Tuning plates? Need side box smoker help!

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by tedrodgerscpa

All,

Took the plunge today and picked up a Char-Griller 5050 (combo grill / smoker with a firebox on the side) for a cheap price. I have done a bit of research, and see "veteran smokers" referring to the need to add "tuning plates" to even out the heat in the smoker.

While not the best reviewed smoker out there, I needed to get my feet wet. That, and our old grill gave up the ghost.

Has anyone added "tuning plates" to their horizontal smoker?

Any suggestions on how to get these fabricated?

I know there are lots of BBQ forums out there, but I like you guys, so I thought I would ask here first...

I don't think you will need tuning plates with such a small cooking footprint. If you had say a Brinkmann smoke n pit, then tuning plates would help a lot more as the barrel is much longer and it would help direct the heat along the length better. One good mod is to lengthen the smoke stack to touch the grate. And you could do the pizza pie plate baffle which would help to regulate temps a bit better. For such a small footprint fireplace bricks alone would regulate heat.

Btw, the mods I did to mine (I recently sold my SnP Pro) all came from the links Brad provided.

[tedrodgerscpa]

Thanks, fellas!

Did the chimney mod with 3" aluminum ducting (a bit tough because my chimney had a flange on the inside; needle nose pliers took care of it!)

Picked up a cookie sheet that fit the measurements perfectly, and used it as a baffle. It actually did TOO good of a job, as the grate temperature at the firebox was less than the side OPPOSITE the firebox.

Next mod will be to drill a few holes in the cookie sheet, as it really funneled the heat to the far side of the smoker.

[688sonarmen]

There you go!