New custom vertical build; we would appreciate the Brethrens’ experienced and candid input

[SmittyJonz]

Yup snake in my converted cabinet can only be 2-3 briquette deep or it gets too hot-

So how about now?

 

[dwfisk]

Yup snake in my converted cabinet can only be 2-3 briquette deep or it gets too hot-

So how about now?

Once I got the damper set (almost closed) and quit fooling with the door (bacon in, bacon out, etc) it settled right in at about 250* and I let it run without touching it for 3 hours. Burned up a bunch of fuel making the seasoning run up to 400* but once I got it settled in at 300* down to 250* the fuel consumption got back to a more normal rate. I just shut all the dampers to see how long it takes to kill the fire so the client can pick it up in a couple hours. I'll still post a summary of the whole burn later this evening, but this is gonna be a cool cooker.

 

[landarc]

Every charcoal cooker has a preferred way of burning and even the charcoal itself varies. I suspect that in the long run, an extra baffle, and even a metal one, will be the better resolution for the design. I think because you did the seasoning burn, your perceptpion of fuel use may have been skewed early on. How about ash? That will be interesting to see.

It is sounding like quite a cooker.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Where's the Live Action pics? Did the door Seal well? Did you toss on a fattie? :twitch:

 

[dwfisk]

Where's the Live Action pics? Did the door Seal well? Did you toss on a fattie? :twitch:

Just loaded it out to the new owner, my sons are delivering it as I type. Uploading pics to PhotoBucket now. Yes the doors sealed very well, sent the gasket material home with the new owner if he needs it. Not a fattie, put some thick sliced bacon on each grate to test temp distribution. Update soon.

 

[TexasRT]

Very nice build, looks great.

 

[dwfisk]

Update - first run & seasoning

Here is the promised update. Thanks for all the "live action" input throughout the day. Weather cooperated, it actually made it into the low 70's.

The Tru-Tel and iGrill at about the same level, oven thermos on the upper and lower grates.

Charcoal in the fire basket.

Let me just say I'm not a pro at cooking with charcoal in a smoker or the snake method. In this layout, the snake is about 5" wide X 5 " high, way too big and had way to much charcoal burning hot at one time. It worked OK for a seasoning burn to get to the higher temps, but I think something like this layout and only 3 or so briquettes deep would work much better for cooking.

Anyhow, fired it up from a cold start with intake damper and exhaust dampers wide open at 9:30 this morning. It heated up to 400* in about and hour and 10 minutes, then I started controlling the intake damper, first to 50% and the temperature stopped increasing immediately, like within 2 minutes. Here are a couple screen shots of the iGrill graphical output that cover pretty much the whole cook. The cooker is very responsive to intake damper adjustments, the exhaust is open the whole time.

Added bacon to the cooking grates at about the 11:45 mark to get an idea of the temp distribution. You can see the temp fluctuation as I fooled around opening and closing the door to check on the bacon, I guess I'm impressed at how quickly and consistently the temps recovered each time.

The bottom cooking rack was running about 20* hotter that the middle and upper racks (they were about the same) so the bacon on the lowest racks finished in 30 minutes, the other 2 racks 15 minutes later, just in time for lunch.

Once the bacon was off I just left the door closed and the intake damper alone. Here is a shot of the intake damper setting, almost closed.

It settled in to about 255* for a little over 3 hours and I think it would have cruised along this way until it ran out of fuel, but at about 3:00 PM I shut down the dampers to kill the fire so it would cook down in time to get cleaned up for delivery.

So, bottom line seems like it will be easy to manage for a variety of cooking temperatures, easily adjusting anywhere between 225* and 350*. It reacts very quickly to input damper control. I'm better at cooking with wood and feel comfortable it will be pretty easy to manage a wood fire and with a little experimentation it looks like we can expect 8-10 hours (maybe more) out of a properly sized charcoal "snake". All in all, it is going to make a damn fine cooker. It was delivered to the new owner about an hour ago and he seems pretty excited with his new toy.

Thanks for watching.

 

[SmittyJonz]

So are the doors gasketed ? I like the Antler handles.

 

[dwfisk]

So are the doors gasketed ? I like the Antler handles.

No, they are not. I intended installing 3/4"X1/8" gaskets, but the doors did not leak so I did not put the gaskets on. I sent the gasket material out with the cooker so the owner can add them if he wants (or I can go put them on for him).

 

[THoey1963]

The only bad thing about this is that you are in Florida, not Texas. Otherwise, we might have to have a little talk...

Nice looking rig and sounds like it burns great...

 

[TuscaloosaQ]

brother again I really like it and have been wanting to build me another vertical cooker since my hit the dump last summer... I have no desire to insulate mine either....... looks really nice Dave!!!!!!!!

 

[Diesel Dave]

Well it seems like you really nailed it there Dave!!!!!!
Temp control and recovery are really important, nice to see they are both there with this cooker.
You and your boys did a great job, not only does it cook good it looks good too :thumb:

Good luck in your venture to get these on the market

 

[dwfisk]

The only bad thing about this is that you are in Florida, not Texas. Otherwise, we might have to have a little talk...

Nice looking rig and sounds like it burns great...

Sent you a PM, you have a Brethren nearby in Tuscola that does great custom builds.

brother again I really like it and have been wanting to build me another vertical cooker since my hit the dump last summer... I have no desire to insulate mine either....... looks really nice Dave!!!!!!!!

Thanks Paul, I'm getting to really like these verticals, big cook area for minimal footprint and they cook good too.

Well it seems like you really nailed it there Dave!!!!!!
Temp control and recovery are really important, nice to see they are both there with this cooker.
You and your boys did a great job, not only does it cook good it looks good too :thumb:

Good luck in your venture to get these on the market

Thanks Dave, we will see about developing a real business. I thought I was retired and not sure about jumping in, but I really like the challenge of designing and building with steel, especially stuff to help out here on the farm and cookers. Probably just keep doing custom work for now but who knows.

 

[64Driver]

I'm not a vertical guy, but that is a sweet looking rig! Love the antler handles...

How do you like the iGrill? I ordered one for myself last month as a Christmas present, but it said there is a 6 week wait before it's delivered

 

[dwfisk]

I'm not a vertical guy, but that is a sweet looking rig! Love the antler handles...

How do you like the iGrill? I ordered one for myself last month as a Christmas present, but it said there is a 6 week wait before it's delivered

My first love is still my big horizontal RF offset, but these verticals really fit the bill nicely when someone wants max cooking real estate with minimum footprint and mobility without a trailer.

I really like the iGrill. I guess I was an early adopter and have had mine for almost 2 years now without any issues, just careful to not submerge the probes. It takes a while to figure out all the features but I really like being to have lower and upper alarms on both probes (you need to define your own presets to do this) and the data logging and download to a spreadsheet capability. I don'y have WiFi where I usually cook (yet) so the bluetooth is really my only option, it works good.

Edit: just saw you have one of TQ & Tyler's pits on order, man you are gonna love it!

 

[SmittyJonz]

DWFisk, do you see any advantage - cooking/ heat wise not rack ease -round body vertical vs sqaure body vertical.

 

[64Driver]

Thanks for the tips on the iGrill. I've read/seen others love them, and others hate them. It looks like something I would like, hence why I ordered it. My Maverick works great still, I will use the iGrill in conjunction with it, and also have it serve as a backup to it (or vice versa).

My SF won't be done for some time, as I am on the waiting list. But man, I can't wait! The good thing about having the wait is I get an opportunity to try and save more money to add a few more customizations on it before the build starts. She's gonna be perrty!

 

[dwfisk]

DWFisk, do you see any advantage - cooking/ heat wise not rack ease -round body vertical vs sqaure body vertical.

No, I don't think so. This cooker seemed to hold heat better than Kyle's but I'm sure that is due to the steel thickness, this one is 1/8" (11 ga), probably 2-3 times thicker than Kyle's. That should also mean it is more fuel effecient but my guess is a 1/8" round tank vertical would be equivalent on both counts.

One caution that really became obvious with this build: 1/8" plate is about 5 pounds per square foot and 1/4" about 10 pounds per square foot (duh); these things can get heavy quick if you are thinking of a cooker to move around by hand.

 

[BigHatBBQ]

I assure you this smoker will be extremely efficient and will serve your buddy for many years. I build and offset vertical (3/16") and only do so because it provides you a nice direct grilling option when you're not smoking, otherwise I would put the firebox underneath. I have recently created a small uninsulated "vault" style (11 gauge) that is very similar to your design here and it is a great alternative to the throw away $199 gas and electric smoker boxes. I laser cut and use computerized hydraulics to form almost every piece of my smokers. What you have done mostly by hand with little equipment should be very rewarding. In my opinion if you don't need the "grill" and are just smoking, there is nothing better than a vertical style box. Enjoyed your post, thanks.

 

[landarc]

Dave, that thing looks like it cooked great and ran very nicely. Certainly seems like a hit, get a manufacturing efficiency or two in there, and you have a nice business.