Stepping up a hand me down

So my grandfather passed last year and my grandma calls me and says: "Do you want grandpas old smoker/grill?" Well sure I do, I'll come get 'er! Well after going to get this behemoth and transporting it home I start contemplating if I should have or not! It is obviously a one off home built cooker, and she does fantastic as a grill. However on the smoking side of things its a little hard to manage. The offset "firebox" (if you will) is only 6-8" round and the only way to control air flow in is the door that is hinged at the top, no real way of dialing it in. I don't really remember watching grandpa cook on this thing but I do remember eating the food from it and it was amazing. I just don't get how he did it! My method is to lay down a small bed of coals on the grate that slides in and out from the firebox and then once they are going good I lay splits on top to gain my fire. While this method works it is very tedious and requires constant tending. So my question is: How can I fix this? My thought was to cut the firebox off and weld a larger, square box with a coal basket and hinged lid to gain easier access. I just hate to destroy what my grandpa built but i also would like to make this thing a little more user friendly. Thoughts, Ideas?

SmittyJonz said:

:thumb:

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Does that mean you agree with my assessment Smitty?

ironmanerik said:

Maybe the small firebox was for cold smoking.

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Dont think so. He smoked some awesome briskets and ribs on this thing! I just wished I had watched more intently at the time!

JEStucker said:

I don't think it's even a firebox... I think it's more of a draft tunnel... like he'd maybe build his fire in the grill itself, then move the coals in front of the pipe so he could draw air across them and heat the inside of the cooker... It's pretty old school, but it can work if you know what you're doing (and I don't, but I've seen similar home builds that were done back in the 60's and 70's) ...

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That might could work, Id have to modify the grate though. Right now it has a large slot grill grate as a base and then a piece of expanded metal to cook on.

cowgirl said:

I bet some great food came out of that cooker! :thumb:

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Yes maam! And as far as grilling goes Ive made some great stuff myself on it. But smoking on the other hand was a little bit of a learning curve. Smoked an 8lb pork butt and it took 6 1/2 hours of constant tending and still had to finish in the oven for about 45 mins. I just gotta learn it!