Building your own smoker..

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Nickos

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Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Location
Northren...
first off let me say, great place. ive been here for some time now lurking and reading here and over at the smoke ring, decided to register here the other day so see if i could get some good input from you guys as well.

im wanting to build a better smoker for myself after doing a lot of looking around and research, i think i want to go with a insulated vertical smoker, a spicewine clone if you will

any disadvantages to this setup? advantages?

are there plans already available for something like this? pictures of your vertical smoker for ideas?

im still in the planning stages now but how to be eating by summer!
 
Not sure why no interest in this thread...

Building your own smoker is a great experience. My kids helped me do it, and now they are totally into BBQ!

Unless you are a professional welder with lots of experience with smoker construction, I would start out simple. UDS is a popular build and can get you up and smoking in a weekend. Check out the UDS thread here (mother of all UDS threads) and read the whole thing. You'll get the idea of the basic tried-and-true design, but you'll also see all the modifications people have made (some that work and some that don't).

Others (including myself) are into re-purposing non-smoking objects into smokers. You can see it all over internet video, from file cabinets, to water heaters, to 100 lb. propane tanks, cast iron bath tubs, to you-name-it! The best are the 1950's era refrigerators, in my opinion.

If you are a decent welder, and have some basic understanding of how smokers work (intake/exhaust ratios, firebox/smoker ratios, etc.), you can always creat your own design with a CAD application and share the results here.

If you are somewhere in the middle (like most of us), just give it a shot! You can't go wrong, and just about anything you make can be modified to work well.

So, what do you think?
 
welding and the equipment will not be an issue, im pretty decent at it and my father in law used to own a welding shop so i have that covered. its the second part, the part about smoker design and such thats kind of hanging me up a bit
 
With a little basic know how and some cash anyone can build a very nice Pit. This is the pit I made last year. I have one more under construction that looks about like this one. Good luck!


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imfree2q said:
With a little basic know how and some cash anyone can build a very nice Pit. This is the pit I made last year. I have one more under construction that looks about like this one. Good luck!


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That's a good looking pit... What is the capacity on that?
 
tmcmaster said:
That's a good looking pit... What is the capacity on that?
Click to expand...

Thank you.
On the main chamber I can get 9 brisket or 24 pork butt a few more of each if I stuff it a little tighter. The up right is used for holding.
 
crd26a said:
Start here

http://www.phpbbserver.com/phpbb/vi...ae807dcd7bdbbcc2e085a8672832&mforum=smokinjim

Its a great site for clone builders that has a ton of resources on building. I'd thought about building but ran out of time (even with a great offer for help from a great member here) and ended up buying, but this was some great info.
Click to expand...


I agree, that site has great resources for building your own smoker. I love the Stumps clone, The gravity feed is second to none for set it and forget it!
 
imfree2q said:
With a little basic know how and some cash anyone can build a very nice Pit. This is the pit I made last year. I have one more under construction that looks about like this one. Good luck!


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Click to expand...

The pit looks great, kinda OT but way to go!!
 
I built my own stumps/backwoods clone. I would be glad to provide you with some info. I have lots of pics if needed
 

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imfree2q said:
With a little basic know how and some cash anyone can build a very nice Pit. This is the pit I made last year. I have one more under construction that looks about like this one. Good luck!


jpg.gif
Click to expand...
thats looks pretty awesome but WAY too big for me lol, id like at most a medium sized spicewine clone...
 
wow ok looking more at the stumps and chibi's smokers, im relly diggin this gravity feed self loading system.. this is the way to go for me

and thanks to crd26a, ive been to that site before but lost the link!

i think a stumps clone is for me :D
 
Big clone, 36 by 24 with 5 shelves... 30 square feet of cooking double wall, 2 inch of insulation great smoker
 
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looks good bocephus, whats your chimney made from? looks like pipes from a semi or something

also, how do you feel about the space of yours, i dont think id ever cook enough at once to justify making one that big, i could save the money and weight and have somethign a little smaller and more portable (from the garage to the yard)
 
It has been said more than once; look at the smoker that will handle the biggest cooks that you do - then buy the next bigger one!
 
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