Tip for owners of wood-burning smokers with an offset firebox...
 

I made one of these.

I loaded it with 4 lbs. of lump charcoal and a couple of small chunks of wood to season it this morning. Opened the damper all the way up and viola, the thing burned for just over 3 hours at 310 degrees, and I never touched it ONCE.

Well worth it, I must say.

Pic

Looks sweet man, I am envious. I am in the process of planning a permanent pit BBQ/smoker in my back yard. It'll be awhile but once I get the time to do it, it is gonna be sweet.

I was having problems with having deadspots (no fire) in my firebox. The grate that came with my smoker has 2" gaps in it, and I found that as the lump charcoal/wood burned down, it was falling through the grate and restricting airflow.

The bottom of that basket has like 3/4" gaps and sits a full 2.5" off the bottom of the firebox. So the airflow is absolutely perfect.

I'm guessing that with 4 pounds of lump and a few pieces of wood, I could close the damper to 1/2 and it would burn at 200 degrees for several hours.

That is a simple but ingenious solution to your problem. I have done some smoking but not a whole lot preferring to BBQ most of what I cook low and slow without smoke. I'll smoke a couple whole chickens or a turkey once in awhile, or if I find a deal on fresh salmon at the store do some of that up. I have always wanted to get an offset smoker just because the offset firebox would also allow me to BBQ without smoke at a good constant temp without the need to add fuel every so often. I generally do beef and poultry when I BBQ, especially brisket.

Yeah if you want to BBQ without smoke (note: I consider this blasphemy. :D) all you'd need to do is burn lump charcoal instead of wood.

As for meat, for me there's pork and there's everything else.

I used to love a good rack of ribs but I no longer eat pork. :(

I read somewhere on the internet that the beef council developed a rib product from cows. Can you believe that?

Speaking of pork, you know it's Memorial Day in Big Derrty when the whole fugging world smells like pork steak and fugging Mauls.

Die. Today. :cuss: :bang: :p

ROFL

Honestly, I can't stand beef ribs.

I did have a nice plate of Italian-spiced lamb chops last night, served with grilled green beens and a salad with feta and kalamata olives...

Yeah - I'm not a big fan either. Lamb chops are pretty slick, though. Sounds delightful.

All the smoker talk on the Planet got me motivated yesterday. I smoked two slabs of baby backs and a whole chicken. My wife likes the chicken and I am getting ready to finish off the ribs. :drool: Going to do a little twelve pound turkey tomorrow.

I usually do ribs and chicken too. Ribs are pretty pricey, so I use the chicken as "filler".

htis:

I'd seen those fireboxes on the web and thought they were a great idea. How did you fab it? Do you have a metal shop?