DIY Reverse Flow Cinderblock pit

JDM46 said:

Will it cook your Killer Sausage?:razz:

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You bet! I originally put this together to use the "free" pecan sitting around in my yard, rather than buying pellets. I'll be able to hang it on smoke sticks and let it rip...although with summer here it'll be hard to hold temps down enough to do it. Sounds like you're still enjoying it up there!

m-fine said:

It would be a large ball valve, and sliding or rotating dampers are a lot easier and cheaper to build...BUT I hate to sound like a broken record, but the online calcs are a big pile of BS with no valid science or engineering behind them. Pay them no attention and rely on your observations and experience. You likely already know way more about cinder block pits than the guy who published the calculator.

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Yeah, a 5" valve which is big by itself AND a non standard size. all of which means $$.

The online pit calculators may be a big pile of BS, but they give one a starting point and they don't seem to work too bad. Before I made the changes, the firepit was more like a rocket stove, and I'd get flames about a foot into the cook chamber...not good for holding the temps down! With the new config, even though I haven't been able to choke down the inlet to the pit, the reverse flow plate is sized for the smaller inlet, so I'm getting some benefit from that. This has helped by making the temp control of the pit more manageable. It has much less of a tendency to run away. I tend to believe the stack size, and once the fire stabilizes, a 5" round hole would provide plenty of control. I keep it pretty choked down because there's a fair bit of leakage between the blocks that feeds the fire.

Sorry folks, no cook pics from yesterday. Didn't have my phone with me out there. Just did some thin pork chops, cooked slow. I will say that the heat is VERY even across the surface of the grate. No more hot spot by the firebox inlet. My bigger problem is that with all this cooking on the pit lately, I've run down my stock of pecan, hahah! Need to wait for the trees and wind to drop more. ray: