Brinkman Smoker

Welcome Jamie!

That was the first smoker I owned and it drove me crazy trying to get consistent results, and I didn't even realize why at the time. At least you know that getting stable temps/fire is your biggest issue (and the fuel/wood hogging is certainly related to that).

I believe that there are some folks on this site that have made some modifications to this type of smoker and were able to greatly improve its performance, but (and you may not want to hear this), bottom line is that if you're really interested in turning out some great Q, then you may want to start thinking about investing in a better pit.

At least you've come to a place where there are a lot of experienced folks willing to help. That will be key to helping you decide what type of rig is right for you. In the mean time, perhaps the mods to your ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann) will enable you to start mastering some of the skills that will stay with you as you "move on up".

Good luck!

Hi Jamie and welcome! I have the 2-door Brinkman Vertical and after making the following changes, she cooks like a champ!

1) The most important ~ go to HD or Lowes and get a square grilling wok (around $10) to use as your charcoal/wood basket. It fits perfectly on the rails below the water bowl. Use a mix of charcoal and wood. Using the minion method, I can maintain 225 for 2-3 hours.

2) Using a foil pan, cut out 2 circles a bit larger than the vents. Cover 1 top vent and the adjacent bottom vent. This will pull air in one side and exhaust air out the other.

3) Leave the uncovered top vent wide open and control your fire with the uncovered bottom vent. If the fire is burning too hot, use less fuel.

4) Replace the thermometer. The one mine came with was off by 50 degrees!

With these few, simple changes my vertical hums along turning out some decent q. Let me know if pictures would help and I'll figure out how to upload. Oh, don't bother trying to seal the door with fiber rope gasket, it's too thick. If the leaking bothers you, use high temp silicone to create a gasket. I like the smoke and it smells good!

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Currently cooking on:
Custom stick burner
Weber Silver 22.5

they work good on a hot summer day. But wind will kill it,

I ended up buying a smokey joe and use that as my coal basket and can also use it to sear some steaks when I need a real hot fire. You need to raise the smokey joe about 3 inches to get it at the same level, i use a red brick on each leg.

If you can't go that route or the above mentioned wok route (i wish i had heard of this), you can at leat drill a bunch of holes in the pan to get more air to the fire and use lump hardwood. Lump makes less ash. We started using kingsford briq, but they would suffocate themselves in ash in a few hours.

These links help too.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/75111/ecb-mods-with-modview-and-questions

http://www.randyq.addr.com/ecb/ecbmods.html

I started with a gas grill, and then got the Brinkman. Then ended up getting another to support my bbq habbits, and now I've ditched them for a UDS. The el cheapo brinkmans (ECB) are kind of a pain, but you get some great bbq off them for only like $30. Good luck.

Too Thin

The problem with the ECB's, as well as most entry level smokers, is that the metal used for the body of the firebox/barrel is WAY too thin to hold heat. I was going through 40#s of coal for a 4 hour cook and it drove me nuts. Rather, it drove me to buy three 22" WSMs. Now I can keep my temps where I want them without going through a ton of fuel. The WSM is also the most efficient smoker on the market (or one of the most efficient) - and for only $400? Can't beat it IMO. Upgrade, you won't be disappointed.

Sounds like he has not been using charcoal along with the wood chunks?

Johnny_Crunch said:

Sounds like he has not been using charcoal along with the wood chunks?

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Good catch, Johnny!

That would definitely make a tough situation even tougher!

Wow, all day and nobody has said UDS yet? Well, UDS!

Kidding aside, you are in a good place and as you have seen, plenty of people have found creative ways to make "cheap" smokers work. Once you get that one running good and become bored, come back and build a UDS :becky:

You cannot use wood as the heat source in an ECB.

NorthwestBBQ said:

You cannot use wood as the heat source in an ECB.

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Really??? I use to do it all the time. Must have been in that parallel universe or some thing? Granted, they were very small pieces in size, but I used oak and apple splinters to do pork butts when I had the time to dedicate to doing it true Carolina style!

I had one, used duct tape to try to keep it sealed, got frustrated with the piece of cr*p and threw it out. Made a UDS and have been very happy. Of course, I do have a BGE to compare everything to.

Jamie said:

Hi everybody,

My girlfriend bought me a smoker for Christmas. I've used it many times, but I feel like I'm still having the ongoing problem with keeping temperature and wood chunk usage. I have the vertical two door Brinkman with the waterpan on the bottom and the wood/charcoal tray below. I use hardwood chunks that they sell at home depot, until I go online and find cheaper chunks. None the less, I read where people are using only a few chunks. I'm going through a lot more then just a few and I have the hardest time keeping the fire going. I do adjust the vents, but I still seem to get a spike in temp, then it drops. Anybody have any experience with these smokers?

Thanks,
Jamie

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First thing I would do would be to get a replacement charcoal grate for a weber and 4 stainless steel 2 1/2" bolts, 8 washers and 8 nuts from HD or similar store. Thread one nut down on each bolt about 1/2", place a washer, set the grate on all 4 bolts like that and then sandwhich it in. This is now your fire grate. The problem with those smokers is that all the coal sits right on your intake fins and ends up choking off your air supply. So getting your charcoal off of the bottom is the first step. Second step would be to look up the Minion Method on the Virtual Weber Bullet site and get that down. When I use mine, I can get about 8 hours of pretty consistant temps. It's not as good as a WSM, but it works fine for as often as I need mine.

We tried the same type with a propane burner to heat the wood in the center of the pan and water around the perimeter section. It was Char Broil. It did OK, but it was a pain in the neck to add chips. :sad: Anyway, we gave up and bought a Trager. Boy, is it ever easy to use. And great results.... :-D

I used mine for quite a while. I think the real problem is that someone a few years back decided to use their smoker on their back porch and some coals and ash dropped through the ash pan and set the deck on fire. Sounds like karma or the common sense poliec making a visit, but I'm sure there was some sort of lawsuit and now Brinkman makes the ash pan completely solid so there is about zero airflow and the ash chokes the fire. With a few simple mods you can be up and making good BBQ in no time. A while back my roomate and I were getting ready for a party and due to a lack of communication we both came home with two 10lb pork butts. Instead of returning meat (which seems a little suspect), we just bought another ECB. Problem solved. On smaller cooks when we only need 1 smoker, having two ash pans, we just replace the pan with the other fresh pan full of coal and we are back online in minutes.

They definitely won't be as stable as a WSM or UDS, but they are a hell of a lot cheaper. I kinda feel like my BBQ taste better when I know I started at midnight and have been checking and maintaining it every 3 hours until it's done. I know UDS's are supposed to be cheap, but that's only if you can find a cheap drum and other supplies. I paid about $40 for a reconditioned drum and probably another $40 on making the basket, and who know's how much on stainless hardware, paint, and chrome exhaust tips. Totally worth it, but not necessary.

Makeshift rain shelter/tiki bar mod

Christmas Turkey on ECB