Questions about 1977 Smoke 'N Pit Smoker

[Mike Levand]

I am dusting off the cobwebs and rust from my Dad's 1977 Smoke 'N Pit smoker.

It is basically looks like a 18.5 WSM.

It has the 2 stacks and can hold up to about 45 pounds of meat.

The water pan will hold 1/2 gallon of water and the Charcoal pan will hold about 10-12 pounds of lump charcoal.

I am going to attempt my very first virginal smoke on this dinosaur, but I have a few questions for the pros (A pro here, is anyone who has smoked at least 1 Pork Butt before).

As I said, this looks almost exactly in design to the WSM, with the following exception:

The domed lid has absolutely no vent holes to allow the oxygen / smoke to escape through the top dome, as in the WSM.

The bottom pan only has one circular hole in the Charcoal pan that will allow oxygen to enter the smoker.

How this works is that the oxygen enters through the bottom hole, gets heated and smoked up, takes a quick dip in the water pan, gently caresses the meat and then doubles back to exit out the same hole it came in through (at the bottom of the smoker).

My Question is this:

Do you think that (with only an intake vent hole on the bottom, and no vent holes on the top) this 1977 Smoke 'N Pitt, is going to be able to get the heat up to the necessary temperature level 225-275 in order to really come out with a good product that is edible?

Or (do you think) that because my Smoke 'N Pit has no top vent holes, I am doomed, and really just need to get out my drill bit and drill some holes that I can plug later with corks if necessary?

Because Pork Butt with bone is still relatively inexpensive........($18.00 for a 8lb. with bone-in).........I guess that I can just try it and see what happens.

I can always modify the 1977 model if need be to create top dome vent holes.

What do you think?

 

[Shawn W]

I think you'll probably end up drilling vents, but why not try it as is and see how it goes. Maybe you'll be surprised by how good or bad it is.

If nothing else you should get piece of mind you didn't mod it for no reason.

 

[Benny L.]

Yeah, fire it up as is, and if you need more air flow just crack the lid open a smidge to let a bit of air in/out the top. I learned that here from Bryan and it works great. Then you can judge if a mod is needed and/or worth your time.

 

[Pat Smith]

Mike - as it so happens, I still cook on a 1970's vintage Smoke n Pit when I am at my dad's house. It will indeed get up to the necessary temps to smoke. I have to control the heat with the amount of coals.

As I also happens, I have the original owner's manual from when he bought the smoker and I would be glad to share it with you via PDF when I return to Birmingham next week.

Contact me off list - I think my email is in my profile. If not, let me know and I'll get it to you.

In the meantime, fire that bad boy up!

Pat

 

[Mike Levand]

Pat, thanks so much for the offer. Just let me know your email address when you update your profile and I will contact you.

I do have a follow-up question for you.

As you know, with the Smoke 'N Pit, there is no domed lid vent control.

Many have suggested that I simply crack the lid of the dome to create the effect of a vented dome lid, and leave it at that.

Have you found that you need to crack the domed lid, or do you get the results you intended to get, by keeping the domed lid entirely closed during the cook, as the owners manual states?

Thanks for your help on this, and BTW, I did check out your profile and there is no email address.

 

[Pat Smith]

Mike - I updated my profile - sorry!

I've sometimes offset the lid slightly until the grill comes up to temp, then sat it down flush.

I've only had to do that when trying to get temps up to the 325 - 350 range to do chickens.

Otherwise, it seems to hold good smoking temps with the lid on, no drilled vents necessary.

It actually is a pretty solid little smoker - as evidenced by the fact that my Dad's is 30 years old and still in good shape. It most definitely is not to be confused with the Brinkmann "Smoke n Grill" that is sold at Wal-Mart, Academy, et al now. The gauge of metal used for the smoker itself is MUCH heavier than the ECB's.

That little smoker has smoked a lot of Boston Butts and bbq'd a TON of chicken over the years!

Pat