Finally built my mini


 
J

JesseT

TVWBB Member
I bought a Smokey Joe about a year ago on craigslist for $15 (new) and have been wanting to build a mini ever since.

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I bought the tamale pot at a flea market for $20. I had to cut and crimp the rim to fit the lid.

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I cut the bottom out leaving a cross shaped section to support the diffuser.

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I cut the handle off a 10.5" cast iron griddle to use as the diffuser.

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It holds steady temps very well. The thickness of the cast iron makes the temps rise and fall nice and slow.

We are going camping this weekend and we have a butt and some chicken planned for the mini.
 
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That's a fine Mini Jesse. My mini will be two years old next month and it got quite the workout. The kids are away (most the time) so it's had the last couple months off, but seeing yours tells me, I need to get mine going again. Have a great weekend this weekend, post some photo of your mini working in the wild
 
One other little mod that I made for the ash diversion. I bought a utensil holder at Ikea several months ago in anticipation of this build. It works awesome.
It is made of stainless and l have seen them often used as hobo stoves on You Tube.

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Waaaaaaa. I want to post a before build picture. Thanks for smoker project. The guys will appreciate.
Jesse, how deep is the cast iron? Does it hold enough water for the entire cook?
 
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Jody Abbott said:
Waaaaaaa. I want to post a before build picture. Thanks for smoker project. The guys will appreciate.
Jesse, how deep is the cast iron? Does it hold enough water for the entire cook?
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The cast iron is just a griddle. I never cook with water, but there is plenty of room to add a pie pan with water if wanted.

The next time I cook chicken I plan to pull the griddle and hot cook the chickens to see if I can achieve crispy skin.
 
Great looking mini! With no diffuser you will have no problem getting crispy skin chicken.

I very rarely use more than the steamer insert as a diffuser anymore.
 
CaseT said:
Great looking mini! With no diffuser you will have no problem getting crispy skin chicken.

I very rarely use more than the steamer insert as a diffuser anymore.
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X2 what case T said. All I Evers use is my steamer insert cut to size and wrapped in foil. I never cook with water in my mini as I believe the water is more of a heat sink. Great looking mini Jesse, I know you're going to love it!
Tim
 
Too bad you had to cut the handle on the griddle, Do you know that they make a griddle the same size without the handle?
 
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