First time posting, so hopefully I dont mess up the images too badly.
I just want to thank LDean and WalterWhite for the great information. So far I love my little cooker. Its great for smoking for just 1-2 people.
I plan to insert the remote smoker thermometer prob through a hole in the side of the cooker, that way I dont have to worry about positioning it again every time I take the top off.
Fire Grate - this helps to keep big chunks of coals from falling down and clogging the air intakes on the bottom.
Charcoal Ring
However since this picture was taken I have increased the size of the ring to hold more charcoal. I believe it is about 30 inches in circumference I have done two cooks so far with it, the first putting 35 coals in the ring and inserting 6 lit charcoal for a minion method. Second time was 41 coals and 6 lit. Each time I was ran around 220 to 270 for close to 7 hours. In the future ill be going with more lit charcoal to get the temp up faster.
Cut design
I placed the tamale cooker inside the grill and turned it a couple of times, when I took it out I saw the faint black line where it was contacting the metal. I then drew a line inside that line to determine where I would cut the bottom out. I decided to cut the bottom out to make the cooker stronger as previously mentioned in other posts.
What to do with cutout.
Picture of the hole cut out of bottom. I used a dremel with a cut wheel to cut the bottom out. One thing I did learn last night, that where I cut it the curve fits the bottom of the SJS perfectly. So I started to design a ash mover/cleaner. I just have to figure out exactly how to attach it.
Ash cleaner, the plan is to inside a long bolt through the rivet of the bottom damper and then through the ash cleaner. I just have to figure out how to turn it to clean the ashes the best.
Thermometer
Grate Holders. Like someone else said you can use very small nuts and bolts to hold the 14" grill in place. You can also see where the thermometer prob comes in. I have three bolts to hold the grill in place. The two near the prob makes it easier to slip the grill in and out of the cooker.
Currently I am using a foiled 11.75 inch clay saucer. I would like to find one that is a little bigger and taller to hold more heat, to try to stabilize the cooker a bit more.
Things still working on:
Hammer the sides of the top of the tamale cookers rim in order for the SJS lid to fit correctly. Its still a little too tight. Set it up so that the remote smoker thermometer can go through the side of the cooker. I will also be adding a stackable grill that will sit on top of the other grill. I would prefer not to use a rib rack while doing ribs and the second grill grate would help to do 2 racks instead of just one at a time. Finally to figure out how exactly mount the ash cleaner.