My father built a brick smoker when I was a kid, and later in life as a young adult we purchased a home in Odessa, Texas that had a brick pit large enough to do a small hog. This was just a large brick firebox with a grate and a massive steel lid on a cable hinge. There was an opening (with a cast iron door) on the side to add wood and to clean the fire box. I miss my brick smokers.
A Texas rite of passage, eh? I am down the road from you in San
Antonio, and my folks still have their pit that was built sometime
around '62. It is made of a native limestone brick, and it has a
crank on it to raise and lower a massive rack (3 1/2 feet wide and 24"
deep) up and down over a fire a little larger than the rack. The
total travel of the rack is about 24" or a little more. It has a
simple shop made hood that hinges on a long stainless piano hinge.
Nothing fancy, but turned out some great briskets when it was used.
It held real logs, and you cooked over a well prepared bed of coals.
No charcoal, nothing but wood. One day the internals will be mine,
and I will build a replica of it for myself.
A couple of thoughts on your endeavor (of which I applaud) that could
be as much or as little of an undertaking as you want to make it. I
still have relatives there in Houston and have worked there a lot over
the years. I don't know of many other places that will corrode even
the aluminum pits so quickly. Big iron will last in Houston, but it
needs to be kept out of the rain, and the unit cleaned and painted
once a year or so.
Stainless pits usually suck unless they cost a fortune, or are propane
units.
Dave's recommendation is an excellent fit, but an expensive one. Not
much to go wrong with a ceramic cooker, no matter the weather.
My thoughts would be the WSM. I have used the daylights out of mine,
and never thought I would be so happy with a smoker that is this
cheap. I bought mine at Amazon for $199 including shipping, and it
even came with a cover. Since it has a baked porcelin finish, it is
easy to maintain and clean, and with the cover, it is pretty
weatherproof. Even the legs are almuminum, so if it gets wet or
stands in water, it won't hurt anything.
The ONLY drawback I have experienced with this unit is its size. I
can't put a brisket bigger than 13 - 14 lbs in it, and I can usually
get 16 lbs and maybe a bit bigger at the Sam's by the house. When I
have the boys over, I like to do a large brisket, some ribs, sometimes
chicken, and sausage. To do this I have to use both my WSM and my
Chargriller unit. I miss the old monster unit, but in reality only
need to put out that much chow about 3 - 4 times year.
So the current setup is good for me. If you don't cook a brisket any
larger than the 13/14 lbs guys, you are set. You can still lift off
the rack and put some ribs or chicken under the brisket once you have
your timing down on the cooking. But I have to say, if they make a
super WSM someday, I will be the first in line.
If you are set on building your own, there are a lot of brick pit
plans out there, and a lot of them are free. Google "smoker plans"
and "brick smoker plans" and you will find a lot of plans, too many to
list here.
And example is the The Wilbur T. Hog pit. It is one pretty pit and a
lot of folks have made this one:
http://tinyurl.com/6jqyvd
I hope you let us know how it goes.
Robert