Does anyone have any sites for brick smokers plans. I would like to build a
brick smoker but also have a natural gas burner and/or a small jet burner to
assist in the fire box for my oak, wood, coal, and temperature control. 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.

I go through smokers about every for or five years here on the gulf coast.
Burners go out, walls rust, just the standard gulf coast cancer all metal
suffer from here from high temperatures and to just exposure of our weather.
We use covers, but if you use your smoker and grill at least three times a
week here in Houston, unless it is stainless it does not last. Now I could
buy a larger trailer cast iron style or higher end stainless but most
stainless are just grills you can "try" and utilize as a smoker. I figure
for my bucks, I would rather build a brick smoker. I would like to have an
open side where I can have a burner for grilling that I can close off for
smoking. My theory is to have a cast iron older style burner connected to
natural gas to start the wood, and if needed I can also utilize it to
regulate temperature. I think we all hate to add one more log when you have
less than 20 minutes left on a piece of meat. I also figured I can use
pellets from time to time just for the great smoke flavor and keep the temp
at 220F with a small burner in a closed system.

wrote:
> Does anyone have any sites for brick smokers plans.

http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/wdh.htm

> I would like to
> build a brick smoker but also have a natural gas burner and/or a
> small jet burner to assist in the fire box for my oak, wood, coal,
> and temperature control. 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.
>
> I go through smokers about every for or five years here on the gulf
> coast. Burners go out, walls rust, just the standard gulf coast
> cancer all metal suffer from here from high temperatures and to just
> exposure of our weather.

A kamado-style pit will do much the same.

--
Dave
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance
accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new
problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

>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

In alt.food.barbecue, wrote:
> Does anyone have any sites for brick smokers plans.

Sunset published some classic books of plans. Recent ones are
available on Amazon. Old ones are available on eBay.