Hello all,

The wife finally gave up on waiting for me to complete my work built offset
smoker and...
let me pick up a Charbroil H2O bullet smoker. As I type this it is out back
on a beautiful sunny afternoon with a couple of 3 1/2 lb. chickens smoking
away. I'll let you know how they turn out later tonight...
Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it. Right now it
is set up as per manufacturers specs, with water pan etc. I've seen some of
you fill the water pan with sand and do some other ingenious mods, but what
is the general consensus on other mods?

Thanks in advance,
Darryl in Ontario.

On 22-Apr-2004, "D. Klement" > wrote:

> I've seen some of
> you fill the water pan with sand and do some other ingenious mods, but
> what
> is the general consensus on other mods?

Darryl, I don't want to be a fussy pants, but there's been tons written on
this subject in the recent past. Please google search on this newsgroup
for "ECB" or "Bullet Smoker" mods or some such. You can also get a
lot of info from <http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/>. There you will find
most if not all of the output from this newsgroup.
--
M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")

> On 22-Apr-2004, "D. Klement" > wrote:
>

Long time no see there Darryl. Welcome back, hope your next post isnt as far
apart as your last.
You were good to have around here.

D
--

> The wife finally gave up on waiting for me to complete my work built
offset
> smoker and...
> let me pick up a Charbroil H2O bullet smoker. As I type this it is out
back
> on a beautiful sunny afternoon with a couple of 3 1/2 lb. chickens smoking
> away. I'll let you know how they turn out later tonight...
> Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it. Right now
it
> is set up as per manufacturers specs, with water pan etc. I've seen some
of
> you fill the water pan with sand and do some other ingenious mods, but
what
> is the general consensus on other mods?

If you bought a bullet smoker intending to devote extra time and expense to
it to make it work better ... might be easier to simply start with the best
bullet smoker out thre in the first place and be done with it: the Weber
Smokey Mountain. A WSM will hold 225*F for 5+ hours at a stretch without you
so much as lifting a finger and can be bought new for under $200.

Wife Acceptance Factor aside, you might look into returning or selling the
Charbroil and buying a WSM since every dollar you put into the Charbroil is
a dollar that could go towards the far superior WSM. Hell, the WSM is so
tight and miserly with fuel that over time it will have a lower total cost
of ownership since you'll spend less on charcoal. If you use lump the
breakeven will happen even earlier. Plus the Weber will most likely last
longer, and their customer support and warranty are even better than Lexus.
And if you just can't help yourself with modifications there's plenty that
can be done to the WSM to make it even better.

"Jason in Dallas" > wrote in message
. ..

> If you bought a bullet smoker intending to devote extra time and expense
to
> it to make it work better ... might be easier to simply start with the
best
> bullet smoker out thre in the first place and be done with it: the Weber
> Smokey Mountain. A WSM will hold 225*F for 5+ hours at a stretch without
you
> so much as lifting a finger and can be bought new for under $200.

I dunno Jason...it really sounds like he's looking forward to modifying it
to me.

>>"Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it"

Perhaps I misinterpretted. Nothing wrong with buying the WSM to begin with
but for those of us who's finances are lacking (speaking for myself, here)
there's also nothing wrong with liking to tinker with things to make it work
better also...sometimes that's half the fun!

Darryl, here are a few links to bullet smoker style modifications that I've
found. I'm not sure how many will be applicable to your unit as I'm not
familiar with the Charboil units but hopefully you'll find these of use:

http://www.randyq.addr.com/ecb/ecbmods.html
http://www.mlmartin.com/bbq/
http://community.webshots.com/album/85230444qwxKGC

Have Fun!!!

J.P.

"J.P." > wrote in message
news
> "Jason in Dallas" > wrote in message
> . ..
>
> > If you bought a bullet smoker intending to devote extra time and expense
> to
> > it to make it work better ... might be easier to simply start with the
> best
> > bullet smoker out thre in the first place and be done with it: the Weber
> > Smokey Mountain. A WSM will hold 225*F for 5+ hours at a stretch without
> you
> > so much as lifting a finger and can be bought new for under $200.
>
> I dunno Jason...it really sounds like he's looking forward to modifying it
> to me.
>
> >>"Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it"
>
> Perhaps I misinterpretted. Nothing wrong with buying the WSM to begin
with
> but for those of us who's finances are lacking (speaking for myself, here)
> there's also nothing wrong with liking to tinker with things to make it
work
> better also...sometimes that's half the fun!
>
> Darryl, here are a few links to bullet smoker style modifications that
I've
> found. I'm not sure how many will be applicable to your unit as I'm not
> familiar with the Charboil units but hopefully you'll find these of use:
>
> http://www.randyq.addr.com/ecb/ecbmods.html
> http://www.mlmartin.com/bbq/
> http://community.webshots.com/album/85230444qwxKGC
>
> Have Fun!!!
>
> J.P.
>
>

Thanks for the links J.P. , I lost a bunch of good ones when I changed over
to the new computer.
I bought this unit to experiment with as I and the whole famn damily were
getting inpatient with my work built project of a offset unit similar to the
ones Klose builds.
I haven't seen a whole lot of variety of units up here in Canada, it was
this or a Big Green Egg (way too much money), or another offset unit, sorry
I forgot the brand (again way too much money).
I'm just hoping this will tide me over until I can finish the work built
unit.
The charbroil looks similar to the ECB, but without the vents.
The two chickens were beautiful and disappeared very quickly, I'm going to
try a beef roast tomorrow if the weather holds.

Thanks,
Darryl in Ontario.

D. Klement wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> The wife finally gave up on waiting for me to complete my work built offset
> smoker and...
> let me pick up a Charbroil H2O bullet smoker. As I type this it is out back
> on a beautiful sunny afternoon with a couple of 3 1/2 lb. chickens smoking
> away. I'll let you know how they turn out later tonight...
> Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it. Right now it
> is set up as per manufacturers specs, with water pan etc. I've seen some of
> you fill the water pan with sand and do some other ingenious mods, but what
> is the general consensus on other mods?

If it has legs instead of sitting on a base:

<http://www.mlmartin.com/bbq>

Matthew

--
If the war in Iraq was over oil, we lost.

D. Klement wrote:


> Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it. Right now it
> is set up as per manufacturers specs, with water pan etc. I've seen some of
> you fill the water pan with sand and do some other ingenious mods, but what
> is the general consensus on other mods?
>

Darryl,

I own the same unit. I did not make any modifications, except for
adding a grate in the coal pan. Adding the grate will allow for the
coals to be up off the bottom of the pan and will burn better.

After using it for about 4 years, I finally bought what a I should have
bought then. A WSM. The charbroil works ok, just a pain to maintain
temperature for long cooks(over 4 hours).

Enjoy your cooker.

Happy Q'en,
BBQ

"bbq" > wrote in message
news:ACDic.24392$IW1.1190398@attbi_s52...
>
>
> D. Klement wrote:
>
>
> > Now the fun part... What should I do to this unit to modify it. Right
now it
> > is set up as per manufacturers specs, with water pan etc. I've seen some
of
> > you fill the water pan with sand and do some other ingenious mods, but
what
> > is the general consensus on other mods?
> >
>
> Darryl,
>
> I own the same unit. I did not make any modifications, except for
> adding a grate in the coal pan. Adding the grate will allow for the
> coals to be up off the bottom of the pan and will burn better.
>
> After using it for about 4 years, I finally bought what a I should have
> bought then. A WSM. The charbroil works ok, just a pain to maintain
> temperature for long cooks(over 4 hours).
>
> Enjoy your cooker.
>
> Happy Q'en,
> BBQ
>

I was thinking of the same thing today as I was doing a nice hunk of beef.
I'll have to scrounge at work for some heavy screening to cut into a circle
for this.

Thanks,
Darryl.

On 24-Apr-2004, "D. Klement" > wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> As I posted earlier this week, I got a Charbroil H2O and had done a couple
> of chickens for my first attempt. This morning I fired it up again and
> about 6 hrs later the lovely roast of beef was done. It was done over
> charcoal
> with cherry wood chips. The flavour was fantastic and the wife told me I
> had to come on here and brag : ) The pic is posted to the binary group.
>
> Darryl in Ontario.

You've done almost everything you were supposed to do. You didn't even
forget to
brag about it. But you did forget to send out the dinner invitations.
..--
M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")