View Full Version : Jacks Old South cooker
anyone ever cook on one?... I did a couple weeks ago (was there when the owner did) and it was pretty good. Im thinking of building something similar and wanted thoughts and input on the pros and cons to this style of smoker... any info or thoughts would help... thanks.
RixCue
03-11-2010, 07:34 PM
It would be nice to see the water pan , how much it holds "water".
gtsum
03-11-2010, 07:35 PM
It looks like a good cooker and the results obviously speak for themselves but the metal seems a little thin...as evidenced by watching them cook on them on the tlc show..I wonder how it would do in windy or rainy weather?
RixCue
03-11-2010, 07:42 PM
On one of the "Pit masters " I saw MM put a blanket over the smoker to help hold heat .
the water pan holds about 8 gallons.. I would make it a bit bigger... the steel is 3/16th which is about 6 gauge. When I watched it the other week it held 300 real easy.. though he had a blanket on it... it was the same put used in the rib shoot out at triggs place... as in THAT pit brought back here.
jonboy
03-11-2010, 08:04 PM
This pit is designed for hot and fast style cooking IMHO.
If you live in an area where weather is not a factor it might be a good choice.
If the weather is cold and rainy i would consider insulating the cooker.
I am not sure how insulated cookers hold up to high heats and temps.
jon
WineMaster
03-11-2010, 08:40 PM
This pit is designed for hot and fast style cooking IMHO.
If you live in an area where weather is not a factor it might be a good choice.
If the weather is cold and rainy i would consider insulating the cooker.
I am not sure how insulated cookers hold up to high heats and temps.
jon
I agree 100%. Its a great Georgia cooker but we just went from November to March never getting above 40 degrees. Most of it below 25. I think a person would fight that cooker in our neck of the woods. I really like them though. His bigger cookers are insulated.
Dan
wheelterrapin
03-11-2010, 08:46 PM
During the last school a couple of weeks ago I went out early Sunday morning, around 4:30 AM and set with Nick, Myron's number one man who does the fire maintenance on the pits and after watching and observing for several hours here is some conclusions I reached:
(1) These pits require a lot of fire maintenace. If they run out of water you will immediately know it as you will get the burnt metal smell.
(2) Every time you add water the temperature plummets and you have to really stoke the fire to get it back up to temperature. To be fair I must say that the temperature was freezing and even one time the hose Nick was using to add water to the pit froze up at the nozzel. This resulted in freezing water going into the water pan which is going to quickly drop the temperature.
(3) Since incoming water temperature seems to be critical it would seem prudent to me to have the water pre-heated before adding to the pit. Again, I want to state that the outside temperature was at freezing and I would assume most of us would not be doing a lot of cooking in freezing weather so this issue may only rear it's ugly head during freezing weather.
(4) Nick also placed a heavy "Mover's Blanket" on top of the pit to help insulate it from the cold and maintain heat.
Nick and Myron are continuoulsy looking for ways to improve the handling and performance of these pits and they have more improvements planned according to Nick.
All this being said it is no different than any other Pit in that all of them have their own little quirks that have to be overcome. I would be proud to own one of these pits and if I ever get the extra cash I will own one.
Just my 2-cents worth.
Paul
This pit is designed for hot and fast style cooking IMHO.
If you live in an area where weather is not a factor it might be a good choice.
If the weather is cold and rainy i would consider insulating the cooker.
I am not sure how insulated cookers hold up to high heats and temps.
jon
Does anyone have any other pics of this thing? or have one that they use?
TWISTED PIG
03-12-2010, 12:09 PM
I have two clones of the Lang, a Patio 48, and a 108 Deluxe, I am now thinking about building a Hog Cooker using the Jacks Old South concept ( the fire box directly under the under the cooking chamber). I could use some detailed photos of his cookers, including the waterpan, inside the firebox, and cooking chamber.
Big Mike's BBQ
03-12-2010, 12:17 PM
(2) Every time you add water the temperature plummets and you have to really stoke the fire to get it back up to temperature. To be fair I must say that the temperature was freezing and even one time the hose Nick was using to add water to the pit froze up at the nozzel. This resulted in freezing water going into the water pan which is going to quickly drop the temperature.
(3) Since incoming water temperature seems to be critical it would seem prudent to me to have the water pre-heated before adding to the pit. Again, I want to state that the outside temperature was at freezing and I would assume most of us would not be doing a lot of cooking in freezing weather so this issue may only rear it's ugly head during freezing weather.
Paul
I use a backwoods and have had the same problem, the simple solution is add an automatic fill on the water, that way you are only adding about a pint(or less) of water at a time. This does not drop the temps. I made mine with PVC and 5 gallon water jug (like the Culligan Man sells) works great. I hooked mine up to the drain valve, not sure if that would work on this pit hard to tell in the pictures.
Big Mike
I use a backwoods and have had the same problem, the simple solution is add an automatic fill on the water, that way you are only adding about a pint(or less) of water at a time. This does not drop the temps. I made mine with PVC and 5 gallon water jug (like the Culligan Man sells) works great. I hooked mine up to the drain valve, not sure if that would work on this pit hard to tell in the pictures.
Big Mike
my thought was like yours.. i was going to add a spigot and drip feed the cooker at the same rate it evaporates. This would keep temps even Im thinking... I too am looking for a pic or drawing of the waterpan...
Big Mike's BBQ
03-12-2010, 12:28 PM
my thought was like yours.. i was going to add a spigot and drip feed the cooker at the same rate it evaporates. This would keep temps even Im thinking... I too am looking for a pic or drawing of the waterpan...
That is going to be hard to do, your evaporation rate is going to vary depending on how hot the fire is and humidity of the surrounding air. Much easier to use the same idea that the water fountains that use the 5 gallon jugs use. I will try to figure out how to make a drawing of what I am talking about and post here. Or if someone else can help me explain or show how it works.
Big Mike
Big Mike's BBQ
03-12-2010, 12:39 PM
Sorry it did not work, maybe some else can post a picture of what I am talking about.
That is gonig to be hard to do, your evaporation rate is going to vary depending on how hot the fire is and humidity of the surrounding air. Much easier to the same idea that the water fountains that use the 5 gallon jugs use. I will try to figure out how to make a drawing of what I am talking about and post here. Or if someone else can help me explain or show how it works.
Big Mike
that would be great...
jonboy
03-12-2010, 01:01 PM
It would be easy to hook up a gravity fed, auto float- valve switch or a slow drip valve.
You could have container on top of smoker to preheat water also.
A fill inlet on side would be nice also for pre cook filling.
jon
It would be easy to hook up a gravity fed, auto float- valve switch or a slow drip valve.
You could have container on top of smoker to preheat water also.
A fill inlet on side would be nice also for pre cook filling.
jon
another good idea....since the water is boiling.. I wonder what type of float would be needed.. maybe the same type they use in a boiler... brass or whatever.
KC_Bobby
03-12-2010, 03:56 PM
I use a backwoods and have had the same problem, the simple solution is add an automatic fill on the water, that way you are only adding about a pint(or less) of water at a time. This does not drop the temps. I made mine with PVC and 5 gallon water jug (like the Culligan Man sells) works great. I hooked mine up to the drain valve, not sure if that would work on this pit hard to tell in the pictures.
Big Mike
I'm still waiting for you to build mine. :thumb:
AlabamaGrillBillies
03-12-2010, 04:48 PM
If you get one, do you automatically get a potty mouth like Myron?
h20loo
03-12-2010, 05:30 PM
This pit is designed for hot and fast style cooking IMHO.
If you live in an area where weather is not a factor it might be a good choice.
If the weather is cold and rainy i would consider insulating the cooker.
I am not sure how insulated cookers hold up to high heats and temps.
jon
I had a look at one last week and we came to the same opinion. A Spicewine would do me better:thumb:
shares
03-12-2010, 07:23 PM
another good idea....since the water is boiling.. I wonder what type of float would be needed.. maybe the same type they use in a boiler... brass or whatever.
Guys - think hummingbird feeder here.
Do demonstrate, take a bottle, like a Coke bottle, full of water, inverted and the bottle opening suspended in a bowel of water. The water doesn't come out of the bottle because air cannot get in.
Now remove some of the water from the bowel with a straw until the water level reaches the opening of the bottle. Air can now get in the bottle so water comes out. Water continues to come out until the opening of the bottle is again submerged and no more air can get into the bottle.
Simple?
Big Mike's BBQ
03-12-2010, 08:21 PM
I'm still waiting for you to build mine. :thumb:
I will build you one if Don lets me wear the crown!
Maybe I will give you my old one, I want to make a couple changes to it. Let me know when you are going to cooking up around here this year.
Big Mike
Big Mike's BBQ
03-12-2010, 08:27 PM
Guys - think hummingbird feeder here.
Do demonstrate, take a bottle, like a Coke bottle, full of water, inverted and the bottle opening suspended in a bowel of water. The water doesn't come out of the bottle because air cannot get in.
Now remove some of the water from the bowel with a straw until the water level reaches the opening of the bottle. Air can now get in the bottle so water comes out. Water continues to come out until the opening of the bottle is again submerged and no more air can get into the bottle.
Simple?
Thank you! that is what I wanted to say just could not think of how to explain it. It has been a long week. Now the only difference is that The bowl of water has a pipe coming out of it at the bottom and that pipe is connected to the water pan.
Another thing that I thought of is a water level. Take a clear tube and fill almost all the way with water. As long as the ends are the highest point the water will not come out. Move each end up and down and the water level stays the same. I go not have my cooker here but I will get a couple pics of my PVC set up and post tomorrow.
Big Mike
Guys - think hummingbird feeder here.
Do demonstrate, take a bottle, like a Coke bottle, full of water, inverted and the bottle opening suspended in a bowel of water. The water doesn't come out of the bottle because air cannot get in.
Now remove some of the water from the bowel with a straw until the water level reaches the opening of the bottle. Air can now get in the bottle so water comes out. Water continues to come out until the opening of the bottle is again submerged and no more air can get into the bottle.
Simple?
I like it... thank you.. and thanks Big Mike!
TWISTED PIG
03-16-2010, 10:40 AM
Just like the automatic dog watering bowls concept.
timmy7649
03-16-2010, 11:13 AM
so i agree i would love to see more pics in detail and maybe some measurements. i want to build one. i would love any help.
TWISTED PIG
03-17-2010, 12:22 PM
Anyone with pics?
Big Mike's BBQ
03-17-2010, 02:32 PM
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff72/bbq-brethren/P3170074.jpg
OK, first of all sorry that I did not get this done last weekend, computer problems first and then this is the first time I have ever posted pics here so I am not sure if it is going to work. But here goes.
This is a pic of my auto water system, my smoker is not here but I have a BWS with a fixed water pan, so I have a drain pipe coming out of the side that has an 1 1/4 inch valve that is threaded. This system threads on to that.
This is the PVC broken down a little more
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff72/bbq-brethren/P3170075.jpg
Here is the parts list that I used.
1 1/4 inch threaded to 1 1/2 coupling
1 1/2 inch 90
4 x 2 reducer
2 x 1 1/2 reducer
The reason I used the 1 1/2 was that I already had the 1 1/2 pipe. The trick is to get the upright piece to equal the level that you want in the water pan. I want to make another that uses a street 90 instead and put that directly into the reducers. I had to cut about 1/2 in off the water jug so it would fit down in the reducer.
Big Mike's BBQ
03-17-2010, 02:36 PM
OK, I have to practice more withthis posting pictures, but you get the idea of what I have here. The thing I like about this is that I can use the drain valve to control water going into the water pan. I usally run the cooker for a while before I dump in the water. I like to do this to get color on the butts and briskets. Then when I want to add water I can just open valve a little at time so the temp does not drop thru the basement.
Big Mike
SteevieG
03-17-2010, 02:37 PM
I was at a competition last week in Georgia where Myron was competing and I got a look at his pit. He has a hose hooked up to it and set to a trickle to keep a constant, albeit slow, flow into the pan. There were several other teams using his pits and, to the best of my memory, they all had hoses hooked up to them.
On a side note, I never saw him touch his pit. He had 3 guys doing all that for him while he was in his tented area prepping the meat or the turn-in boxes. I'm not saying he never touched it, just that in the couple of hours I was meandering around the contest I never saw him touch it.
TWISTED PIG
03-27-2010, 03:10 PM
Can somebody post some pics of what the inside of the cooker & firebox look like & any details that might be important if somebody were trying to build a clone. I want to build one, but have never seen one up close & personal.
big blue bbq
03-28-2010, 10:03 PM
I bought one of them from Myron back in October. I am still learning it and struggled at first to keep it up to temp. It is consistent in temperature from one side to the other and holds a ton of meat. I did 10 racks of baby backs, a 16 pound brisket and two 8 pound butts plus three half pans of chicken on the smoker all at the same time. You do have to throw the wood to it, but only for about 7 hours as opposed to 12 or 13 on a low and slow cook.
This had really good potential for a low and slow cooker if you want to use it as that. It is really easy to hold at 230 to 250.
vBulletin® v3.8.8, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2000-2024, The BBQ Brethren Inc. All Rights Reserved