temps would be to put a foil pan in the water pan and put the water in the foil pan. If you can elevate it just a little so there is a small gap between the two it would be even better. This will boil off a lot less water (since it’s not in direct contact with the heat source) and at the same time not affect the temp nearly as much when cooking above 275. The water in the pan is going to be best during your low and slow smokes since the water is there not just to add moister but also to act as a heat sink and allow you to get the long burn times at low temps. We try to get the latch adjusted before we ship but it may still need some fine tuning when you get the pit. Keep the seals oiled with cooking oil spray (PAM) to keep them pliable, this will make them last much longer and they will seal better. Mine are almost two years old and still don’t need replacement, my latch isn’t adjusted all the way in and smoke dose not leak from the doors so there is still plenty of life left in it. This brings up another thought If you’re trying to get the pit to higher temps you will need to open up the smoke stack accordingly in order to increase the draft, If you’re not opening up the stack your temp won’t increase and you can get some smoke coming from to doors because it has to go somewhere and if the stack isn't opened wide enough it "will" go somewhere. Remember the input and output should be matched up to get that clean efficient burning fire. Under normal conditions it should take about 1 hour to get to temp, I just smoked a couple briskets on mine Saturday and Sunday and 1 hour from lighting coals it was at 225 (I don’t use a weed burner during my pre heating). 10 cfm fan will work but I like the 25 for quicker recovery times and faster pre heating times. I think the weed burner will cut your pre heat time way down and I see no reason not to do this. It takes about 15-20 minutes for your coals to get lite anyways so I see no reason not to use that time to get things preheated with the weed burner. Outside temperature does not affect the inside space due to the insulation but remember if its 40 outside when you start so is all the metal on the inside of the cabinet so this will take longer than it does when its 80 out. Once you’re up to temp then there won’t be much effect on the pit from the outside elements. On my web page and emailed to every customer is a set of instructions from start to finish that have been refined and simplified to get you the shortest learning curve possible. If you follow this as a guide you will yield the best results (I have run this unit a hundred ways and the instructions are how I run mine and have given us the best consistent results). That’s not to say it’s the only way and once you figure it out by all means experiment. You can also email or call me and I will be happy to share what others have found and alternate ways to arrange or mange your fire. I don’t mention it here because I want you to get down the basics first then we can go from there. Remember that the way this is built and designed is for stable and constant temps, and efficient fuel consumption. If it reached 250 degrees in 5 minutes it could go back to nothing just as fast. Always give yourself enough time to get the pit to temp, manage your water and stacks for different desired temps and you will have consistent results with no trouble. Please feel free to call or email us at any time I we are glad to help. One thing that sets us apart from our competition is just that we don’t compete so I have no secrets that I hold back I will happily share any and everything I know to anyone even if you didn’t be a pit from me.
Thanks
Chris Goodlander
Lone Star Grillz

Good advice! One note/consideration. I live at 7,000, where water boils at just under 199°F. Here's a great on-line boiling point calculator from ThermoWorks that even takes your current atmospheric pressure into consideration.

I had to tighten down the latch all the way to prevent any leakage. Mot leaking anymore.

New Owners

We now have a group of 8 of us who either have or have ordered a Lone Star Grillz Insulated Vertical Smoker.
Anybody else who finds this thread and has ordered one of these smokers should leave me a private message if they are interested in joining the group and sharing ideas.
Mine had the folding table installed 2 days ago and went to the paint room yesterday. Should ship next week. Can't wait.

jrben1 said:

We now have a group of 8 of us who either have or have ordered a Lone Star Grillz Insulated Vertical Smoker.
Anybody else who finds this thread and has ordered one of these smokers should leave me a private message if they are interested in joining the group and sharing ideas.
Mine had the folding table installed 2 days ago and went to the paint room yesterday. Should ship next week. Can't wait.

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What was your build time on your smoker JRben1 ??

Glad you got the cook in. I'll be cookin next weekend. I'm going without the water. I may try the water in a elevated pan. Well see. Depends on how lazy I am at 4am.

pyroman175@yahoo said:

What was your build time on your smoker JRben1 ??

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I ordered mine on Friday, January 31, 2014.
Long wait.

mikes1212 said:

Shipping next week! Woo hoo! :clap2: You will be filling the skies with sweet smoke in no time!

Let me know how you get the beast out of the crate. I rolled mine out of the crate by placing some plywood on one side so the it dropped down about a half inch onto the plywood and rolled down the rest of the way to the pavement. I left the side rails up on either side of the wheels to create a track so the wheels did not creep off the 2x4's that the wheels were resting on.. You will see what I mean when your smoker arrives. Posting pictures I hope?

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I'll post some pics for sure.

ggee6688 said:

Glad you got the cook in. I'll be cookin next weekend. I'm going without the water. I may try the water in a elevated pan. Well see. Depends on how lazy I am at 4am.

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I am lazy as well at 4am so one thing I do if I plan a long cook or very early morning start time is get the cooker started the night or evening before. The addition cost of fuel is inconsequential, your never rushed for time, and all thats left to do is get up throw on the meat and go back to bed (especially if you prep your meat the evening before as well). For shorter cooks this may not be a option but for those 15-16 hour brisket cooks or 8-12 pork butts its perfect.

Thanks
Chris Goodlander
Lone Star Grillz

Ill have to give that a go next weekend. I'll have to do some brisket again. I really like having the grates in vertical formation. I think its gonna work out great for comps.