Next time buy a great new MECO AMERICANA smoker , Electric works really nice, gas is good too..... limit you hole drilling and extra odds & ends and just COOK/SMOKE great meat.......contained CHARCOAL imparts a bad flavor to your meats.... BAH !
Just to "update" this video, which by the way is really good, really covers how lacking this smoker was and problems with it, but I can upgrade the cooking grill to an actual charcoal grill by getting Weber part number 7440 for $10.99 (Amazon). 13.5 inches and fits perfectly! The right part for the right job instead of the cooking grill for durability and how long it will last with live heat on it as compared to the cooking grill which is just to cook with no live heat on it. My opinion, yours may differ which is o.k. with me, I guess you can use either one??? Another upgrade is to get from Amazon: Polar Array BBQ Smoker or Pit Air Venting Damper kit. No need for big holes or sawing either, just a drill and 2 drill bits needed to install, around $15.95 a kit and has everything you need to install, and easier to do, at least for me. The one last item I did not get from the video for sealing the gap is what size rope gasket did he use? The kit he mentions comes in different sizes from 3/8 to 1 inch thick. He says the price for his kit was around $12-$13.00 so I am assuming he got 3/8 inch??? for the price. I read his source and they mentioned using 1/2 inch. I also have seen up to 1 inch rope being used but additional sheet metal screws were used to help secure the rope, but does look good! I bought the 5/8 rope (Amazon loves me!) and was only a couple of buck more just to make sure I get a good seal and not too gaudy with the 1 inch rope. I have done my mods to firepit but used 4 bolts instead of 3, 1 inch at 90 degrees. Put thermometer on the lid. Having fun today putting the rope on lid!!! Have to wait for the vent kits, will have them next week. 2 for bottom and 1 for lid, as shown on this video. I did do 1 thing different, I put the thermometer towards the front and the vent to the back, opposite of what is shown. Can't wait to get this back in action! MY BAD! I missed when he mentioned the gap, 1/4 to 1/2 inch but 5/8 is just slightly bigger than 1/2 so it should seal really nice!
This is awesome! I was about to throw my old one out because I could never get it to work right. But I'll try these mods and maybe get some more life out of it.
Thanks for the help Mike. During my move I found my 15 year old never been used Brinkman Smoke N Grill in the attic. Looks like I have some work to do before the ribs hit the rack!!!
