Are you planning on storing it in an urn and taking it to a restaurant when you are done?
any advice?
Please do! That grill is a perfect price for modding and with the price of higher end smokers, it warrants a try. I've also seen it for sale everywhere, Home Depot, Lowes etc...
Hey I found a few sites that are pretty helpful:
http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/offset_smokers.html (That guy doesn't recommended cheap smokers but then says a few models can be very good for a beginner )
http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downloads_files/CharGrilleMods.pdf
You can get that exact model from walmart for 170 bucks and it looks to be the best candidate for those mods.
From the limited use I have had with an off-set smoker you still need small fires in the main barrel to keep the temperature. For smoking in the models for have provided I would use indirect grilling method with the fire at the far end away from the smoke stack. You will need to add coals every hour to keep it going if you are going to try brisket, pulled pork and ribs.
Try some recipes from: amazingribs.com.
BTW I use lump charcoal in my Big Green Egg. I know the BGE is out of most people's price range but I use it almost every week end since I got it last year.
Side firebox smokers with charcoal are perfectly fine so long as you're willing to do some handiwork beforehand. Everyone says that they can't hold the heat long enough with charcoal but that's BS, you just need some smoker mods. Take the Char-Griller linked in the OP:
1. Swap out the stock thermo for a nicer, more accurate model
2. Buy some high-temp silicone and pipe it around the thermo and at the seam where the side box meets the main box
3. Rub some Crisco on the inside edges of the side box lid and charcoal tray. Then pipe some silicone on the box body where they meet. Close the lid and charcoal tray tightly to get a good seal against the silicone.
4. Buy some fiberglass fireplace cord and run it on the inside edge of the main box lid so that the lid is tightly sealed
5. Buy a small, flexible metal dryer vent and o-clamp and attach it to the inside of the smokestack so that the vent is at grate level
6. Take the main box charcoal pan, flip it over, and drill some 1/2" holes. Start with one hole in the center of the side closest to the side box. A few inches away to 2 staggered holes, then 4 holes, etc so that you have a V-shaped pattern with the point at the end closest to the side box. Put the charcoal pan in the main box upside-down.
7. Make an aluminum foil snake and put it underneath the charcoal pan in the main box so that is seals the gap between the charcoal pan and the inside of the box.
8. Buy a square "grill wok" or grill basket that's made of decent metal to use as the charcoal pan in the side box.
If you fill the grill wok with unlit charcoal and some dry wood chunks, light a chimney of charcoal and pour it on top of the unlit charcoal, and close everything up you'll have an airtight side box with the only airflow being in at the side box intake vent and out at the now lowered chimney. You get very good temp control and retention and the extra materials cost <$20.
If you do everything right there's no need to soak the wood b/c your fire will keep a constant temp of <350* (225-275 at the food) and the wood won't burn.
You need to make a youtube video and I will subscribe to your newsletter.
Offset smokers with fireboxes work best when fueled by wood. Wood fires produce more flame and smoke and transfer more heat to the cooking area via the flames. Charcoal is too condensed and emminates heat in a much smaller range, therefore in an offset smoker you have to build a huge charcoal fire to transfer enough heat to the cooking chamber and this burns out the bottom of the firebox much quicker.
Once you do get a large enough charcoal fire in an offset smoker it lasts a long while and doesn't have to be stoked and tended as often as a wood fire. But for the same reason a wood fire makes it easier to maintain the temp that you want because you stoke it more often.
With all of these cheaper offset smokers the first part to go is the bottom of the firebox regardless of what you burn in it. You can greatly improve the life of these by reinforcing the bottom of the firebox
Well I chickened out and got a normal grill. I read about it some more and there was no way I was going to actually pay attention to smoking for hours and hours.