My Brinkmann Smoker modifications
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 7:31 PM I got the bug over the weekend to work on a project so I thought I would tackle the smoker modifications I had been thinking about. There are several sites and postings online about smoker modifications, especially with the Brinkmann. By far the best one that I have come across is the Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker Modifications site. I based my changes off of there and below is a list of the things I did to 'improve' my Brinkmann Smoker.
First things first I needed a more accurate way of telling the temperature at which I was smoking, the ranges provided of warm, hot, and ideal were not really 'ideal' at all. I picked up a spare grill thermometer from Home Depot, drilled a hole in the lid and the temperature issue is now taken care of! Now it’s much easier to get the accurate temperature reading I was looking for. Doesn't it look pretty sitting up there on top?
Now, the charcoal pan has no way to lift the charcoal up, it just rests at the bottom and the vents get covered with ash making the coals burn cooler as the air flow is limited. I drilled four 1/4 inch holes about 1 inch high on opposite sides of the pan. Then added 2 inch bolts to hold a charcoal grate which I also picked up from Home Depot (the Weber 13.5 inch grate works best). Now the charcoal is lifted off the pan and getting the oxygen it needs.
Last problem was the ventilation issues. The smoker originally does not have a way to control the air flow, which means no temperature adjustments. Obviously the best way to fix this is to drill a couple holes in the top and in the bottom and add some adjustable vent covers. This proves to be easier said than done. I think I should have paid closer attention to the materials used buy the guy I linked to above, but I'm more of a 'take a glance at the plans and just go for it' kind of guy. For vent covers he used aluminum, and I used um... sheet metal, which proved to be a bit hard to work with. (I'm sure having proper tools might have been helpful as well.) I did however have a good pair of tin snips, so I just rough cut the vent covers and used a grinder to get them down to the appropriate shapes. Now, just a bit of warning to anyone wanting to copy this process... trying to drill three 1 inch 
holes in a round piece of metal is kind of tricky. So you might want to drill the holes first, and then cut out the covers. Also, make sure you have good metal drill bits, I had a cheap set that works well for wood but it is now missing 4 of the drill bits it originally came with. The original plans were for three vents on the bottom, however I thought that was a bit of overkill so I just went with two on opposite sides of the base. Air flow issues have now been fixed and I am able to throttle my heat up and down.
Out of the box I was able to get my Brinkmann up to 200 degrees at the highest, now I can crank this baby up to 400. Now I know that is a little high for smoking, but I do like the ability to control my air flow and adjust the heat as needed. Overall the smoker is running much better and more efficient than before, I cant wait to fire her up and see what kind of food she is capable of!
Reader Comments (3)
I did all the modifications listed on the site/tutorial that you mentioned and got lots of airflow. Temps got waaaay hot and hard to control!.... I did try stuffing aluminum foil around the gap between the lid and body of the smoker, but only worked okay and a pain when opening and closing the lid.
I bought fiberglass rope to seal the gap, but once i stretched it to fit, i had little pieces of fiberglass floating everywhere and sticking to the metal. I decided not to use fiberglass rope ( I don't think it's meant to be used around food). I'm looking into an oven gasket, but they are hard to find unless you order one and they can be expensive.
I agree, the dude that wrote the tutorial for the mods went overboard with the bottom vents. I did 3/4" holes instead of 1" and could have done 2 dampers on the bottom instead of 3. My top vent is from Weber, they sent it free of charge and looks nice.
Best luck with your ECB!
I'm in the process of doing the mods but haven't been able to find the 20 gauge aluminum. I found 25 gauge at Lowes but I'm not sure it's thick enough. Do you think it'll work or should I get a lower gauge? Thank you
The 25 gauge should be fine and will most likely be easier to work with. I think it just comes down to personal preference. Good luck with the mods, and happy smoking!