New (to me) baby Jambo


 
GaryP

GaryP

TVWBB Pro
Made the six hour round trip up to Kyle today to pick up a used backyard Jambo. It's going to take more elbow grease than I thought to get it back to looking good inside and out, but I'm still glad I got it. I'll give it the love it needs. I'm still amazed when people think a couple inches of rancid grease in the barrel is a good thing.

On the way back we were able to stop at Blacks and get some que to go. My first time there so that was fun. The brisket had good flavor but was a bit tough. The pork rib and sausage were very good. Potato salad and green beans were good, Mac and cheese was a bit bland. Anywho, I'll drop one pick of the pit in the trailer. But not going to share any more until I get this thing cleaned up. Glad I didn't plan on cooking on it tonight! Cheers y'all. IMG_20211107_105250.jpgIMG_20211107_105304.jpg
 
So glad to see my stick burning buds Lynn and Dustin cheer me on! Just trying to keep up with you guys and your Franklins!

Dan I lived in CA up until a year ago and it blows me away to see these offsets for sale here. I was in Knights Landing right on the sac river. Here they don't call offsets anything but "pits". Pellet grills, wsm and Kamados are the rarity here.

This puts my kettle/smoker count up to 13. My wife is very understanding...
 
I would like to see you post before / after and rebuild in this thread. I am sure others would find it useful. I have done them on my unusual finds and people seems to like them.
 
Well, tonight I decided to work on it a bit. It's kind of sad it's in this condition. Structurally it should be fine. But I think that's just a testament to how well they are built by Jamie. The amount of rust and buildup in the firebox was nuts. The pile shown in the pic is just a small portion of it. Hard to get pics when you're doing this stuff due to dirty/nasty hands. After scraping on the box for a while and trying to free the stuck firebox handle, I went to the barrel.

Yuck. Yuck. Really 🤢. Not sure the photos tell the story but it was approx 3 gallons of nasty old grease. When I opened the drain valve on the bottom and nothing came out. I knew I was in for it. So after clearing the valve and draining the yuck, I had to chisel off the burnt on bits by the firebox. Probably about 5 fist-sized balls of nasty came off. I'll take the grates to work tomorrow and pressure wash them. After that I bagged it all up and it was time for dinner.

I actually feel better about it getting that accomplished and kind of feel like I rescued it as weird as that sounds. It's still so weird to me how people use grills like that thinking it adds flavor and moisture to the meat. He actually told me that. And even more odd that you would spend big bucks on a pit and treat it that way.

Well, time for a glass of Pinot. I'll try and keep you guys posted as I go along. IMG_20211108_175259.jpgIMG_20211108_175305.jpgIMG_20211108_175333.jpgIMG_20211108_183439.jpg
 
People can justify lazy in many ways. I guess some expanded metal will be needed for the firebox. Our job certainly is not glamorous until they eat the fruits of our labors;-) Nice work - Thanks for the photos. Looking forward to more. Gloves help!
 
I don't understand letting grease pile up like that. It can't help flavor, any at all. And not to mention its a fire hazard. I try to remember to line the bottom of the cook chamber with foil before a cook. Makes clean up a breeze.

That should be thick enough steel that the rust should not matter. And the firebox below the cook chamber is the hardest place to season. I used canola oil on my Brazos and spraying was not so bad. But I'm using beef tallow on the Franklin and that spot is really hard to reach. And both will leave a mess on the patio under the cooker. I'm just learning to live with that.

I'm curious about the exchange between firebox and cook chamber ? I've heard Jambos have a deflector inside the cook chamber to direct heat and air flow up ?

That firebox grate is not in good shape. Not hard to replace. Or a Lone Star Grills fire basket ( or build your own from expanded metal ) might be a good option there. I used one in the Brazos. Lone Star makes them to correct their flat bottom firebox. They help keep a good coal bed.

Kosmo had the idea for the V-shaped fire basket , here

 
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GaryP said:
Made the six hour round trip up to Kyle today to pick up a used backyard Jambo. It's going to take more elbow grease than I thought to get it back to looking good inside and out, but I'm still glad I got it. I'll give it the love it needs. I'm still amazed when people think a couple inches of rancid grease in the barrel is a good thing.

On the way back we were able to stop at Blacks and get some que to go. My first time there so that was fun. The brisket had good flavor but was a bit tough. The pork rib and sausage were very good. Potato salad and green beans were good, Mac and cheese was a bit bland. Anywho, I'll drop one pick of the pit in the trailer. But not going to share any more until I get this thing cleaned up. Glad I didn't plan on cooking on it tonight! Cheers y'all. View attachment 40240View attachment 40241
Click to expand...
Don't you have a Franklin grill too?????

;):LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::censored::censored::censored::censored::censored:
 
Looks like it's going to clean up really nicely. I clean that grease out if any after each cook. Looks like he'd leave ashes in the firebox too. That's a big no no. The ash mixes with moisture and will eat a firebox eventually. I clean those out after each cook as well and spray the inside with pam. The pam will burn off immediately after starting your fire, but it helps while the pit sits. The outside seasons with pam well but it might not work for you. I understand those fireboxes are insulated. The good news there is once you get it painted the paint should last a long time compared to uninsulated.
 
Looks like you found yourself a treasure in time you’ll have a cooking the way you want it to cook for you be sure to post some barbecue pics 😎
 
Darryl- no franklin for me! Not yet anyway but I drool over them when I see one.

Lynn you are correct, the Jambo inlet from the firebox to the barrel is a ramp facing up and is just about level with the cooking grate. I guess it used to be a heavily guarded secret and guys would never take or post photos of that part of the cooker. Not too hard to find a photo now a days and if you're interested I'll post one for you. I'm planning on just welding on some new expanded metal on the firebox grate to start with. Might go to a basket later on.

Dustin I was wondering if pam in the firebox would be worth the effort, thanks for letting me know and that's how I'll handle it from now on.

As of now I'm planning on knocking it down with wire brush and sandpaper and hitting it with the Rust-Oleum hight heat semi gloss and see how it looks. I'm really hoping to get it done this weekend. I just scraped the barrel out tonight and got a ridiculous amount of grease out of it. Thank you everyone for the posts of encouragement. I've got my own little group rooting for me and it's awesome. I'll keep plugging away on it. Thanks again everyone, have a good night.
 
Almost makes me nostalgic for the Klose Backyard pit I tried to learn on (in CA....with nobody to lean on.) I sold that for a song and made some guy really happy......and made myself happy with my WSM, too. Now, your Jambo is a a grown up version of my little Klose, and I love that you rescued it from the abuse of its previous owner! That'll clean up real good, and give you some enjoyable stick burner time! I'll be keeping an eye out here for sure, Gary!

R
 
Rich- that Klose must have been a beauty! They are legendary. I've been loving playing with the offsets but I still have several webers and don't ever see me parting with my 18 and 22 wsms. As we all know they are hard to beat overall when it comes to flavor vs babysiting time.

Tonight I tamed the beast. The inside of the barrel is clean. And Lynn if you look close you'll see the inlet if you're interested. Last order of business before painting the outside is trying to get the firebox handle un-siezed. Going to bring some chisels home tomorrow along with some pb blaster. WD isn't cutting it. If that doesnt work, it's getting the torch and a three foot cheater pipe! IMG_20211110_185831.jpgIMG_20211110_185842__01.jpg
 
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