Home Grown Gravity Feed with Flameboss 500

[dacolson]

Lookin sharp tinspark!

Thanks BigT. A painter buddy came over the other day and had the first coat on in about a half an hour and painted it where it sits. After a few beers, a second coat went on. I did the red from a spray pack a few days before he arrived.
I decide to tone down the colors. Ok, truth be told, the wife hated my original color scheme idea and wanted this to match my other smoker, which this will be sitting next to.
she was right!

First of all, it looks great. Second, that’s awesome that the wife chimes in on the design. I get a lot of “you’re building another one?”

[tinspark]

Made a little more progress on my naked GF. Mitering in the aluminum corner trim one piece installed- maybe get some more done this weekend.
Adding a fold down shelf. Will install it after trim work is completed.. Seems like it has taken a long time for this build to finish, but in actuality I did start it the last week of July, so 3 months isn't really too bad I guess for a home grown gravity feed.. Will post more pics later. I am adding a few more doo-dads still

Looks real good. I like the details you put in the handles and the shelf.

Dual temp probes too.


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Thanks Dargo, The handles are comfortable in the hand. Did it for the wow factor. I noticed that most have a pipe or rod handle. So I dont like running with the crowd much. Those work fine though. Also I wanted a shelf on the other side and like the turn wheels on the handle side, so......
I remember the first tool cart I built when I was an apprentice I put the wheels opposite teh handle (I was thinking shopping cart). I got teased about that, and never forgot that lesson or made that same blunder again. Much easier to turn a heavy cart when the turn wheels are directly below the handles, or as close as possible.

Maybe some brisket for first cook, or tri-tip..... Will definitely post some que-view pics when I get there. I have been using my other smoker regularly in the meantime. I have a very nice stainless steel gas grill that I haven't fired up all summer except to heat some beans. And did that to get the spider webs outa it !!! Nice as a backup to my backup I guess..
Nice hearing from you Dargo!

[Dargo]

I was not sure about your aluminum trim idea, but now that I see it I like it.

To bad your wife did not approve the green. I was actually looking forward to it.


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[tinspark]

I was not sure about your aluminum trim idea, but now that I see it I like it.

To bad your wife did not approve the green. I was actually looking forward to it.


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I was trying to avoid sheet warpage by only tac welding the exterior skins, and was able to drop to 16 gauge in order to keep weight down, and save a few bucks. Had zero exterior warpage which would have been more apparent after paint. And yes trim looks good too if done correctly.. but was more to cover the tac welds and raw sheet edge. I welded the interior cook chamber skins solid and also used 16 gauge there as well. Had minor warpage inside, but that was expected. Pre-plug welding my slide rails to the sides prior to fully welding the interior was key to being able to use 16 ga. inside since they act as stiffeners.

[tinspark]

Got it finished and tried out the flameboss 500 controller.
It felt like i was cheating. It did everything that i asked. I threw a couple of ribs in it and tried the 3-2-1 method.
First 3 hours at 200° then wrapped at 250° for 2 hours, then let them dry at 300° for 1hour while mopping them with sauce. The controller got me to temp in about 20 minutes including startup with a weed burner. Very tender. Threw in a few pieces of small wood in ash box. Couldn’t taste a difference from my RF stick burner and my new GF.
But these were noticeably much more tender! Very happy with it. Making a mount for my controller today and some cord/cable ties..

[Dargo]

I have been waiting for you next update. This was a good one. Your build looks very nice.

I have to agree with you so far on the food, plenty of smoke flavor and more moist than the stick burner. The pulled pork I did on the GF were the most tender and moist I have made, compared to my other smokers.

I am jealous on that huge side table. I just use the table from my other smokers.

Those ribs look good.

Curious, what did your front thermometers read when you were at 250?


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[tinspark]

They were within 5 degrees of each other, but both read about 10 degrees lower than my controller temp. I think it may be due to the fact that most of the probe is buried in insulation and it may be picking up a mean temp between the insulation and the CC temp. not an issue yet, since I am relying on the controller temp. I really like the smartphone feature with this controller. It tells me things like, temp, it has a time a time temp graph. I like this because a few times on my stick burner I forgot what time I started, or did something. It also shows when U open your door to mop or unwrap, because you see the temp drop on your graph with the time, That was pretty cool. An alarm goes off when I opened the door at the cooker, and it sent an alert to my phone too. I emailed a link to a few buddy's and they were able to watch my cook live on a graph. It Can also change temps on phone at any point during the cook, which ramps up the fan to increase temps or drops fan CFM to lower temps.

[Dargo]

That is not bad from top to bottom or even from door mount to grate temp. Seems pretty even to me. My door mount probe is too short so I cannot trust it. Will mount a 3” probe tomorrow and may use the smoker on Monday to see if it is better.

I understand what you mean on feeling like cheating, specially when you are coming from the stick burner. That is why I have not bought my controller yet, I know it is only a matter of time.

I have the Meater block, so I know what you mean about watching temps and graphs, great to go back and see how long the last cook was. Since I have the Meater it may help me hold off on the controller longer.

I made a small mod to mine that may help you if your fire grate starts clogging (I know you said you did not have to shake it at all).
I put a grinder and flap wheel to the top of the fire grate. Made a small 45” angle at the top corner of every slot. Had it running for around 10 hours to set the engine paint and help dry the new paint job. Did not shake it once and the temps held more stable.

Keep us update on your cooks. I am glad you built it and like it.

Made ribs yesterday on mine in 30 degree weather and the outer skin was cold to the touch in most places.


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[tinspark]

I made a small mod to mine that may help you if your fire grate starts clogging (I know you said you did not have to shake it at all).
I put a grinder and flap wheel to the top of the fire grate. Made a small 45” angle at the top corner of every slot. Had it running for around 10 hours to set the engine paint and help dry the new paint job. Did not shake it once and the temps held more stable.


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I actually shook the grate a few times and did get a bunch of ash to fall during the cook as a test.
But it never dropped my temps. The fan cycles up to compensate for temp drop.
My graph never showed the fan above 35% except when I fired it up initially or opened the door to wrap and later to unwrap.
The fan went to about 80% during those times.
I was reading a lot of threads where others had problems with ash build up and how they fixed it.
If I need to, I was thinking of chopping/plas cutting my removable charcoal grate apart, saving the shell and adding 3/8: square rods turned 45 degrees, or oven some 1/8" flat bars on the vertical. I am wondering if it will burn a lot more fuel though if I let it breath too much, and if a small layer of ash, with the fan blowing more or less directly on the ashless coal bed, or if it finds a sweet spot between a small layer of ash opposed to no ash and direct induced air directly to an ash-less coal bed. I will definitely keep my eye on that one and see it ever turns into a noticeable problem. Also I was I was expecting a lot more ash. I cooked for 6 hours on maybe 6-7 lbs of Kingsford briquettes , and actually let it burn another hour so that I could eat and clean it out after that.. and had less than an ashpan full of ash i my 9x9x 1-1/2" deep removable ash pan.

Our high is 80 deg F tomorrow, low 48 deg.. Perfect bbq weather, but the air quality is still bad as it was all summer!. We still have some major fires blazing here. I am about 20 mile from the base of the base of the Sierra National Forrest, and we get that smoke trapped here in the San Joaquin Valley. This used to be a nice place to live growing up, but with all of the dead trees, It might be called the Sierra National Desert some day. .

[Dargo]

I have been surprised how little ash mine makes also. So I believe it is benefit of the GF. Must burn very efficiently.

I do remember reading that you had to wear a mask it was so bad. Are you worried about the food in the smoker on those bad days? I was curious about that.


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[tinspark]

Haha! I've never really thought of that. Not too worried about the food. That stuff is sealed up as "snug as a bug in a rug".
Our Air is better than it was, but still "unhealthy for moderate groups", but not in the "hazardous" range. I'm guessing any smoky wildfire air will pass through the coal bed and hopefully add to the flavorful awesomeness! haha!!.

Note to self... Next time I use this thing, cook on the lowest racks, or take out the ones I don't use!! That way I only need to clean the racks that I use, I cooked on teh second from the top and had to clean 4 out of 5 of them . Brilliant move Sherlock!!

[towtruck]

Haha! I've never really thought of that. Not too worried about the food. That stuff is sealed up as "snug as a bug in a rug".
Our Air is better than it was, but still "unhealthy for moderate groups", but not in the "hazardous" range. I'm guessing any smoky wildfire air will pass through the coal bed and hopefully add to the flavorful awesomeness! haha!!.

Note to self... Next time I use this thing, cook on the lowest racks, or take out the ones I don't use!! That way I only need to clean the racks that I use, I cooked on teh second from the top and had to clean 4 out of 5 of them . Brilliant move Sherlock!!

You did not get the lower racks dirty......you added seasoning!

[tinspark]

Haha! I've never really thought of that. Not too worried about the food. That stuff is sealed up as "snug as a bug in a rug".
Our Air is better than it was, but still "unhealthy for moderate groups", but not in the "hazardous" range. I'm guessing any smoky wildfire air will pass through the coal bed and hopefully add to the flavorful awesomeness! haha!!.

Note to self... Next time I use this thing, cook on the lowest racks, or take out the ones I don't use!! That way I only need to clean the racks that I use, I cooked on teh second from the top and had to clean 4 out of 5 of them . Brilliant move Sherlock!!

You did not get the lower racks dirty......you added seasoning!

Good point Towtruck. point taken. Old OCD habits kicking in..

[dacolson]

Great work Tinspark. You’re a pro, sir. You and Dargo are putting on a clinic for GF builds.


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[tinspark]

Great work Tinspark. You’re a pro, sir. You and Dargo are putting on a clinic for GF builds.


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Thanks Dave
You are a good craftsman too. Your builds all turn out amazing !

[tinspark]

My controller didn’t come with a mount, and I didn’t like the way the cord from the fan and the controller was just dangling. I knew it’d be jus a matter of time before I pinched it in my Destco door clamps. So I build some custom 16 gauge sheet metal wire stays to keep them from getting chopped off. Also built a stand for the controller to keep it off of the cook chamber. It sits under a water tight patio cover so it is exposed for now. Also there was a lot of extension cord weight pulling on the light gauge 120 volt controller cord. So i broke up a bracket to hold the power adapter too. I think that I am about done with this thing. About the only thing I didn’t do (which I still can do) is punch some holes for a grommet or two for the temp and grate probes. I have always ran the through the doors. The “ lava-lock” gasket seems to seal it ok. Any reason why I should add grommets and go through the side wall, like many have done? Frank sells a cool little high temp silicone grommet, or I was thinking I could fab something up pretty easily..

[Big T]

More custom additions with the bracketry I believe most guys add the probe ports just avoid the chance of pinching a cable by closing them in the door. Not to mention that it makes for a cleaner look without multiple wires sticking out of the door.

[dacolson]

Those brackets look great. The brushed trim work is a great touch. I use ports for the probes b/c I like them to go under the food grates. That way they are out of the way when I need to slide them out for rapping, etc.

[tinspark]

Those brackets look great. The brushed trim work is a great touch. I use ports for the probes b/c I like them to go under the food grates. That way they are out of the way when I need to slide them out for rapping, etc.

Great idea! I like it

[Dargo]

If you do end up making the ports. Consider putting one higher and one lower in the cook chamber. I have mine over the same grate and that is something I would do different. I have to go in front or through grates and that makes it harder to pull out grates.

Admittedly this was only a problem once, but when I get the controller in te future this may matter more. Right now my meater probes don’t need no wires.


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[Dirtytires]

I noticed some pinching on my cables when running out the the door and figured it was only a matter of time before one of them broke. Those darn things are expensive so I put a port in. Simple piece of threaded pipe that is big enough to run the connector thru and keep a pipe cap threaded on when not needed.

[tinspark]

Got my 11.5 lb packer brisket trimmed, seasoned and resting in the fridge for a long haul. Putting it on at about 10:30 tonight and hitting the hay. Will wrap in the morning when i wake up . Meat alarm set at 150°F, to wrap, so if it gets there before i am expecting, i will get a wakeup call..
Weed burner all set up ready to fire it up!!! tic-toc
tick toc..
On a side note, I made 3 sets of 16 gauge galvanized dog pooper scoopers for my kids many moons ago. They haven’t used them in years. I cleaned one set up (bleached it real good, cause ewe ) and it makes a great ash scoop to clean out my firebox in either of my smokers. perfect size!
I also like it cause i can still have hot coals in it and simply set it aside and wait til the next day to dump it in the trash. I have been trying to get in the habit to clean my smokers up while they are still hot.

[Dargo]

Looks good my friend. What wood do you have in the pan there?

Hope your first brisket comes out great.


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[dacolson]

Fire it up! Looks awesome!


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[tinspark]

What wood do you have in the pan there?

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Using some apricot
A friend of mine is a farmer and grow that and almond among other things.
I get it for a great price. Free