Outer Rim Territories

Flower-Q (or Little Brown Egg) v2

The summer is the return of smoker season. If you recall, two summers ago I built a smoker following Alton Brown's instructions. I had issues keeping the temperature around 200-225 degrees. This summer I resolved to fix the issue. After my first attempt smoking pork shoulder, I found once again the temperature couldn't exceed 200 degrees F. Plus if it got cool, I dropped lower, now cold smoking and barely cooking. Worse yet, the internal wiring of the hot plate was becoming intermittent. The solution came in two parts.

First, I tried removing the chassis of the hot plate from the smoker, leaving the heating element in the smoker, along with a drip pan. This worked okay, except the plate only seemed either on-or-off, not less or more wattage. I learned through some dissection the "thermostat" wasn't one at all but rather a bang-bang-style regulator that used the chassis temperature as its guide. Ouch. I was lucky now to keep the temperature UNDER 250 degrees.

Second, I replaced the chassis with a outdoor weatherproof enclosure, heat resistant wiring, and a high-wattage rheostat. I fired up the smoker this morning with BBQ brisket, armed with my graduation gift IR surface thermometer (thanks!) and grill thermometer. After about an hour of adjustment, I now have a steady 210 internal temperature. The rheostat will allow for easy adjustment in warmer and colder weather. Plus, I'm less than half-power now. I should put the multimeter on it but I would approximate 300-watts. My poor garage may be on the verge of collapse but it does make a nice smokehouse. I wonder what the neighbors think? Next up, MAKE magazine's DIY coffee roaster. :) I need a drill press before I tackle that one.