A few months ago, Beau Shared in our Facebook group his progress in making his new smoker.
It was so interesting that I asked him nicely to share with us his story and tips so y’all can enjoy it and learn!
Here is it:
I started smoking meat about 3 years ago.
Started with an Oklahoma joe and
quickly became obsessed.
About a year ago I was given a 500 gallon l.p. tank.
Stipulation was to include them in future cooks.
Research began on fabrication, Every spare minute I had was filled with research.
I had never welded or had I done any metal fabrication to speak of.
The tank still had l.p. in it so I had to carefully release the pressure. (The valve was still
attached so I just bled it out on and off for a few days) after that, I removed
all of the valves, filled it with water then drained it, refilled it and made
my first cuts.
I cut a door first. (In retrospect I would’ve cut the exhaust
first).
That door sprung a bit which I had to remedy.
The next-door I did properly by cutting top first, adding flange and hinges, then sides, adding
the flanges, then finally the bottom.
No springing. Then the exhaust.
I went with a collector, 1 because I think it draws the heat more evenly and 2 because I think it looks better. I went with a 6″ sched 40 pipe for the exhaust.
(I’m about to change it to an 8″ for better draw.)
The fire box was a 250 gal tank.
Fit up took awhile due to my inexperience im sure. A lot of fitting and grinding.
Next was the racks.
I decided on slide-out racks.
They’re about 3’x3′. Eventually, I’ll add upper racks as well.
All in all, she cooks great relatively even temps across the cook chamber.
I prefer oak and cherry mainly because I have an abundance on my property that I cut and season
my self.
Ultimately I want it trailer mounted and to get more into catering.
Tips for starting off: research, a lot of research. From welding to thermodynamics.
Find a design that best suits your needs and also what you
visually want the end product to be.
I really respect fat stack smokers, and also Aaron franklin so I based my build off of their inspiration.
All in all, just go for it(safely of course).
Learn everything you can about every aspect
of the build and if you mess up then its a lesson learned and you remedy it.
Thanks so much for sharing Beau!
Here is some BBQ work of art By beau that will make you droooool 🙂
