evening out temps

birgey · 04-25-2014, 11:25 AM

So, I have the OKJoe Longhorn, and have seen several people talk about getting a tuning plate from Horizon (?) to help even out the temps. Well...i kinda rigged something different...

First off, lemme say that I've put a gasket seal around the smoke chamber, put clamps on it to clamp the door down,put an aluminum foil dryer vent inside the smoke chamber to lower the exhaust down to the grate level, and installed 2 River Country therms at the grate level on each side of the chamber. I leak a little (very little) smoke on the right side of my smoke chamber, and I leak a little around the firebox door....nothing major. I'm still thinking about seeing about a high temp gasket kit to try and seal up the firebox door (yeah, I'm a little anal about it). Anyway, on to the rest of the story...

I took a bag of ceramic lava rock, and put those in my grill. I burnt off any residue, then after they were cooled, I made a stack of them inside the smoke chamber right next to the firebox. The stack is as long as the opening is, and is almost half as tall as the opening. (sorry, I don't have pics.yet.). Since I've done this, I've noticed my temps on both sides of the grill are within 8-10 degrees of one another. Plus, it seems to hold heat a tad bit better as well.
The bag cost around $10, and it seems to have really helped,in case any one else wants to try and doesn't feel like dropping $100 for the plate (or like me and would probably screw it up if I tried to fabricate it myself).

-Birgey

04-25-2014, 11:25 AM	#1
birgey On the road to being a farker Join Date: 11-05-12 Location: glasgow,KY	evening out temps So, I have the OKJoe Longhorn, and have seen several people talk about getting a tuning plate from Horizon (?) to help even out the temps. Well...i kinda rigged something different... First off, lemme say that I've put a gasket seal around the smoke chamber, put clamps on it to clamp the door down,put an aluminum foil dryer vent inside the smoke chamber to lower the exhaust down to the grate level, and installed 2 River Country therms at the grate level on each side of the chamber. I leak a little (very little) smoke on the right side of my smoke chamber, and I leak a little around the firebox door....nothing major. I'm still thinking about seeing about a high temp gasket kit to try and seal up the firebox door (yeah, I'm a little anal about it). Anyway, on to the rest of the story... I took a bag of ceramic lava rock, and put those in my grill. I burnt off any residue, then after they were cooled, I made a stack of them inside the smoke chamber right next to the firebox. The stack is as long as the opening is, and is almost half as tall as the opening. (sorry, I don't have pics.yet.). Since I've done this, I've noticed my temps on both sides of the grill are within 8-10 degrees of one another. Plus, it seems to hold heat a tad bit better as well. The bag cost around $10, and it seems to have really helped,in case any one else wants to try and doesn't feel like dropping $100 for the plate (or like me and would probably screw it up if I tried to fabricate it myself). -Birgey __________________ "Ye shall offer a burnt offering,a sacrifice made by fire,a sweet savour unto the LORD"