Gas Conversion Complete (update added Igniter)


 
J

Jason Hixon

New member
So I just found out that it is against city code where I live to have a charcoal grill on a apartment patio. Because of that it is against my lease to use a charcoal grill on the property

I have a 18.5 One-Touch Silver and a WSM 18.5 I decided to convert them to gas.

I am using parts from a Weber Go-Any-Where Gas grill. It will have 3 burners when it is finished I have only installed one burner for now while I am waiting for the other burners to show up in the mail. It should have ~106 BTU's per sq inch. I am posting some pics up now and I will post some more when it is complete. I am using it right now with one burner to smoke some ribs.

I know I would prefer to have a charcoal grill but I will tell you what the consistency of the grill so far is amazing set it and forget it! I keep checking on it but it hasn't budged.

Before
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After
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With the WSM on top!
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Burner lit inside
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Igniter
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So what do you think?
 
Cool! I converted an ECB to propane just to see if I could and it works great! There is a company here in 'Bama that sells kits to convert just about anything to gas, but yours looks like it'll do the trick -

The proof will be in the pudding - or the cooking!

Good luck - and good luck fighting Big Brother - many municipal ordinances and lease agreements prohibit both charcoal and gas grills, leaving the poor occupants to figure out if there is a (gasp) electric grill or smoker worth buying.

Post some cooking pics!

Pat
 
I checked before I did anything if I can have gas grills and thats fine.

I couldn't find any kits online so I just figured it out.

I smoked some ribs today and the consistency was amazing I didn't need to adjust the temp once I got the temp around 225.

I am also going to add another grate right above the burners and put some ceramic briquettes to help with flare up and keeping the heat in the grill.
 
Looks very smart,would you be aloud to use one of them small smoker boxes to get a few wood chips in
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.Or is that a bit naughty
 
Here is the link to the Afterburner site (disclaimer - I have no connection to the company, and do not own any of its products), but your conversion looks absolutely superb!

The proof is in the smoking and it sounds like you're doing great!

Afterburner Gas Smoker Conversion

Pat
 
When I checked with the leasing office they had no problem with me smoking food as long as I don't use Charcoal.

I looked at the afterburner stuff but since I wanted to use it as a grill also and have different heat zones. Thats why I am installing 2 more burners so I will have 3 heat zones that are independently adjustable. So I will be able cook directly and indirectly just like if it had charcoal.

When smoked some ribs yesterday I through a drip pan in the smoker with some apple and pecan chips it worked out great they had a beautiful smoke ring (which I didn't take a picture of).

Here is a couple more pics.

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That is really nice! Please keep posting pics. This should really help some people having ordinance issues. I am considering it myself now. And those ribs look perfect, pulled back very nicely. Congratulations.
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The ribs were great they came clean off the bone but were not mushy. The ribs on the left I cooked then added the rub at the end. The ribs on the right I added the rub before I cooked them.

I found all the parts on ebay the burner and valve setup are ~23 dollars each. I did have to make the bracket and I am also building a cover for the air intakes near the valves so they don't blow out with wind gusts. I didn't have any problems yesterday but I have read of people having the flame blow out.

I love doing stuff like this!
 
So today I added a lower grate just above the burner. I will be using this grate for smoking wood while smoking and for ceramic briquettes while grilling to help keep flare ups down.

I tried it out with the single burner to see what temp it would reach. I could only get around 500 degrees which is fine since I am adding 2 more burners (they should be hear on Tuesday.

I also added a flavorizer bar just for kicks today since I forgot to get ceramic briquettes at the store today.

More pics

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Welcome to the forum Jason...
unfortunately you needed to do what you did to stay where you are....
cookin' with gas is good.
butt.
actually, that should be a BIG BUTT
cookin' with charcoal is KING.
no offense ... butt I'd move.
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Thank you!

The place we live at now is a townhouse style apartment and there is just to many good things about this place especially for the price. My wife works in Chicago and we are close to a train station that has plenty of parking and she is also 7 months pregnant so there is pretty much no chance of us moving. So gas is it for now and I am OK with that the smoked ribs last night were great good smoky flavor and I could not taste any gas flavor.
 
oh and I still have some of the last butt I smoked over charcoal. I will have to do another one before my little BBQ buddy is born.

Oh and I found a BBq buddy onesie at Target it was so cool!
 
A little update for anyone trying this you can't use a regulated hose from the propane tank to the Go-Anywhere regulator since it is basically an adjustable regulator. It will act like you tripped the safety you won't be able to adjust the flame that much I changed the hose to a propane hos you would normally use with a go-anywhere it works awesome great control.

I made some chicken tonight on it and it turned out great I did not take pics though (I was really hungry)

I am just waiting on my 3rd burner tube to come in the mail then I will add it.

I am also going to be building a better main grate using 3/8" SS rod and have my Brother in law TIG it together. I have thought about a maybe using hex bar stock like one of the high end grills I seen somewhere. Any thoughts??

Jason out!
 
Hi Jason,
I really enjoyed your pics and your conversion Idea. I have the mini-V from afterburner and I love it. Ed did a great job with the construction and engineering of his product and generating smoke is very simplistic. It is easily removable and depending on how long and what I am cooking, I can choose gas or charcoal.

The only problem that I have, and I have this when I use charcoal too, is my 22 wsm is so tight and that water pan is so big (never water, just foil) that I have a huge air flow problem. I have spoken to Ed about this issue (6PM on a Saturday he spoke to me for about ½ hour, great customer service). For me to cook at 300-350, I have to vent the lid just about 1/8”. All vents open on the bottom and top is still not enough air flow. I noticed in your pics you inverted your front door. I have tried this as well, but nothing except venting the lid works.

Since the thermometer on the lid is useless (mine is off about 50 degrees), I have thought about cutting another vent in its place but I haven’t had the guts to do it yet.

Steve
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by S Hoffman:
Hi Jason,
I really enjoyed your pics and your conversion Idea. I have the mini-V from afterburner and I love it. Ed did a great job with the construction and engineering of his product and generating smoke is very simplistic. It is easily removable and depending on how long and what I am cooking, I can choose gas or charcoal.

The only problem that I have, and I have this when I use charcoal too, is my 22 wsm is so tight and that water pan is so big (never water, just foil) that I have a huge air flow problem. I have spoken to Ed about this issue (6PM on a Saturday he spoke to me for about ½ hour, great customer service). For me to cook at 300-350, I have to vent the lid just about 1/8”. All vents open on the bottom and top is still not enough air flow. I noticed in your pics you inverted your front door. I have tried this as well, but nothing except venting the lid works.

Since the thermometer on the lid is useless (mine is off about 50 degrees), I have thought about cutting another vent in its place but I haven’t had the guts to do it yet.

Steve </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
JJ,
Go for it, you will love its versatility. Give Ed a call and I am sure that when you speak to him you will have not doubts.

Steve
 
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