Adding vertical cabinet on horizontal offset?

[gharriger]

Hey guys, a couple questions for ya:

1) If I decide to add a vertical cabinet smoker on the end of my horizontal chamber for colder smoking / warming, do I need to calculate the volume of the vertical cabinet in when figuring firebox opening and exhaust sizes?

2) Is it best to have the chimney come off the top of the vertical cabinet or somewhere lower?

3) How big should the opening between the horizontal and vertical chambers be?

[gharriger]

I've been reading everything I can find about building a pit with a vertical smoker attached to the end of the horizontal chamber. I can't find any good information about how to attach the two....weld them directly together or pipe them together with a damper in the pipe for regulating? I also need information on properly exhausting the thing and whether or not I need to modify the fire box to accomodate the additional vertical cabinet that has to be heated. Can anyone help?

[cpw]

If you look at the Langs, they have a single butterfly valve (about 4" diameter) between the main cooking chamber and the vertical smoker portion to control smoke and heat. Then there are two spinner type dampers (similar to the big ones on the bottom of the firebox) at the top back to control exhaust.

On the Lang I've used, the vertical smoker won't get any hotter than about 250, but we've cooked 8 or 9 butts in there at one time without any problems.

[gharriger]

So a 4" valve is the only thing connecting the vertical cabinet to the main smoke chamber? Is there a chimney in the main smoke chamber as well as the vertical cabinet? Now I'm really confused, I thought the connection between the two chambers would be much larger and the only chimney / exhaust would be at the end on top of the vertical cabinet.

Originally Posted by cpw

If you look at the Langs, they have a single butterfly valve (about 4" diameter) between the main cooking chamber and the vertical smoker portion to control smoke and heat. Then there are two spinner type dampers (similar to the big ones on the bottom of the firebox) at the top back to control exhaust.

On the Lang I've used, the vertical smoker won't get any hotter than about 250, but we've cooked 8 or 9 butts in there at one time without any problems.

[gharriger]

I will never want the temp in the vertical cabinet te get over 250, I'll mostly be using it to smoke jerky, fish and cheese. I'm trying to figure out the best way to set it up for colder smokes. Thanks

[BBQ Bandit]

Considering the position/location of the firebox and the size of the openings will play a factor.

The Lang, a reverse flow, has the vertical chamber positioned above the firebox, getting thermal energy from the firebox plus the butterfly baffles from the main chamber.









With the Klose BYC, altho the vertical chamber is the other end , the cut out opening is maximized with a large semi circular baffle opening. The openig at the firebox is also as large as possible... with the focus on maximum airflow.

[gharriger]

Originally Posted by BBQ Bandit

Considering the position/location of the firebox and the size of the openings will play a factor.

The Lang, a reverse flow, has the vertical chamber positioned above the firebox, getting thermal energy from the firebox plus the butterfly baffles from the main chamber.

With the Klose BYC, altho the vertical chamber is the other end , the cut out opening is maximized with a large semi circular baffle opening. The openig at the firebox is also as large as possible... with the focus on maximum airflow.

Ok, I'm looking at something similar to the Klose BYC I think. I like the idea of a conventional offset with tuning plates rather than reverse flow so I can have the hot spot when I want it. So with the vertical cabinet on the end farthest from the firebox, is the baffle something that has to be set in place from inside the pit or can it be adjusted from the outside during the cook?

[BBQ Bandit]

The baffle to the vertical chamber is a semi-circular plate with smaller holes cut out... helps with temp control, too.

Its a little dark out now.. hence the flashlight mod.

The firebox opening;



The side chamber baffle in place;


And the baffle removed;

[gharriger]

Originally Posted by BBQ Bandit

The baffle to the vertical chamber is a semi-circular plate with smaller holes cut out... helps with temp control, too.

Its a little dark out now.. hence the flashlight mod.

The firebox opening;



The side chamber baffle in place;


And the baffle removed;

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this! The pictures really help clear things up for me!.. That baffle design is very simple and seems like it would work well to keep temps down for colder smokes. The only question I have now concerns the chimney since I won't be using a reverse flow design. Should all of the smoke and heat have to flow through both cook chambers or should there be a chimney in each of them?

[BBQ Bandit]

One exhaust over the vertical chamber is plenty.
Was good enough for another familiar vertical offset... the Bandera

[gharriger]

The more I consider it, the more I realize that I don't need such a monster smoker so i'm considering eliminating the vertical cabinet portion from my build plans. This would eliminate a lot of weight so i could easily mount some wheels and roll the pit around my porch as needed. The only reason I was planning to add the vertical cabinet was for the colder temperatures that can be achieved. I smoke quite a bit of deer, elk and bear jerky and quite a bit of kokanee and salmon (always in an electric smoker in the past) which is all done in pretty "cold" smoke. How low will I be able to keep the temperature in a 5/16 X 2 6X 48 offset pit? Will I be able to do jerky and fish in the horizontal chamber or should I go ahead and build the vertical cabinet as originally planned? I could always just make the vertical cabinet fairly small too.

[1MoreFord]

Originally Posted by gharriger

Hey guys, a couple questions for ya:

1) If I decide to add a vertical cabinet smoker on the end of my horizontal chamber for colder smoking / warming, do I need to calculate the volume of the vertical cabinet in when figuring firebox opening and exhaust sizes?

YES!

2) Is it best to have the chimney come off the top of the vertical cabinet or somewhere lower?

Off the top or at the very top of the side of the upright.

3) How big should the opening between the horizontal and vertical chambers be?

At least as big as the opening from the firebox to the horizontal chamber.

You have to consider the complete rig when doing calculations.