# It had to be done, so it has been started



## bbally (Oct 11, 2008)

The time came that it had to be done!  The scraps and pieces laying about..... a perfectly good welder with some time... and the dream would reshape the iron into something WONDERFUL!

A picture abstract of a bbally design!









The first weld seam.... when the arc comes to the metal the beast that was laying in pieces starts to take shape!
















Slowly it becomes recognized as something to put fire to food!






























Stay tuned in..... she leaves for the powder coater next week and I begin the trailer she will rest on... complete with dutch oven clam shell and all the trimmings!

'til we talk again, do a project the temperature is perfect!

Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA


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## love2"Q" (Oct 11, 2008)

very nice


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## pacanis (Oct 11, 2008)

That makes me wish I worked in a sheetmetal shop again.... almost  ;^)
I do miss my projects though.

Very nice!


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## Maverick2272 (Oct 11, 2008)

Very nice job! Wish I had that kind of talent!


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## Dave Hutchins (Oct 11, 2008)

I envy you. Lucky Lucky you


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## Paymaster (Oct 17, 2008)

Hey now that things gonna be nice!!!!!!!!  Congrats!


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## Uncle Bob (Oct 17, 2008)

Interesting design... the fire box and "smoke stack" on the same end. Lets us know how it cooks!

Fun!


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## Jeekinz (Oct 17, 2008)

Uncle Bob said:


> Interesting design... the fire box and "smoke stack" on the same end. Lets us know how it cooks!
> 
> Fun!


 
I saw that too. Although I have seen designs with stacks on either end.....both ends that is.


Either way, nice project.


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## Uncle Bob (Oct 17, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> I saw that too. Although I have seen designs with stacks on either end.....both ends that is.
> 
> 
> Either way, nice project.


 
Both ends with a center fire box...Yes... "Smoke Stacks' on Both ends with a single fire box mounted either to the left or to the right???? Please share your souce (magazines, books, websites, etc) where you have seen this design....This is interesting to me!

Thanks In Advance!!!


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## Jeekinz (Oct 17, 2008)

Probobly was a center mount.  It wouldn't be difficult to move that stack over.


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## MJK (Oct 17, 2008)

I'm curious.  The firebox looks like a piece of gas transmission line pipe.  What was the smoke chamber originally intended to be?  Please don't answer if you violate your 5th amendment rights.  That is one "smokin" barbeque / grill / smoker though.  I am envious.


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## JohnL (Oct 17, 2008)

bbally,
Totally cool cooker! Plus going out for powdercoat to boot!!
Are you going lay fire brick on top of that bottom baffle to help maintain and distribute an even temp across the length of the cooker? Sure is impressive..


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 17, 2008)

I share Uncle Bob's concern about how this will cook with the stack right next to the firebox. IMHO - the majority of the heat and smoke will never cross the meat - it's just going to go up the stack and the food on the far end is going to be cold and lacking in smoke compared to the food on the firebox end. Move the stack to the far end away from the firebox and the heat and smoke will be drawn all the way through the smoker ... and be more even - both smoke and temp. 

Otherwise - it looks like lovely workmanship!


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## JohnL (Oct 17, 2008)

From what I see in the pics, it looks like pic #3 shows a flat baffle with small v-cut outs on the edge. Pic #7 shows the firebox hung at approx the 1/3 bottom level of the cooker. There also appears to be heat marks from welding along the bottom 1/3 of the cooker. So if bbally attached his fire box to the right side of his cooker and positioned the opening below the baffle, and then left a gap in the baffle at the left side of the cooker, the the heat would travel from the fire box on the right, under the baffle (distributing the heat evenly from right to left), the smoke would then enter the cooking chamber from the gap on the left side of the baffle and travel across the cooking chamber to the chimney mounted on the right side of the cooker.
I know I'm not explaining this very well, but just take a close look at the pics.


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## jminion (Oct 19, 2008)

It's called a reverse flow unit, the heat and smoke is moved from firebox to the other end of the pit and then released into the main chamber and back the firebox end of the cooker and out the stack. The advantage is said to be even temps in the cooking chamber. 

Jim


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks for the info, Jim.


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## Jeekinz (Oct 20, 2008)

jminion said:


> It's called a reverse flow unit, the heat and smoke is moved from firebox to the other end of the pit and then released into the main chamber and back the firebox end of the cooker and out the stack. The advantage is said to be even temps in the cooking chamber.
> 
> Jim


 
So the cooking chamber consists of an upper section and lower section?   The lower section feeding the smoke/heat evenly through the "V" notches?


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## bbally (Oct 20, 2008)

MJK said:


> I'm curious. The firebox looks like a piece of gas transmission line pipe. What was the smoke chamber originally intended to be? Please don't answer if you violate your 5th amendment rights. That is one "smokin" barbeque / grill / smoker though. I am envious.


 
The fire box is a 28 inch gas main line.  We are doing the testing of a lot of the high pressure lines in Colorado.  So this unused piece gave its life in the name of smoked meats!


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## bbally (Oct 20, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> So the cooking chamber consists of an upper section and lower section? The lower section feeding the smoke/heat evenly through the "V" notches?


 
The cooking chamber has a baffle all the way across the cook chamber, the heat flows from the firebox across the chamber heating the plate, the infrared is then passed onto the meat from the baffle plate.  There is a 14 inch gap at the far (non stack) end of the chamber to allow the smoke to roll up and over the meat to the stack.

Inside the stack has a depth adjustment, allowing me to control the smoke depth in the cooking chamber by raising and lowering the excape stack placement.  This allows me to control hard smoke to light smoke while still maintaining temperature at optimal maillard reaction temperatures.


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## bbally (Oct 20, 2008)

Michael in FtW said:


> I share Uncle Bob's concern about how this will cook with the stack right next to the firebox.


 
I think if you read Unclebobs post he says the stack on the same side as the firebox lets him know how it cooks.

Meaning reverse flow indirect heat method.


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## Jeekinz (Oct 21, 2008)

bbally said:


> The cooking chamber has a baffle all the way across the cook chamber, the heat flows from the firebox across the chamber heating the plate, the infrared is then passed onto the meat from the baffle plate. There is a 14 inch gap at the far (non stack) end of the chamber to allow the smoke to roll up and over the meat to the stack.
> 
> Inside the stack has a depth adjustment, allowing me to control the smoke depth in the cooking chamber by raising and lowering the excape stack placement. This allows me to control hard smoke to light smoke while still maintaining temperature at optimal maillard reaction temperatures.


 
I have a couple questions, if you don't mind.

The area of the "gap" at the far end of the chamber, is that the same area as the opening to the side fire box?  Or larger or smaller?

How much space is between the cooking grates and the heating plate?

Can you take a pic of the inside of the stack where the depth adjustment is?

On my Chargriller, I always have that hot spot near the opening to the SFB.  I usually just put the thicker part of the meat in that area.  I could modify it to work like yours and get more even temps throughout the chamber.


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## bbally (Oct 21, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> I have a couple questions, if you don't mind.
> The area of the "gap" at the far end of the chamber, is that the same area as the opening to the side fire box? Or larger or smaller?


 
30 percent larger than the firebox gap.



Jeekinz said:


> How much space is between the cooking grates and the heating plate?


 
11 inches is the spacing I use.



Jeekinz said:


> Can you take a pic of the inside of the stack where the depth adjustment is?


 
Yes I will do that today for you and post it tonight.



Jeekinz said:


> On my Chargriller, I always have that hot spot near the opening to the SFB. I usually just put the thicker part of the meat in that area. I could modify it to work like yours and get more even temps throughout the chamber.


 
The design of the cooking chamber is at fault for an End Roll hot spot.  The chamber must be long enough that most of the infrared energy is transferred to the plate.  Thus making the heat left in the smoke convection the same temp as the entire cooking chamber.

I can write up the formula for that if you need it.  I am also an engineer.


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## Jeekinz (Oct 21, 2008)

bbally said:


> The design of the cooking chamber is at fault for an End Roll hot spot. The chamber must be long enough that most of the infrared energy is transferred to the plate. Thus making the heat left in the smoke convection the same temp as the entire cooking chamber.
> 
> I can write up the formula for that if you need it. I am also an engineer.


 
What would you need from me, just all the measurements?


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## bbally (Oct 21, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> What would you need from me, just all the measurements?


 
Length of cooker, diameter of cooker, guage of steel (measure in inches) length of plate, width of plate, gauge of steel, size of firebox and opening from firebox to cooking chamber.

That should do it.


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## bbally (Oct 21, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> Can you take a pic of the inside of the stack where the depth adjustment is?


 
Ok so I designed a sliding sleeve, which allows me to adjust the depth of the smoke the meat it receiving.

The further along people get in curing and smoking the more into control you get to create the perfect product.  For about 10 years now my systems have all featured smoke depth control.

This is it in the highest position for light smoke.







And this is with it set for the deepest smoke concentration.






I have a couple of t-locks on it to hold the position I want for the amount of smoke I want to get.

When this is applied to the Papain technique it produces amazing results.


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## Jeekinz (Oct 22, 2008)

Interesting.

At it's lowest setting, it looks like it's just above the cooking grates?  

Thanks again for the pics.


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## love2"Q" (Oct 22, 2008)

very nice ..


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