grill plans

[oakley]

I want to build a large portable wood fired grill with a spit. Last summer I was in the USA and i cooked on a grill made out of a old oil drumb cut in half and a chimney welded on it and two air holes either side it was perfect. I would be interested if any one had plans to bui;l a large grill or new were i could buy one pre done.
Thanks,

[Jogeephus]

I've built a few grills/smokers and might can give you some advice if you decide to build one. Might can even provide some plans if I can find them. What do you plan to cook with it mostly. Is the rotisserie mandatory? Sorry for all the questions but there are so many little things that need answering before I can get specific. Also, what temp would you want to cook at?

[oakley]

I would like the option of a rotisserie but it is not the most important I want a big grill and bed so i can cook a big peice and scoop the coals to the side good air vent so i can controll easy to open and shut
thanks for any help you can give me

[Jogeephus]

My favorite smokers are set up on what we call the reverse flow design. With this design you do not have to worry about flare ups burning your meat. I used old propane tanks which I buy at scrap prices - about $25 - $50 apiece. Whats so nice about these tanks is they are made out of 3/8's inch rolled sheet metal and they really hold a constant heat. Once you get the grill set with the dampers it will hardly budge off the target temperature and all you need to do is add about 3 sticks of wood every hour and the smoker does the rest. You could add a rotisserie but it really is unnecessary with this setup.

Here is a general schematic of the setup.



The solid plate is the key. I use 3/8's plate for this too to insure heat but the main heat and smoke rolls under the plate and then up through a gap at the far end of the firebox then the heat and smoke flows back over the meat and out the chimney. In this design, there are no dampers other than at the firebox and everything is controlled from here.

Here is a pic of the firebox on mine. If you look at the upper side of the firebox you can see where the heat and smoke enters under the plate. Each smoker is uniques and has its own sweetspot. This smoker likes to be run between 250 - 325 degrees.



In the grilling area I have three racks for cooking. These racks are held in place with C channel in a drawer like fashion except the bottom racks. All can be removed or adjusted depending on what I'm doing.

Here is a pic of some turkeys I cooked for Thanksgiving. I removed the third rack and have them on the second.



Here is a smoker/grill I made this summer. My objective for this grill was to lower the sweetspot and create something I can smoke sausages with as well as BBQ other things. I built this one out of a 250 gallon propane tank and a 125 gallon tank mounted vertically for sausage and hams.

Unlike the other one, this one has 5 dampers to control the air flow into the different chambers. The sweetspot on this one is 225-250 in the large chamber and 125 - 150 in the vertical. (simultaneously - I can cold smoke in the vertical alone)



Here is some summer sausages in the upright



I'm not an expert on this stuff by any means but I have learned a lot of things not to do on my next build and some things to watch out for. Before I started tinkering with this I was clueless to all the science that goes into making one of these things. But with the right instruction - they are not hard to build at all. Key is to start with a good plan and some good help and some patience. Hope this was helpful and gave you some ideas.

[slick4591]

I guess I'm confused on what you really want, a grill or a smoker? A grill cooks over direct heat and a smoker uses indirect heat like Jogeephus' design.

The only need for a rotisserie I see is if you're cooking over direct heat and need the meat turning for a more consistent cooking process. You can achieve to same results in a smoker and add as much or as little smoke flavor as you want using different heat sources and not using a rotisserie.

I like Jogeephus' design, especially the vertical chamber, but for my purposes I would make the horizontal cooking chamber square instead of the rounded. With a square one you can have sliding lower and upper racks that will double your cooking area. Or, you can remove the top racks to cook a large piece of product.

If you look around the web long enough you'll find the design you're wanting.

[Jogeephus]

Slick I agree about the definitions but many people use these terms interchangeably and this is why why I asked about what temp he was looking at cooking at. To me, the temp is the key. But other than steaks, I think the offset smoker/grill is the most verssatile setup there is.

[oakley]

sorry for the confusion I am looking for plans for a grill for direct cooking with a lid so I can controll the temp. I would like to buy one second hand but cant find what i want.i would like plans for one half the size of the horizontal part of the smoker in the pix above. I was going to try and find some one to follow the plans .
thanks for any help you can give

[Zubar]

I found http://www.forfoodsmokers.co.uk/acatalog/Barbecue_Smokers.html place that may help you. Was looking at ProQ stuff.

Sorry can't do the link thing.

C

[mitchamus]

is it just me - or does Jogeephus big smoker look like it should have a piston & flywheel attached to it?...perhaps running an old bailing machine or something?

[Jogeephus]

Here is a set of plans for another style. I think its more of what you are looking for as its more of a grilling design with more direct heat.

Hit the pdf file just under the word disclaimer. Should be an easy build.

http://www.compuvices.com/plans.shtml

Mitch, mine is definitely a unique jury rig. Don't have to worry about it walking off or getting borrowed either.