William Cannon
Found some matches.
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2011
- Location
- ATX
I did my first smoke with my modified 16” New Braunfels Hondo COS earlier this week and I wanted to get your feedback on my mods and my first cooking experience. I understand these are hard to learn on, they use a ton of fuel and that I should have made a UDS or bought a WSM. However, my wife will not go near a smoker if it looks anything remotely like an ECB (where I cut my teeth) and I want her to be able to help out. In any case, I’ve made my bed, so now I just need to make the best of it.
The Mods:
· Dual grate level thermometers
· Sealed the lids with RTV silicon (mostly sealed – still tiny cracks in the smoke chamber on the far side).
· Mostly sealed the firebox side door with aluminum flashing and RTV caulk (the bottom hasn't been sealed because it’s curved). No pic.
· Lowered the smoke stack
· 22 gauge steel baffle covering the bottom half of the opening, which angles down to the bottom and extends 12 inches. Note: there is a piece of junk metal in the pick, which is not normally there.
· 10 gauge steel tuning plates (which sit about two inches from the grate). I have a variety of 4" and 6" plates that can cover more than the entire area if needed.
· 4 Bricks wrapped in foil
· Waterpan next to the smoke stack. No pic.
· 10”x10”x6” expanded steel coal basket with 2 snake/maze plates made of left over 22 gauge steel.
note: the pic above was from a walk through/seasoning burn.
The Maiden Voyage:
Horizontal Modified Minion: I loaded the firebox with Kingsford regular charcoal except for a gap near the chamber side where I put in the hot charcoals. A 7lbs brisket went on the firebox side of the smoke chamber and 3lbs chicken went in the middle at hour #4. The smoke stack was fully open, and the breeze was swirling but mainly blowing from firebox to smoke stack.
Issue #1: Getting the temp up to 225
At the beginning, I had issues getting the firebox side of the smoke chamber over 170. With a fan, I was able to get it to 240, but it would not hold. If I left the firebox vent fully open, it would stay around 170. If I closed it 3/4s, it would go up marginally beyond that. After messing with the airflow, I opened the gaps between the tuning plates. That didn’t help enough. Then I took out the tuning plates. No dice. Then I pulled the baffle up so it would allow more heat to pass through. That got the firebox side of the chamber up to 225.
Possible Causes?:
Again, the burn in the pic was from a walk through/seasoning.
Issue #2: The right side of the smoker was 20-25 degrees lower on the smoke stack side.
I took out the tuning plates completely on the right side right side after creating large gaps didn’t do anything. Then, I took out the 4 bricks on the smoke stack side, thinking it was blocking air flow. I moved the water pan to the middle of the smoke chamber thinking the evaporation was cooling it.
Possible Causes?:
For reference, at hour #4 I raked most of the hot coals to one end of the basket and reloaded the coal. I can only assume the firebox was significantly hotter (duh). I ended up putting the tuning plates back in on the firebox side and that helped cool things by 10-15 degrees, coincidentally that also closed the temp difference between the firebox side and the smoke stack side. There weren’t many coals left, but it got pretty dang windy and where the wind started blowing consistently from firebox side to smoke stack side.
Possible Causes?:
I realize there will be a learning curve but I also read a ton on the modifications to lead me to believe they can work. I just got the fiberglass rope in the mail, so now I can finish sealing up the firebox. I really like the idea of tuning plates so I think I’m going to shorten the baffle or drill some holes in it. If I’m going to shorten it, I need to do it this afternoon since I borrowed an angle grinder that I need to give back.
Are any of the modifications are working against me or against each other?
Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
WC
The Mods:
· Dual grate level thermometers
· Sealed the lids with RTV silicon (mostly sealed – still tiny cracks in the smoke chamber on the far side).
· Mostly sealed the firebox side door with aluminum flashing and RTV caulk (the bottom hasn't been sealed because it’s curved). No pic.
· Lowered the smoke stack
· 22 gauge steel baffle covering the bottom half of the opening, which angles down to the bottom and extends 12 inches. Note: there is a piece of junk metal in the pick, which is not normally there.
· 10 gauge steel tuning plates (which sit about two inches from the grate). I have a variety of 4" and 6" plates that can cover more than the entire area if needed.
· 4 Bricks wrapped in foil
· Waterpan next to the smoke stack. No pic.
· 10”x10”x6” expanded steel coal basket with 2 snake/maze plates made of left over 22 gauge steel.
note: the pic above was from a walk through/seasoning burn.
The Maiden Voyage:
Horizontal Modified Minion: I loaded the firebox with Kingsford regular charcoal except for a gap near the chamber side where I put in the hot charcoals. A 7lbs brisket went on the firebox side of the smoke chamber and 3lbs chicken went in the middle at hour #4. The smoke stack was fully open, and the breeze was swirling but mainly blowing from firebox to smoke stack.
Issue #1: Getting the temp up to 225
At the beginning, I had issues getting the firebox side of the smoke chamber over 170. With a fan, I was able to get it to 240, but it would not hold. If I left the firebox vent fully open, it would stay around 170. If I closed it 3/4s, it would go up marginally beyond that. After messing with the airflow, I opened the gaps between the tuning plates. That didn’t help enough. Then I took out the tuning plates. No dice. Then I pulled the baffle up so it would allow more heat to pass through. That got the firebox side of the chamber up to 225.
Possible Causes?:
- When I dumped in the hot charcoal, I don’t believe it was hot enough?
- Is my baffle too long?
- Does my baffle cover too much? It covers ½ the hole
- Tuning plates won’t work with my smoker?
Issue #2: The right side of the smoker was 20-25 degrees lower on the smoke stack side.
I took out the tuning plates completely on the right side right side after creating large gaps didn’t do anything. Then, I took out the 4 bricks on the smoke stack side, thinking it was blocking air flow. I moved the water pan to the middle of the smoke chamber thinking the evaporation was cooling it.
Possible Causes?:
- Hell if I know, but ultimately it seems that I need to get more heat to the smoke chamber while tuning it down on the firebox side.
For reference, at hour #4 I raked most of the hot coals to one end of the basket and reloaded the coal. I can only assume the firebox was significantly hotter (duh). I ended up putting the tuning plates back in on the firebox side and that helped cool things by 10-15 degrees, coincidentally that also closed the temp difference between the firebox side and the smoke stack side. There weren’t many coals left, but it got pretty dang windy and where the wind started blowing consistently from firebox side to smoke stack side.
Possible Causes?:
- The wind was strong enough to get through the ¼” gap at the bottom of the side firebox door and through gap on the latch.
- The fire didn’t burn around the maze since I couldn’t rake 3 or 4 small hot coals before dumping in more Kingsford. The basket was too hot for garden gloves. :icon_blush:
I realize there will be a learning curve but I also read a ton on the modifications to lead me to believe they can work. I just got the fiberglass rope in the mail, so now I can finish sealing up the firebox. I really like the idea of tuning plates so I think I’m going to shorten the baffle or drill some holes in it. If I’m going to shorten it, I need to do it this afternoon since I borrowed an angle grinder that I need to give back.
Are any of the modifications are working against me or against each other?
Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
WC