The Texas BBQ Forum

Hi all, new to this forum and fairly new to smoking and building pits, i made my first pit about a year ago using a small heavy duty Brinkman charcoal grill that i attached a Firebox to. It works okay but i quickly found that id like something bigger that is easier to transport so i got a good deal on a 175 gal tank and am off to the races on getting this thing going. This one will be a reverse flow pit. I've got the Firebox attached and have built it using the feldons calculator with a half moon fb/cc cut to those specs also.. I've ran into a question on the reverse flow plate, does the area under this plate matter? Ive seen this discussed in some threads but most dont mention it. My fb/cc opening does not go to the bottom of my cc because I have my Firebox sitting up higher to get a 4" gap between my cooking grate and the reverse flow plate which will come straight off the top of the fire box. so the area under the rf plate is probably double that of the fb/cc opening. Is this okay or should I add a floor to lower the volume under the RF plate? Or would doing that throw off the other specs since itll make the volume of the whole tank less? I'll add another picture tonight of the inside of the cc and what the fb/cc opening looks like now. Thanks in advance for any help!

Trox,

Once KAM see's this he will be able to answer your questions. He is the resident pit builder and always has time to help those during there pit building process. He will steer you in the right direction.

Welcome!

Thanks everyone! That's who I was expecting to chime in I've gotten just about all the knowledge Ive needed for the build from his replies to others but havent seen an answer to this question.

Welcome to the forum Trox. I have been a little busy with flood stuff. You will be fine with the extended tunnel depth. A reverse flow cooker relies mostly on radiant heat for its cooking so given you mounted the plate at the top of your firebox ( No restriction there which is good) and you have only 4" between plate and top of grate you will be fine.
Will you have the same or more Sq. in. opening on the opposite end of the firebox at the turn around as your firebox to cooking chamber opening?

Good to hear k.a.m! Thanks for the help. Yes I plan on going about 1.5 the size of fb to cc for the opposite end i think. ill upload a picture of that opening just to be safe. It looks a bit off center and wonky in the picture but its not as bad as it looks. I'll keep everyone updated with pictures as it comes along. Next up is cutting out the Firebox front and top loading doors as well as getting started on the trailer frame. I've got alot of 1/8 inch by 2x2 square tubing left from other projects, curious if this would be sufficient for the frame or if I should get 2x3 rectangle? the tank is not all that heavy, the Firebox is 1/4 plate, 2x2x2 ft dimensions (got a great deal on the 1/4" or i wouldve gone thicker) and i also plan on storing a quarter to a half rick of logs on the front of the trailer, anybody have thoughts on a sufficient trailer frame material? Also on the topic of the wood storage, how much should I expect to burn through with a bigger smoker like this for say a 5-6 hr rib cook?

2" x 3" is what I would use. The 2" x 2" is not sturdy enough.

Sorry i haven't been updating i keep forgetting to get pictures. Snapped a few quick ones tonight ill get some better ones once my axles on and I can move it out. Basically just have to add my handle, exhaust and some tweaking here and there and itll be ready to smoke on. Still have to add the trailer tongue and I plan on doing a little bar/countertop with storage under on the front 4 ft of the trailer. But plan on doing some cookin as that part gets done.

Well aside from a tabletop and some swing out barstools on the front half of the trailer ive got the smoker all finished and painted.

nice job - - - thanks for the update - - - good luck and happy BBQ'n

Only gotten to do some turkeys so far but I plan to do a brisket and ribs this weekend.

Did you notice if any heat is transferring from the fire box to and around the frame?

I noticed that it dissipated pretty quick, a foot away from where it touches the box it wasn't too hot to touch.. I only briefly looked at that issue when I first fired it up, ill have to check when I use it this weekend and see how hot the frame is in that area. I painted that piece of the trailer frame with the high temp paint though to be safe.