Pulled the trigger ...


 

Hank H

TVWBB Member
Howdy All;

Well, went to Amazon, usin' the link at the top of the Home page,
I ordered up most of the parts for a 'mini'. I'm going with a sturdier
pot the thick one (3/16th" walls), mentioned here;

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/125114/new-project

Figure I'll cut the bottom out and use the Craycort CI grill sections
as a heat sink/diffuser and go with a CI pan as the grease catcher. Ought to
be able to hang on to some heat with all that CI in the bottom.
Hardware I'll gather from some local sources, paint ..... dunno. I'll
ponder on that a bit..

hank
 
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I'm curious to know how well that thicker pot fits and where you find it. Keep us updated on the build, pics are always welcome! Good luck and have fun
 
Thanks for the link! I like the look of that pot i'll be curious to know how well it holds temps the imusa pot does a good job in its on respect, but with that one being of better quality i'm sure that it will be even more efficient. Being thicker i'd think it would hold temps longer and possibly better, but with a little longer warm up time? Did you go with the SJG or SJS? Sorry for all the questions this has got the gears going in me head
 
Kevin, Howdy;

No problem, I ask a ton of questions muself...

I've already got a Silver, have had it since '04 or so...

Have to practice patience, so I don't know how long to heat
the thicker pot plus the CI grate and skillet...

got a can for ash control ... them peaches were goooood :)

I'll post up dates as I go along.

hank
 
Howdy All;

The Pot arrived today. Did a quick fit check. The pot sits in the SJS bottom like it was made for it.
The lid has a wee bit of a gap around the outer edge of the lip but sits well on this thicker pot.
When I fire it up I'll see if I have to make a thin ring of rolled up aluminum foil to make a gasket or not.
The Craycort CI grill inserts my not fit with the ring but I'm sure the 2 halves will fit without it.
My cooking grate fits with minimum clearance all the way down to about 3/4" from the bottom That's where the
bottoms radius starts. Thinking I may put a few bolts in just to keep it from sitting crooked and create some space for the
skillet or black an white speckled 'campware' plate I may use as heatsinl/grease catcher.
The grill inserts should be here in the next day or 3 according to UPS tracker. Tel-Tru will have the thermo.
a BQ-300 with the 2.5" stem here by the end of the month :rolleyes:

Practicing patience with a vengance LOL...

hank
 
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Hank H...regarding the top edge on your new pot. Is it a flat "L" shaped lid or a rolled lid like the IMUSA or Vasconia pots? Can you provide a pic? Im thinking of building a second "mini" and am interested in the thicker pot.
 
Stu G, Howdy;

Hank H...regarding the top edge on your new pot. Is it a flat "L" shaped lid or a rolled lid like the IMUSA or Vasconia pots? Can you provide a pic? Im thinking of building a second "mini" and am interested in the thicker pot.

My pot didn't come with a lid, that was extra... The lip of the pot is 2 vertical sides with a flat surface connecting them 3/16th' thick. The lid I was referring to was the SJS's.
There should be a link about 3 or 4 posts before this that shows the pot.

I am a compleat fumble fingers when it comes to digging the pictures out of a camera into the computer then the mystery really gets good when it comes to getting them from one part of the computer to another..... My generation didn't come with 'computer' geneticly
implanted into our DNA.
I'll see what I can do though when it comes time to put this together. Several parts are still in transit.

hank
 
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Ought to be able to hang on to some heat with all that CI in the bottom.

Hank,

I am by no means an expert in CI. I am dabbling in cast iron cooking lately and have read this on more than one website: "Do not place an empty cast iron pan or oven over a hot fire. Aluminum and many other metals can tolerate it better but cast iron will crack or warp, ruining the metal."

Again, no dog in the fight here...just wanted to let you in on that info.
 
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Sorry Hank..,I meant the lip of the 32 qt pot you purchased from Amazon. The Vasconia has a rolled lip which I cut off. It sounds like this is a flat "L" shaped lip on the top of the pot.
 
Dwain Pannell


Hank,

I am by no means an expert in CI. I am dabbling in cast iron cooking lately and have read this on more than one website: "Do not place an empty cast iron pan or oven over a hot fire. Aluminum and many other metals can tolerate it better but cast iron will crack or warp, ruining the metal."

Again, no dog in the fight here...just wanted to let you in on that info.

Good question.
I was thinking along those lines when i read several others posting that they were using a CI skillet with the handle cut off as their heat sink.
It will be sitting on top of a CI grate maybe that will help if to NOT crack or warp. Have several available and can get a cheap one from for the thrift store if needed. I'll post any results good or bad when I have some to post.

hank
 
Stu G, Howdy;

Sorry Hank..,I meant the lip of the 32 qt pot you purchased from Amazon. The Vasconia has a rolled lip which I cut off. It sounds like this is a flat "L" shaped lip on the top of the pot.

I'm thinkin' we're sayin' the same thing ... just usin' different words and commin' at it from different directions. There is no exaggerated lip of any kind on my pot (Looks Like an upsidedown |_| ) . Stright walls to the top, no bulge, no roll nuttin' ... The lip of the SJ's lid is about 1/4" greater in diameter then the pot's upper edge (no lip). It sit upon the pot nicely but a tad loose. I'm thinkin' if the top of the unit leaks smoke then I may roll a thin gasket of aluminum foil to close it up.
Hope that helps. If not we'll keep on chasein' the dog around the block till we catch it...:cool:

hank
 
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Howdy All;

In for a penny, in for a pound ..... Went ahead and ordered a Mavrick ET-732 as well.

:)

hank
 
Howdy All;

Update.

Craycort CI grill showed up via UPS this afternoon, and the Mavrick showed up this morning at the P.O..
ain't my birffday so musta just been a lucky day... To bad there isn't any lotto in Ut. I'd bought one today
if there was...:rolleyes:
The CI ring that the CI grills set in does fit inside of the pot I've got. all the way down to where it starts to turn
into the bottom (the radius). So, if I want to I could install 3 nut and bolt combos to hold it there or just set
the grill grates right on the bottom. Dang things are 7 pounds. Should help keep the center of Gravity lower.
Thinkin' Ill 'xperiment with drilled holes first. if that works out , OK! If not I can always cut the rest out and
go from there...

Any suggestions ...?

hank
 
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Howdy All;

Got up off my fat furry butt and cut the bottom out of the 3/16th"
thick pot. Forgot how messy soft aluminum is ... took 2 blades before
I remembered to scrub off the blade and bursh it's teeth......:rolleyes:
Used a mini drum sander to take the sharp off the edges. Gave it a good
scrub with an SOS pad.

Haven't added any nutz-n-boltz to hold the racks in yet.

Air temp was in the mid 80's threat of rain (thunder rumbles all afternoon), gusty winds.
Started behind the RV ended up carrying the whole mess to the leeward side of RV (wind block).

Fired up 1/2 a chimney of RO to season the tub and the CI grates. tryed with and w/o
the chicken can for the vents.... worked better without the can. :confused: maybe
need more better holes. I like chicken so that's no problem...
Got the Mavrick-732 working (after scratching my chin an butt a bit), first I just had the tub
on the base with the lid on. Got up to 325* and held that till the air holes started to clog up a wee bit.

Took it apart (while lit), cleaned off around the air holes installed chicken can.
Struggled to get back to 275*. Fiddleded with the top vent (left the bottom wide open).
Got it to +/- 250* held it for 3 hours. Pulled it apart again. Tossed out the chicken can and installed the CI
grates. Temp dropped to 175* took it's sweet time climing my stair way the happiness. Got back to 250* and
stayed put for another hour. Added a heavy 10" deep dish pie pan temp stayed at 250* while I did the addition
then shot down to 175*. Returned to 250* in about 15 minutes. air holes clogged a few more times during this
I stood on my head and wiggled a wire in the holes to clear'em out and temp went right back to 250* each time. :cool:

So, all in all I git the tub seasoned the CI grates seasoned figured out the vents a liddle... Rascal (fur dispersal unit),
was happy cuz Dad was near enough for the ocassional ear scratch.

Do ya'll really need more pix of lookin' down a shiney tube with grates in it??? No meat p0rn. just a relaxing afternoon.

Thanks for takin' the time to read this.

hank
 
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