The Texas BBQ Forum

Hi Everyone,

I’m a lifetime fan of BBQ but only recently got into smoking myself. I’ve really enjoyed reading this forum the last few days and the wealth of information you all share is unparalleled. I’m excited to contribute in any way I can.

About 4 months ago I thought I’d buy a cheap smoker to get started, learn and eventually upgrade To something better. The more research I did, I realized that I didn’t like the idea of buying something only to outgrow it right away. So I listened to Joe Rogan and bought a Traeger at a great deal on FB Marketplace. Very happy with it but it opened the door to much bigger things. My company has a car show every year where I grill pork shoulders for a about 150 people. This year we had 250 show up and we ran out of meat. So I decided to ditch that grill and make a smoker to feed the masses... or at least my car show once a year.

So last night I picked up this 500 gallon propane tank that was converted into a roller. It was filled with water and pulled around a guys yard to flatten the ground. Scored it for $190 buck which I though was a steal. I’m planning to build an offset and put on a trailer. I’m sure I’ll have some questions as I build and will keep updating as I go. But for now, here’s a few pictures of the beast.

That will certainly hold a couple butts. Nice project.

There are some real knowledgeable folks in here that will gladly provide input. Ask and you shall receive.

Welcome

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a good start to your project. Now we need to know about this car show.

Howdy and Welcome to the Forum - - - as, Egghead said: there are lots of experienced Pit Builders on this Forum so ask away

Thanks guys, I’m sure I’ll have many questions but to start off, What do you guys do for a grease drain? Do you just cut a hole in the bottom of the tank? Or do I need to build a system to channel grease down to the drain? Like something with a slight angle towards the drain?

If you install a drip pan, angle it to the a drain pipe. I try to center the drain in the cook chamber on my newer smokers to get it away from the burn box. One of my earlier offsets tend to catch the drain on fire when I cook whole pigs.

I the photo you can see where the tank is cut for the burn box. It exhausts under the drip pan to distribute the heat across the cook chamber. I installed 2 racks in this one so it will cook 30 slabs of ribs or 2 whole hogs (140 lbs).

FYI this is a 500 gallon propane tank.

Finally started building out my smoker! Car show is only 2 months away so I guess it’s about time! Lol. Here’s a few progress pics. I bent my hinges and handles out of 3/4 round bar. I cut slits under where my hinges go, then welded them on before cutting out the rest of the door. Hoping that would help reduce any warping from welding. Worked perfectly!

Looking good

Has anyone used a griddle on top of their firebox like this? Wondering if it’s worth it to add this into my plans. I can see how cooking up some burgers and steaks while smoking would be a nice feature. Will the plate be hot enough for that while in the middle of a long smoke?

My fire box is insulated, so I have a separate one on mine.

UncleMatt wrote:Has anyone used a griddle on top of their firebox like this? Wondering if it’s worth it to add this into my plans. I can see how cooking up some burgers and steaks while smoking would be a nice feature. Will the plate be hot enough for that while in the middle of a long smoke?

I don’t believe it will get hot enough to work well as a griddle but it’d probably work as a place to keep a tray warm.
It’s hard to serve two masters, I’d focus on building a kick tail smoker and use a Weber or a Blackstone griddle while the smoker does it’s magic.


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I have a 1/4 plate griddle in mine and it doesnt get hot enough to really crisp up bacon but I have cooked fish on it while running about a 250 internal smoker temp and made eggs and sausage on it while smoking also I like it but mine is removal which is nice unless you have to keep it oiled and seasoned and its alot of extra work so I pull it when not using it also going to make some grill bars in it to use just the fire box some nights for wood fired cooking

Here is my griddle and smoker setup

More pics

[quote="Fabkid33"]I have a 1/4 plate griddle in mine and it doesnt get hot enough to really crisp up bacon but I have cooked fish on it while running about a 250 internal smoker temp and made eggs and sausage on it while smoking also I like it but mine is removal which is nice unless you have to keep it oiled and seasoned and its alot of extra work so I pull it when not using it also going to make some grill bars in it to use just the fire box some nights for wood fired cooking