Upstate NY to Texas

[beerent]

I had my first taste of "brisket" back where I grew up in upstate NY. It sucked, i remember wondering why it was even on the menu. A few years later I moved to Austin TX (~ 2 years ago) and let me tell you, brisket is all i want to eat anymore. After hosting a 4th of July party and grilling burgers, I decided it's time to step it up. I bought a rusty New Braunfels vertical smoker for 50$ on craigslist. It needs some extreme TLC, so that's my first project. If I am able to restore the super rusted fire box, it's game on! I have never smoked anything before, so this should be interesting. I'm going to document the restore of the smoker, so keep your eyes peeled if interested.

Looking forward to chatting with y'all.

Brent

[Finatic]

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing pics of your project.

[OldUsedParts]

Howdy, Yank, Welcome to and to the Forum. Make yourself at home, these members are the best on the WWW I promise. Looking forward to your build pics - - - go ahead and use that "round toit" and "git'er done"

[Kramergwt]

Welcome! Nice to have another transplant in the mix. I came from CT about 7 months ago. Did a lot of work in Corning and have family up in Greenwich. Where are you from? Like you, I'm sure you feel like you missed out on the BBQ stuff for all these years. I just got into it myself. That restore should be a great project. If it looked good enough to buy when you picked it up, I'm sure you can fix it. I got some 1/16th sheet steel at Westbrook metals in Austin and made a heat baffle for my new COS. If you tell them you want to pick through their cutoff pieces, you can walk out of there with exactly what you need for cheap. I paid $15 for a piece 24" x 36". If you ask them to cut you a piece they will charge a lot more. It's heavy enough to be tough but thin enough to bend and easy to cut with a die grinder and a 1/16" cutoff blade. I gave away my welding tanks when I moved here. I sure miss them. Please put up some pictures of it.

[CaptJack]

howdy

[Finatic]

Welcome! Nice to have another transplant in the mix. I came from CT about 7 months ago. Did a lot of work in Corning and have family up in Greenwich. Where are you from? Like you, I'm sure you feel like you missed out on the BBQ stuff for all these years. I just got into it myself. That restore should be a great project. If it looked good enough to buy when you picked it up, I'm sure you can fix it. I got some 1/16th sheet steel at Westbrook metals in Austin and made a heat baffle for my new COS. If you tell them you want to pick through their cutoff pieces, you can walk out of there with exactly what you need for cheap. I paid $15 for a piece 24" x 36". If you ask them to cut you a piece they will charge a lot more. It's heavy enough to be tough but thin enough to bend and easy to cut with a die grinder and a 1/16" cutoff blade. I gave away my welding tanks when I moved here. I sure miss them. Please put up some pictures of it.

Westbrook Metals is a good place to go for drops. If you have to buy new go to Metals4U in north Austin. They can cut your steel to any size you need within 1/16". They are much cheaper than Westbrook.

[Kramergwt]

Good to know. I asked about the piece of sheet metal on the phone and the price was ridiculous in my opinion (Westbrook). When I asked if they just sold cut-offs, they said yes and that it would be cheaper. Will try that place you mentioned for other projects. But $15 for the fairly heavy piece I got seemed decent compared to what I was paying in CT. Have to relearn all this stuff in the new area.

[beerent]

Thanks for that info thats great stuff. Heres the rig im starting out with untouched. Ill post a longer more detailed post with photos later on. Hoping to smoke my first brisket saturday. Im going to start basic at first.. salt and pepper.





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[Finatic]

That's all you need. That looks like it would work well with a charcoal basket full of charcoal and wood chunks. Using it as a stick burner is gonna keep you busy.

[beerent]

Will the beef taste much different with a charcoal/wood combo vs a strictly wood combo? Using wood just seems better in my uneducated opinion.

[Finatic]

That's gonna vary from one opinion to another. I think it's hard to substitute the flavor you get from a true stick burning fire. Try it both ways and see what works best.

[beerent]

sounds like a plan to me! Ill have my first update this sat.. wood only! I have yet to decide on what kind.

[OldUsedParts]

Also remember that the Type and the Age of the Wood has "everything" to do with the taste Good Luck

[Papa Tom]

I had one of those once not my favorite but with a little modification and some learning curve it will cook.

First you will need some baffles, the heat will want to take the path of least resistance to the flue.
I used some sheet metal and foil to create a baffle from the firebox into the vertical to make the heat and smoke go farther into the vertical.
Then I used mostly foil to create a zig-zag path up to the flue.
You will have to play with the fire and air draw as well. The thing requires a low grate and ash will pile up under it and limit airflow. (edit looking again at the firebox yours has several levels of adjustment for the fire grate so you should be able to make it work. I remember having to put bricks under mine.).
I don't remember but you can probably raise the grate some and still get it to flow well.

Enjoy

[beerent]

I had one of those once not my favorite but with a little modification and some learning curve it will cook.

First you will need some baffles, the heat will want to take the path of least resistance to the flue.
I used some sheet metal and foil to create a baffle from the firebox into the vertical to make the heat and smoke go farther into the vertical.
Then I used mostly foil to create a zig-zag path up to the flue.
You will have to play with the fire and air draw as well. The thing requires a low grate and ash will pile up under it and limit airflow. (edit looking again at the firebox yours has several levels of adjustment for the fire grate so you should be able to make it work. I remember having to put bricks under mine.).
I don't remember but you can probably raise the grate some and still get it to flow well.

Enjoy

very interesting, and I am glad that you brought this to my attention. I am going to create a baffle, it seems that can be done with a aluminum cooking pan (at least for temporary purposes). It does look like I can raise the grate in the firebox, so I will take your advice and do that. I will do a trial run before putting some meat in there.

If I am getting the desired temperature at the thermometer, does that necessarily mean I am doing it "right"? I am sure this takes several tries to figure it out.