Comp. Winning Mini-smoker


 

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This "Stoked" SJS Mini Smoker was used at the "Albie-Ribbin'" Rib cook off held in Sac. last Sat.
The owner took first place in the Open class. He said he is currently a "Lurker" here, but assured me he would join and post the details of his setup. Let's hope so.
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Soooo - what sized drum was used for the mid section and how did you do those legs?

Come on out of Lurk Mode and play!

Congrats on the great finish!

Pat
 
I'm guessing 16gal drum (I've seen several mini UDS created using this size drum and SJ lid).

Do you suppose ribs were hanging? Or, maybe, cut into mini-sized slabs?

Can't wait to see details of this setup!! Very cool!!
 
What I remember.
The drum is a 10 gal. The legs are made from pipe. It has 3 cooking grates and the slabs where cut to fit.
I don't have any idea what the actual cooking setup is other than he used Lump and wood chips with the Laptop controlled Stoker.
Still hoping he'll come out of "Lurker" status so he can explain this very clean setup.
 
This is my Smokey Joe mini bullet. It is a 10 gallon drum. The bottom of the drum fits flush on the bead of the Weber. The clamp for the drum lid joins the two pieces together nice and tightly. I cut a hole in the bottom of the Weber about an inch in diameter. I installed two 1 1/2 inch black pipe floor flanges on the inside bottom and the outside bottom of the Weber, connected to one another. The stoker blower is connected to this pipe. The inside flange has a 6 inch long perforated pipe connected to it which extends into the charcoal basket. The charcoal basket uses the Weber’s original charcoal grate as a base and stainless steel expended metal wrapped around approximately 8" tall. There are 3 racks in this mini bullet. The lowest rack sits a few inches above the charcoal grate and is used for the water pan/ heat diffuser. The cooking grates are 6 inches apart and the top grate sits two inches below the top of the drum. The lid of the Weber fits perfectly tight to the drum.

We trimmed both ends of the racks and cooked each rack on the individual racks. Easily kept the temperature right at 225F with the Stoker.

Moderator: Converted all UPPERCASE to upper/lowercase for easy reading.
 
Hi Ryan and Welcome to the forum. I was hoping you'd show.
There's one thing you should know about us though, we love pictures.
The unwritten rule is.... "It didn't really happen unless there's pics."
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I didn't get a chance to take any shots of the inside of your Mini Bullet and would like to see how you put it together.
 
Welcome to the forum Ryan. Nice rig and congrats on the mod. Are you from the area or did you travel to participate?

Looking forward to seeing pics and hopefully more posts from you.
 
Bumping this thread to post pics for Ryan. All Questions should be refered to him though.
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Thanks for the detailed pics!! Continue to be very interested by this...

Easy to see how vent extends into charcoal basket. Does this vent ever get clogged? Or does the stoker blower keep it free?

Ryan, you're using a water pan? Looks like w/o the diffuser you'd have a great little uds.

How much charcoal can you get in the basket? Burn time?

This looks really cool! Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks Chris.
I capped the 1-1/2" pipe and have six holes 3/8" in diameter, never clogs.
What is the differences between the Bullets and a UDS, I had always considered close cousins. Is it merely the introduction of water vapor, or the diffuser itself? Either way, I have not yet bbq'd on it without the diffuser/ water pan, but am eager to.
On a 65F day, the basket probably had 3.5 lbs of Cowboy Lump, and ran at 225 for > 14 hours.

Check out my other builds I posted below

My UDS Trailer
 
Ryan, Nice builds for sure!! Love the Double Barrel UDS trailer...how does she work? Did you compete with it?

I use my bullets for, mostly, indirect cooking...with a pan full of water. Low n Slow cooks here.

When I use the UDS I'm doing it without a diffuser. The drippings from meat cooking above drips directly onto the coals. I'm usually going a little hotter and faster with these cooks.

14 hour burn time is great!! I've been thinking about a stoker/guru...may need to think harder. We use our modded smokey joe most often.

Thanks again for the pics!!
 
The UDS trailer works as good as most offset stick burners. I have a couple tweeks in mind to make it work more efficient. Otherwise, though, the thisng holds a temp very effectively. We have used it in a few comps, but vacuums are a bit much for overnight.

If you are considering a Stoker or Guru, I have found a very effective and relatively inexpensive alternative here. Temp Controller
 
Originally posted by Ryan Abood:
The UDS trailer works as good as most offset stick burners. I have a couple tweeks in mind to make it work more efficient. Otherwise, though, the thisng holds a temp very effectively. We have used it in a few comps, but vacuums are a bit much for overnight.

If you are considering a Stoker or Guru, I have found a very effective and relatively inexpensive alternative here. Temp Controller

Ryan, neat little temp controller. The product instruction states that the unit be plugged in to 110 V power source. Does this mean that the unit can not be used unless to have a standard utility 110V. I am thinking that some comp locations don't provide power or charge $50 for such. I have heard that there is another power source that is portable and independant but don't know what it is. Any ideas?

Mark
 
For the competetion we were at, I ran the Stoker and a laptop on a portable car battery jumper that also has 110V plugs. Prior to the event, I recall testing the stoker only on the unit and I believe it ran for > 16 hrs, at least. Hope that helps. I havent done many comps but the Albie ribbon one was the first where there was no free electicity.
 
Excited about my new addition to this smoker. Now it can be truly called a "Mini Bullet". Added an old smokey joe bottom (three dampers) as the lid. Fits flush with the 10 gallon barrel so will add these from rocks bbq (WSM Grill Adapters). Works great; so much more room on the top rack.
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Standing by for lift off. Commence countdown.
10, 9, 8, 7,......
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Nice addition Ryan. Are you planing on doing any more comps with it? If so which one(s).
 
Thats a great looking cooker!

I'm looking to outfit my mini with my home made temp controller and had a couple questions on how you rigged your up. You pulled out the bottom damper and cut out the middle and put 1 1/2" pipe flanges on each side? Do you have the bottom part of the T fitting capped so it can't pull a draft naturally? Do you think it needs that large of a pipe? I was considering going smaller.

Thanks! I was thinking of mounting mine to the top of the charcoal bowl similiar to where the vents on the gold would be but I figured there might be stability problems, your design would eliminate that!
 
Originally posted by John09:
Thats a great looking cooker!

I'm looking to outfit my mini with my home made temp controller and had a couple questions on how you rigged your up. You pulled out the bottom damper and cut out the middle and put 1 1/2" pipe flanges on each side? Do you have the bottom part of the T fitting capped so it can't pull a draft naturally? Do you think it needs that large of a pipe? I was considering going smaller.

Thanks! I was thinking of mounting mine to the top of the charcoal bowl similiar to where the vents on the gold would be but I figured there might be stability problems, your design would eliminate that!

That's right, two floor flanges connected to each other. 1-1/2" is overkill, could get by with 3/4", with plenty of perforations in the pipe. Yes, I cap the bottom of the T fitting, can attach a ball valve to regulate if not stoked.
 

 

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