Big Poppa Smoker

Hi Guys,

My barrel got here today, my kit from Big Poppa showed up last week, so this weekend is build time. I have a couple of questions.

If any of you have built from Big Poppa's kit, did you make any changes?

I am thinking about skipping the top set of U-bolts that are meant to use for raising the fire basket up for grilling. I have a few other grills that I will be using for grilling.

The height of the lower U-bolts for the fire basket seem rather high at 5.75" above the bottom of the drum, is there a reason to have them that high?

I have a large deep dish pizza pan to use for my ash catcher. I am thinking I need to put a handle on it to make it easier to get out of the drum? Old guys don't bend and stretch so well as we get older.

Poppa includes two sets of bottom vents with 4 - 3/4" holes in each one. Does it really need that much venting?

Thanks for any feedback.

Gary

The stepped drill bit that comes with the kit is not the best thing in the world. It will be a major buzzkill if you are using it with a battery powered drill. A lesser buzzkill if you use it with a power drill. I bought a better version of it at Home Depot for around $40 and was very glad I did.

I found out with the very first hole that the step bit wasn't going to cut it. I had plenty of regular drill bits, so I chucked a 1/4" bit and drilled the required 1/4" holes and it made great pilot holes for the step drill bit. After starting with the 1/4" hole, the step bit did great.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I finished my build today, well mostly. I drilled all 8 bottom vent holes as you suggested, although I did skip the upper U-bolts. After reading all your thoughts, I will probably end up putting in the upper U-bolts. I added an additional thermometer in the lid, more towards the center so I had a better idea of the actual cooking temps.

For a test, I decided to throw a full rack of spares on it and see what happens. I mostly filled the fire basket with some Kingsford that has been hanging around too long and lit about half a chimney and lit it off. Since I'm in the wood business, I have no shortage of Pecan, Hickory, Cherry, Mesquite and other varieties. I put three chunks of Pecan, dry, about fist size pieces on top of the basket before I dumped the hot coals on. Turned out to be a bit more wood than I needed, It was more smoke than I prefer, but that is the reason to test.

About 20 minutes after dumping the chimney of coals in my fire basket, with the top vent wide open and two bottom holes open, one on each side, the temp climbed to 280 on the top thermometer and 220 on the side one. I closed one bottom vent hole and about 45 minutes later both thermometers settled in at 220.

Not perfect , but for the first cook, I call it a huge success! Thanks Poppa!