D. L. Whitehead
TVWBB Super Fan
Greetings all,
Last week, I posted about smoking a small pork butt in a Smokey Joe. The butt turned out great. Pat Smith suggested I post to the Weber Portable Grill forum and discuss the modifications I made to Smokey Joe. So, here goes...
First, I wanted to see if I could smoke with Joe because I mainly cook for only my wife and myself. Our freezer is always full and I'd rather smoke food two or three times a week with variety than once a week producing a lot of food at one time. I have done a lot of smoking on my 22-1/2" OTG. So, I believed I could smoke on a small scale with Joe.
Making modifications... Ace Hardware sent me a $5.00 Rewards Card, so I bought a new cooking grate for Joe--net cost $4.99. Eventually, I bought a tension spring for another $2.79--more on that later. Everything else for the modifications came from my supply of project remnants and spare hardware bins. All-in-all, I have $7.78, plus sales tax, in the project.
Disclaimer: My modifications are far from the be all, end all of modifications. I have simply used the junk I have on-hand for the most part! If I was to design and fabricate a charcoal rail and radiant heat baffle, I would likely do things much differently with more appropriate materials. Hey, your junk may be better than my junk! Your design may be better than my design! The motto we often use around our home is: "Do the best you can with what you've got!" I think the principles discussed below would hold up regardless of how you might go about making modifications to your Smokey Joe.
You need a cooking grate that allows you to add charcoal and wood. Hinged cooking grates aren't available for Joe. So, I cut off the first four horizontal bars and the associated center bar from a cooking grate. I, also, pop-riveted an extension onto a bottom vent adjustment tab. The extension still gets warm or, even, hot, but is better than trying to adjust the vent using the small tabs...
On to the charcoal "rail" for the charcoal grate. I use Weber's charcoal rails on my 22-1/2" OTG, but they don't fit well--taking up too much cooking space--on the Smokey Joe. So, I fabricated a rail approximating the shape of the kettle bowl using 2"x2" angled aluminum. I devised a method of attaching it firmly to the charcoal grate and drilled some holes into the "rail" for ventilation.
I thought I was set to go. On went a small 2 lb. meatloaf. The meatloaf turned out great! But, toward the end of the smoke, I had a hard time keeping the temperature up. After cleaning the grill the next day, I discovered why. With no way to sweep away the ashes, the ashes built up under that charcoal grate and, seemingly, held back air needed for combustion. Delicious meatloaf, but I needed to solve the ash build up problem.
Weber's bowl-shaped kettle helped solve this problem. I could poke a spring through holes in the rail and, if I added a "slider tube" to the rail, I could even push down ashes from the charcoal side of the rail.
The spring used to push the ashes is still handleless. I'll think of something...
I, also, made four holes on the backside of the charcoal "rail" to allow for pushing ashes. The neat thing is that the spring pretty much follows the curve of the bowl and quite often and quite easily finds the bottom vent holes allowing the ashes to be pushed out of the bowl.
At this point in my modifications, I smoked the small pork butt. All went well, but I believed there was too much radiant heat affecting both the butt and my temperature probe because the Smokey Joe is so darn small. I just went with the flow as to the temperature and rotated my butt once and flipped it once--taking care of my perceived problem of too much radiant heat.
I thought, what we need here is a baffle to prevent too much radiant heat. So, I made a baffle that simply sits on the cooking grate and helps block the radiant heat. It extends both slightly below and above the cooking grate. If I had to do it over again, I'd likely just have a charcoal "rail" that extends above the cooking grate.
That's pretty much the modifications: Cut off rods on the cooking grate; Extend a tab on the bottom vent; Make a charcoal "rail;" Devise a system to push out ash build up; Make a radiant heat baffle that sticks up above the cooking grate and blocks some of the radiant heat from the charcoal.
Here's how I smoke with the modified Smokey Joe:
I foil the food side (the unused side) of the charcoal grate, shiny side up, to help reflect heat upward. I learned this trick on TVWBB--from whom I have forgotten.
I use a crappy old SMALL round cake pan as a drip pan. I foil the drip pan and have foil "wings" that extend out to within about 1/2" from the kettle bowl. The gap between the "wings" and bowl helps in distributing the convective heat and smoke. Make sure your food is over the catch "wings." I almost always put some boiling water into the drip pan. This is NOT to act as a heat sink. It is to add moisture (steam) to the cooking process. No, I do not believe it ADDS moisture to the meat. I do believe that it helps to reduce moisture LOSS in the meat and helps reduce shrinkage. (I think it also helps with the formation of a beautiful smoke ring, too.)
I add a temperature probe at the grate between the charcoal and the meat. I use a small piece of 14 gauge copper wire bent over the edge of the bowl to prevent the temperature probe cables being smashed by the lid. I always place the top vent opposite the charcoal to facilitate convection and smoke distribution.
This setup is pretty stable with cooking temperatures. This is still experimental (three successful smokes) and, probably needlessly, I've been tending the Smokey Joe about once an hour--adding or stirring charcoal if necessary, adding wood if necessary or pushing down ashes. It quite likely doesn't need to be tended this often. It holds temperature quite well. And, if you do need to take the lid off, it rapidly comes back up to temperature. I checked how long it took once on my last smoke and it returned to 220 degrees F in less than three minutes. I started the chicken with 12 unlit briquettes and placed 9 lit coals on top. I, later, added six unlit briquettes--but, probably did not need them. The Smokey Joe ran for 4.5 hours on 27 Kingsford briquettes and had about six mostly unburned briquettes remaining.
Right now, after just three uses, I'm pretty pleased with Smokey Joe as a small smoker. I might tweak it some more--but, I'm lazy..
Here's the finished chicken:
Sometimes, good smoked food comes in small kettles...
[Edit] Added Links To Other Meats Smoked On Smokey Joe:
Buttette Meets Smokey Joe...
Beef Ribs Smoked On Smokey Joe...
Brisket Smoked On Smokey Joe...
Smokey Joe Does Smoked Beef Chuck...
Smokey Joe Smokes Spare Ribs...
Smokey Joe Does Smoked Pork Loin
###
Last week, I posted about smoking a small pork butt in a Smokey Joe. The butt turned out great. Pat Smith suggested I post to the Weber Portable Grill forum and discuss the modifications I made to Smokey Joe. So, here goes...
First, I wanted to see if I could smoke with Joe because I mainly cook for only my wife and myself. Our freezer is always full and I'd rather smoke food two or three times a week with variety than once a week producing a lot of food at one time. I have done a lot of smoking on my 22-1/2" OTG. So, I believed I could smoke on a small scale with Joe.
Making modifications... Ace Hardware sent me a $5.00 Rewards Card, so I bought a new cooking grate for Joe--net cost $4.99. Eventually, I bought a tension spring for another $2.79--more on that later. Everything else for the modifications came from my supply of project remnants and spare hardware bins. All-in-all, I have $7.78, plus sales tax, in the project.
Disclaimer: My modifications are far from the be all, end all of modifications. I have simply used the junk I have on-hand for the most part! If I was to design and fabricate a charcoal rail and radiant heat baffle, I would likely do things much differently with more appropriate materials. Hey, your junk may be better than my junk! Your design may be better than my design! The motto we often use around our home is: "Do the best you can with what you've got!" I think the principles discussed below would hold up regardless of how you might go about making modifications to your Smokey Joe.
You need a cooking grate that allows you to add charcoal and wood. Hinged cooking grates aren't available for Joe. So, I cut off the first four horizontal bars and the associated center bar from a cooking grate. I, also, pop-riveted an extension onto a bottom vent adjustment tab. The extension still gets warm or, even, hot, but is better than trying to adjust the vent using the small tabs...
On to the charcoal "rail" for the charcoal grate. I use Weber's charcoal rails on my 22-1/2" OTG, but they don't fit well--taking up too much cooking space--on the Smokey Joe. So, I fabricated a rail approximating the shape of the kettle bowl using 2"x2" angled aluminum. I devised a method of attaching it firmly to the charcoal grate and drilled some holes into the "rail" for ventilation.
I thought I was set to go. On went a small 2 lb. meatloaf. The meatloaf turned out great! But, toward the end of the smoke, I had a hard time keeping the temperature up. After cleaning the grill the next day, I discovered why. With no way to sweep away the ashes, the ashes built up under that charcoal grate and, seemingly, held back air needed for combustion. Delicious meatloaf, but I needed to solve the ash build up problem.
Weber's bowl-shaped kettle helped solve this problem. I could poke a spring through holes in the rail and, if I added a "slider tube" to the rail, I could even push down ashes from the charcoal side of the rail.
The spring used to push the ashes is still handleless. I'll think of something...
I, also, made four holes on the backside of the charcoal "rail" to allow for pushing ashes. The neat thing is that the spring pretty much follows the curve of the bowl and quite often and quite easily finds the bottom vent holes allowing the ashes to be pushed out of the bowl.
At this point in my modifications, I smoked the small pork butt. All went well, but I believed there was too much radiant heat affecting both the butt and my temperature probe because the Smokey Joe is so darn small. I just went with the flow as to the temperature and rotated my butt once and flipped it once--taking care of my perceived problem of too much radiant heat.
I thought, what we need here is a baffle to prevent too much radiant heat. So, I made a baffle that simply sits on the cooking grate and helps block the radiant heat. It extends both slightly below and above the cooking grate. If I had to do it over again, I'd likely just have a charcoal "rail" that extends above the cooking grate.
That's pretty much the modifications: Cut off rods on the cooking grate; Extend a tab on the bottom vent; Make a charcoal "rail;" Devise a system to push out ash build up; Make a radiant heat baffle that sticks up above the cooking grate and blocks some of the radiant heat from the charcoal.
Here's how I smoke with the modified Smokey Joe:
I foil the food side (the unused side) of the charcoal grate, shiny side up, to help reflect heat upward. I learned this trick on TVWBB--from whom I have forgotten.
I use a crappy old SMALL round cake pan as a drip pan. I foil the drip pan and have foil "wings" that extend out to within about 1/2" from the kettle bowl. The gap between the "wings" and bowl helps in distributing the convective heat and smoke. Make sure your food is over the catch "wings." I almost always put some boiling water into the drip pan. This is NOT to act as a heat sink. It is to add moisture (steam) to the cooking process. No, I do not believe it ADDS moisture to the meat. I do believe that it helps to reduce moisture LOSS in the meat and helps reduce shrinkage. (I think it also helps with the formation of a beautiful smoke ring, too.)
I add a temperature probe at the grate between the charcoal and the meat. I use a small piece of 14 gauge copper wire bent over the edge of the bowl to prevent the temperature probe cables being smashed by the lid. I always place the top vent opposite the charcoal to facilitate convection and smoke distribution.
This setup is pretty stable with cooking temperatures. This is still experimental (three successful smokes) and, probably needlessly, I've been tending the Smokey Joe about once an hour--adding or stirring charcoal if necessary, adding wood if necessary or pushing down ashes. It quite likely doesn't need to be tended this often. It holds temperature quite well. And, if you do need to take the lid off, it rapidly comes back up to temperature. I checked how long it took once on my last smoke and it returned to 220 degrees F in less than three minutes. I started the chicken with 12 unlit briquettes and placed 9 lit coals on top. I, later, added six unlit briquettes--but, probably did not need them. The Smokey Joe ran for 4.5 hours on 27 Kingsford briquettes and had about six mostly unburned briquettes remaining.
Right now, after just three uses, I'm pretty pleased with Smokey Joe as a small smoker. I might tweak it some more--but, I'm lazy..
Here's the finished chicken:
Sometimes, good smoked food comes in small kettles...
[Edit] Added Links To Other Meats Smoked On Smokey Joe:
Buttette Meets Smokey Joe...
Beef Ribs Smoked On Smokey Joe...
Brisket Smoked On Smokey Joe...
Smokey Joe Does Smoked Beef Chuck...
Smokey Joe Smokes Spare Ribs...
Smokey Joe Does Smoked Pork Loin
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