The Texas BBQ Forum

Evening all,

Any tips on getting an even temp across your cooking grate?

On my UDS (Big Poppa Smoker Kit), the middle of the grate is obviously a lot hotter than the perimeter. I rigged up a round pizza pan (the ones with holes all in it), by covering it with foil for a heat deflector. I set it about half way between by fire basket and cooking grate. Now the perimeter is hotter than the center.

Any suggestions?

I designed my deflector to even out the temps it works great. It disperses the heat to the sides and also lets heat up through the center.

That's a nice deflector k.a.m.

Guess I need to spend some time figuring out a better deflector, that will distribute heat better.

That deflector is a thing of beauty Kevin!!

Nice work k.a.m.! Sure looks like that'll work great.

I've seen this heat difuser from Gateway Drum Smokers and like the looks of it. For $79 plus freight I'd build my own but if you don't have that option this looks to me like it'll work great too.

Thank y'all. It works pretty good.

Fintatic,

I like the general design of that, but where would I even start to look for steel discs like that? I could see doing it myself, starting with less holes and working my way up to the sweet spot. I just don't know where to get the metal.

what about a metal frying pan of the right diameter, remove the handle and start drilling

OldUsedParts wrote:what about a metal frying pan of the right diameter, remove the handle and start drilling

Sounds like a good place to start.

You can get a piece of 1/16" sheet metal and make one pretty cheap. I made one for my offset smoker. The key is placing the smaller holes where the highest concentration of heat is and gradually make them larger moving away from the concentration of heat. An offset smoker (I think) is more severe because you are moving heat horizontally when it naturally wants to rise. Mine traps all the heat and moves it away from the fire box. If you think it through, it isn't that hard. I made mine in a few hours. All you need is an angle grinder, 3 or 4 small kerf blades for cutting metal, and a step drill bit (which will come in handy later in life). My left and right side fluctuate between 5 and 10 degrees difference. If I put a water pan over the holes on the firebox side, the temps are the same.

heisenberg wrote:Fintatic,

I like the general design of that, but where would I even start to look for steel discs like that? I could see doing it myself, starting with less holes and working my way up to the sweet spot. I just don't know where to get the metal.

You can buy mild sheet steel from your local steel supplier. I use Metals 4 U. Sometimes they'll have a scrap pile and you can find what you need there pretty cheap. If not they'll likely sell you half a sheet. I'd recommend 1/8" (11 gauge) wall thickness. 14 gauge will work too but you'll get a lot more life out of the 11 gauge.

Lowes and Home Depot both have sheet metal
Walmart has a 15.5 inch pizza pan one solid another perforated

Red

I use a big alum. turkey pan filled with water, works great on brisket and ribs. Get em at the dollar store and chunk it after the cook!!