Reverse Flow Offset Question

hossrocks · 02-26-2011, 09:52 PM

Hey Gang, i bought a reverse flow offset pit from a friend in need. I have used it twice and wasn't very happy with it. I can't get the temps up over 190 at the far end. So it has sat and collected rust for the last year. My concessions/catering biz is picking up and I'm faced with either buying a new pellet pooper or reworking the monster in my backyard to do what I need it to do.

I have read that there is a spreadsheet telling me what size of firebox to have with the smoking chamber. Where can I find that?

What I have it a smoking chamber that is 72" x 30". There baffle plate is solid from the firebox to about 10" from the front of the chamber. It has a 6" stack on it. Pics that I have are below. I will take and post tomorrow.

I would rather fix this and get a guru to keep the temp over night than buy another cooker.
Any help on this would be awesome.

<a href="http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...claysmoker.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...claysmoker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...ysmoker2-1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...ysmoker2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

D.F. Expat · 02-26-2011, 10:32 PM

D.F. Expat · 02-26-2011, 10:33 PM

Nice looking rig!

Q-Dat · 02-27-2011, 01:15 AM

What are you using for fuel?

gtr · 02-27-2011, 01:34 AM

Are you keeping all your vents all the way open?

CarolinaQue · 02-27-2011, 04:12 AM

That fire box looks plenty big to me. Are you doing the open doors 20 to 30 minutes and then 2 hour preheat?

NRA4Life · 02-27-2011, 07:00 AM

That is a nice looking cooker and the dimensions are similar (slightly longer but narrower) to what I use. I'd think it would get hotter than 190. What are you measuring the temp with, where are you measuring it at, and are you sure of the accuracy of your temp measuring device? My cooker is insulated, try throwing a welding blanket over it, and make sure you are keeping it out of the wind or blocking the wind. That is what lead me to insulate mine.

jestridge · 02-27-2011, 08:03 AM

Nice looking smoker, it hard to tell without knowing what type of plates you have diverting the heat also what type of fuel you using? It should be easy to get working just some minor adjustments

Lake Dogs · 02-27-2011, 08:23 AM

it appears to be a fairly quality smoker to me. You may not have enough vents in
the fire box. Also, when you say not above 190, are you using the thermometer that
is in the picture (outside therm)? If so, those are notoriously OFF by 50 degrees or
more. Get a couple to 3 oven thermometers from WallyWorld cheap; they work great.
I have a good sized Lang that appears to be very similar to yours. The main thing is
getting and keeping a hot clean fire. On mine we generally keep the vents at 1/2,
but we have at least twice as many as yours has, so you might keep your vents
wide open.

hossrocks · 02-27-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtr

Are you keeping all your vents all the way open?

yep the vents are wide open all the time. There are vents on either side of the firebox.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarolinaQue

That fire box looks plenty big to me. Are you doing the open doors 20 to 30 minutes and then 2 hour preheat?

Typically I will open it up get the fire rolling and then let it come up. Never waited that long however.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NRA4Life

That is a nice looking cooker and the dimensions are similar (slightly longer but narrower) to what I use. I'd think it would get hotter than 190. What are you measuring the temp with, where are you measuring it at, and are you sure of the accuracy of your temp measuring device? My cooker is insulated, try throwing a welding blanket over it, and make sure you are keeping it out of the wind or blocking the wind. That is what lead me to insulate mine.

We have not used it in the winter months yet. Blankets rock. Used them a few time on my old brinkman.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake Dogs

it appears to be a fairly quality smoker to me. You may not have enough vents in
the fire box. Also, when you say not above 190, are you using the thermometer that
is in the picture (outside therm)? If so, those are notoriously OFF by 50 degrees or
more. Get a couple to 3 oven thermometers from WallyWorld cheap; they work great.
I have a good sized Lang that appears to be very similar to yours. The main thing is
getting and keeping a hot clean fire. On mine we generally keep the vents at 1/2,
but we have at least twice as many as yours has, so you might keep your vents
wide open.

Thanks, this was sold to me as a lang clone. I have never used the thermo on the door. I use the probe thermos from Bed Bath and Beyond. Stick'em through a sliced potato at grate level and we put one at each end of the cooker. There are two vents on the box. One on each side. and we have to keep them wide open to hold 190.

BTW, we are using apple wood as our fuel. I'll post more pics today of the fire box and interior of the cooker.

Thanks again for all the advice.

hossrocks · 02-27-2011, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jestridge

Nice looking smoker, it hard to tell without knowing what type of plates you have diverting the heat also what type of fuel you using? It should be easy to get working just some minor adjustments

I'll snap some shots of the interior and the plate.

jestridge · 02-27-2011, 03:02 PM

Apple wood I hate it I can never get good heat out of it try some hickory that will tell the story

Willie's Smokehouse · 02-27-2011, 03:49 PM

http://webpages.charter.net/tomchism...alculators.htm

Here is a link to a spreadsheet to calculate firebox size, hopes this helps

Lake Dogs · 02-27-2011, 03:53 PM

If vents are wide open, I suggest mixing in charcoal and perhaps a good either hickory
or oak. It's going to be tough to get 'er hot enough on just apple.... Not soaking the
wood, right? You need a really good clean burning hot fire. Also, on a cooker this large,
it's going to take a good 45 minutes minimum to come up to temperature, but probably
more like an hour to 1:15 or 1:30. We're usually right at our send dump of wood/charcoal
when we put the meat on, just after an hour. It'll come up to temps in 55+- minutes,
but it wont settle in for another 15 minutes (meaning, hot or cold spots, etc).

hossrocks · 02-27-2011, 04:37 PM

Here are some pics of what I have:

The current firebox

The vents. One of these on each side.

Opening from the firebox to the smoking chamber.

Tuning Plate

Tuning Plate again

02-26-2011, 09:52 PM	#1
hossrocks On the road to being a farker Join Date: 09-26-06 Location: Kuna, Idaho	Reverse Flow Offset Question Hey Gang, i bought a reverse flow offset pit from a friend in need. I have used it twice and wasn't very happy with it. I can't get the temps up over 190 at the far end. So it has sat and collected rust for the last year. My concessions/catering biz is picking up and I'm faced with either buying a new pellet pooper or reworking the monster in my backyard to do what I need it to do. I have read that there is a spreadsheet telling me what size of firebox to have with the smoking chamber. Where can I find that? What I have it a smoking chamber that is 72" x 30". There baffle plate is solid from the firebox to about 10" from the front of the chamber. It has a 6" stack on it. Pics that I have are below. I will take and post tomorrow. I would rather fix this and get a guru to keep the temp over night than buy another cooker. Any help on this would be awesome. <a href="http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...claysmoker.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...claysmoker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...ysmoker2-1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...ysmoker2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> __________________ Hoss [B]Big Daddy's BBQ[/B] [B]Concessions and Catering[/B] [B]Kuna, ID[/B] [URL="http://www.bigdaddysbbqonline.com"]www.bigdaddysbbqonline.com[/URL] Louisiana Grill - Whole Hog Traeger 150 30x72 Reverse Flow Offset 16ft Wells Cargo Mobile Kitchen 12ft Full service Mobile Kitchen

02-26-2011, 10:32 PM	#2
D.F. Expat Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 04-26-07 Location: Mexico City	__________________ Stoked UDS 2.0 and OTS Formerly known as Smokin Newbie

02-26-2011, 10:33 PM	#3
D.F. Expat Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 04-26-07 Location: Mexico City	Nice looking rig! __________________ Stoked UDS 2.0 and OTS Formerly known as Smokin Newbie

02-27-2011, 01:34 AM	#5
gtr somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 10-16-10 Location: Culver City, CA	Are you keeping all your vents all the way open? __________________ 50" Klose BYC, Spitjack XB85, 22.5 WSM, Backwoods Chubby, UDS, WRK, 26" & 22.5" Weber Kettles, Jumbo Joe, WGA, WSJ/MUDS, Kanka Grill, a piece of expanded metal I throw over the fire pit sometimes, Stealthy Black & Vol Orange Thermapens Displaced East Tennesseean Proud recipient of a Tick Former outlaw MOINK baller, now IMBAS Certified, but still lookin' over my shoulder. "Relax, it's only BBQ." - Bigmista, 2013 "Don't worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one." - Miles Davis Avatar by my son! WTFWGALD?

02-27-2011, 07:00 AM	#7
NRA4Life is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-07-09 Location: Newark, OH	That is a nice looking cooker and the dimensions are similar (slightly longer but narrower) to what I use. I'd think it would get hotter than 190. What are you measuring the temp with, where are you measuring it at, and are you sure of the accuracy of your temp measuring device? My cooker is insulated, try throwing a welding blanket over it, and make sure you are keeping it out of the wind or blocking the wind. That is what lead me to insulate mine. __________________ - [B]Kevin[/B] Team: [B]Smitty's Real Pit BBQ[/B] KCBS CBJ [B]Superior SS-3[/B] - Courtesy of Gainesville Jaycees and Superior Smokers Custom Built Reverse Flow Stickburner [B]Weber[/B] 22.5" WSM [B]Weber[/B] 26.75" OTG [B]Weber[/B] Blue 2000 Stainless Performer [B]Weber[/B] Red 1998 Stainless Performer

02-27-2011, 01:15 AM	#4
Q-Dat Babbling Farker Join Date: 12-03-08 Location: Pearl River LA	What are you using for fuel?

02-27-2011, 04:12 AM	#6
CarolinaQue is Blowin Smoke! Join Date: 06-23-07 Location: North Berwick, ME	That fire box looks plenty big to me. Are you doing the open doors 20 to 30 minutes and then 2 hour preheat?

02-27-2011, 08:03 AM	#8
jestridge somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 12-28-07 Location: annville ky	Nice looking smoker, it hard to tell without knowing what type of plates you have diverting the heat also what type of fuel you using? It should be easy to get working just some minor adjustments

02-27-2011, 08:23 AM	#9
Lake Dogs Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Lake Sinclair, GA Name/Nickname : Hance	it appears to be a fairly quality smoker to me. You may not have enough vents in the fire box. Also, when you say not above 190, are you using the thermometer that is in the picture (outside therm)? If so, those are notoriously OFF by 50 degrees or more. Get a couple to 3 oven thermometers from WallyWorld cheap; they work great. I have a good sized Lang that appears to be very similar to yours. The main thing is getting and keeping a hot clean fire. On mine we generally keep the vents at 1/2, but we have at least twice as many as yours has, so you might keep your vents wide open. __________________ Hance - MiM/MBN/GBA CBJ and comp cook Lake Sinclair, GA (strategically about an hour from darn near anywhere) My competition daze are probably behind me now; I pretty much cook for family, friends, and frankly the peace and solitude I get from smokin' on an offset... Was Lang 84DX, now Bubba Grills 250R and many Weber grills

02-27-2011, 03:02 PM	#12
jestridge somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 12-28-07 Location: annville ky	Apple wood I hate it I can never get good heat out of it try some hickory that will tell the story

02-27-2011, 03:49 PM	#13
Willie's Smokehouse On the road to being a farker Join Date: 12-04-09 Location: Brandon,Fl	http://webpages.charter.net/tomchism...alculators.htm Here is a link to a spreadsheet to calculate firebox size, hopes this helps

02-27-2011, 03:53 PM	#14
Lake Dogs Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Lake Sinclair, GA Name/Nickname : Hance	If vents are wide open, I suggest mixing in charcoal and perhaps a good either hickory or oak. It's going to be tough to get 'er hot enough on just apple.... Not soaking the wood, right? You need a really good clean burning hot fire. Also, on a cooker this large, it's going to take a good 45 minutes minimum to come up to temperature, but probably more like an hour to 1:15 or 1:30. We're usually right at our send dump of wood/charcoal when we put the meat on, just after an hour. It'll come up to temps in 55+- minutes, but it wont settle in for another 15 minutes (meaning, hot or cold spots, etc). __________________ Hance - MiM/MBN/GBA CBJ and comp cook Lake Sinclair, GA (strategically about an hour from darn near anywhere) My competition daze are probably behind me now; I pretty much cook for family, friends, and frankly the peace and solitude I get from smokin' on an offset... Was Lang 84DX, now Bubba Grills 250R and many Weber grills

02-27-2011, 04:37 PM	#15
hossrocks On the road to being a farker Join Date: 09-26-06 Location: Kuna, Idaho	Here are some pics of what I have: The current firebox The vents. One of these on each side. Opening from the firebox to the smoking chamber. Tuning Plate Tuning Plate again __________________ Hoss [B]Big Daddy's BBQ[/B] [B]Concessions and Catering[/B] [B]Kuna, ID[/B] [URL="http://www.bigdaddysbbqonline.com"]www.bigdaddysbbqonline.com[/URL] Louisiana Grill - Whole Hog Traeger 150 30x72 Reverse Flow Offset 16ft Wells Cargo Mobile Kitchen 12ft Full service Mobile Kitchen

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