Smoker Design Discussion

[fmboss429]

I have a question (forgive me, I know this is an extremely old thread), I can't seem to figure out a reason why more fire boxes are not located underneath the cooking chamber. I am designing my first smoker, and have somewhat of a hybrid design in mind. I am thinking a horizontal cooking chamber, that would measure 36" wide, 24" deep, and 24" tall. It will be a double wall smoker (with a possibility of insulating the body, should i need it) because I bought a cheap welder that can not handle thick gauge material. I would like to keep the footprint as small as possible so I figured that the firebox underneath just made sense. Here is where i get stuck:

Why do most manufactures place the fire box off to the side? Is there a drawback to having the firebox underneath the cooking chamber? (Also would i even need to insulate the cooking chamber if the firebox is directly underneath?)

Thank you for all the great info so far...

 

[Smokendink71]

Love my UDS but I sold it 2 days ago, so I guess I will be building a new one this weekend

 

[SmokyOkie]

I have a question (forgive me, I know this is an extremely old thread), I can't seem to figure out a reason why more fire boxes are not located underneath the cooking chamber. I am designing my first smoker, and have somewhat of a hybrid design in mind. I am thinking a horizontal cooking chamber, that would measure 36" wide, 24" deep, and 24" tall. It will be a double wall smoker (with a possibility of insulating the body, should i need it) because I bought a cheap welder that can not handle thick gauge material. I would like to keep the footprint as small as possible so I figured that the firebox underneath just made sense. Here is where i get stuck:

Why do most manufactures place the fire box off to the side? Is there a drawback to having the firebox underneath the cooking chamber? (Also would i even need to insulate the cooking chamber if the firebox is directly underneath?)

Thank you for all the great info so far...

JMO, but the first thought is that you will have a real problem designing something that would not have a big hot spot directly over the firebox.

Next thought is whether or not you want to be standing directly over the heat of the firebox every time you tend the meat.

 

[fmboss429]

Good input, Thank you...

 

[MilitantSquatter]

the offset design w/ side firebox that most people recognize gained a lot od popularity as a result of the abundance/availability of of steel pipe that was commonly found in Texas oil & gas industry... It was easy to weld two pieces of scrap cut pipe together this way with appropriate cut-outs and positioning...

 

[fmboss429]

Makes alot of sense...!

 

[luke duke]

 

[BigIndianSmoke]

Ray - I built a double barrel smoker and only have 50 hrs on it so far - but it's working great!! Here is a link to the album on my profile page, it shows the build - http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/album.php?albumid=322

There are two thermometers in the upper barrel and also have a wireless probe. Temperature regulation is quite easy if you put a valve in the small threaded port - adjust the valve to let in more or less air. I'll get some more pictures up from a recent smoke.

It's big advantage is that it allows wood to be added to the lower barrel without distrubing the meat.