HELP!! - Conversion onto a smoker

[Mike D]

I recently built a BBQ in my back garden, and I have now thought about converting it to double up as a smoker. The smoking thing is new to me, so I thought I'd ask the ones that do know how they would go about adapting the BBQ (see photo) into a smoker??



Any suggestions welcomed.....

Thanks in advance,


Mike.

[Zulululu]

Hi Mike ,
The way I look at it I would make a box that sat on the BBQ , perhaps extend the front down a bit,have a lid on top that you can open to keep a check on things ,the lid can also double up as a damper.Then you would need to put some rods across to hang your sausages or whatever from.You only need a small fire underneath to put your sawdust on.If you have a grate between the fire and the box you could put some stones on the grate to act as a diffuser and cool the smoke.
Regards.

[Dr. Sweetsmoke]

Tough one right there. As you know a good smoker needs to be a sealed unit so you may be better off building a twin to the original only lined with a metal box of some sort.

The other thing you want to do is bore a 8" hole in the bottom slab and use that storage space underneath as your firebox. Should make a nice pizza oven too.

[Mike D]

Thanks for the info Zulululu and Dr Sweetsmoke.

Having pondered over this since I first posted, my idea was to build a small smoke generator (similar to one that Saucisson did in a large can using a soldering iron) and fit this in the lower part of the BBQ. Feed the smoke from this, via a pipe through the mid height slab/BBQ fire pit into the BBQ "chamber". I was going to a fit a door to the front made from 3/4" Marine Ply fixed with removable bolts and a rubber perimeter seal to prevent smoke leakage and also do the same to the top with a variable vent to allow the smoke to exit.

Cheers,

Mike.

[saucisson]

You need a small amount of free flow so that the smoke doesn't stagnate and give the food an acrid taste. So you may find the rubber seals aren't necessary, but I would plan your design so you can add them if you decide they are needed. You should be able to house a tin can/soldering iron smoker in the main part of the BBQ, but if it is more convenient to keep it out of the way underneath then that can't hurt, so long as you can still access it for topping it up in mid smoke if required.

I would certainly try what you suggest, but if you get hooked be aware you may wish to eventually have a separate cold smoker from the BBQ so you can do both at the same time

Dave

[Dr. Sweetsmoke]

There I was thinking hot smoking again.lol