Wow, that took a long time...

So, none of you remember, but I posted a build thread waaaaayyy back HERE...

Well, life got busy, and the smoker stayed 1/4 built until about a month ago. With some assistance from a fabricator buddy, we finally finished the smoker. I had some design issues pointed out to me in the original thread, but it was too far welded to change. Primarily the top load firebox. I did switch it to a hinged door instead of the slider.

I still need to do the draw calculation and cut the exhaust. It is shown here with test burning some walnut. smoke only coming out of the stack!

Tomorrow night I am going to fire her up with a couple of fatties and a 2lb slab of belly. Then in with both feet Friday with two butts and maybe a brisket. I'll post pics. Wish me luck!!

Giving credit where credit is due, the handle is by MartyLeach. It is by far the nicest piece of the unit!

The walnut was run with no meat in the cooker. Just a test burn. The 55gal drum is actually one drum cut and tacked inside the main drum making it double walled. I plan to load a few spots with firebrick. It has a duct running the length of the drum with thick tuning plates on top set up for transverse flow. that should help with thermal mass as well. We shall see!

Now with PrOn...

Ok, a little shy of halfway through the first cook. Still getting the hang of the fire control on this rig. But, I've been able to keep it between 215 and 235 with only a few drops when I got distracted. Sitting at 222 right now with a butt at 140, another at 138, and a brisket at 155. Oak and hickory with only wood (shorts split down to 3-4 inches around) added since the first chimney. Been preheating the splits on the firebox. Actually had a few go to flame up there! I put them in a chimney and smoked a Fuji apple over them. It is now the proud component of a smoked fuji apple bourbon sauce.

I snapped this pic while I had the door open to throw in a basket of jalapenos.