Several grates at different levels are very common, as well as different door mechanisms. What style of smoker are you looking for? How much food do you need to cook at once? Size and shape is governed mainly by two things: Start with the food chamber and calculate the rest of the smoker accordingly. That is way less than most reverse flow smokers commercially available. My offset smoker ‘Rude Boy’ is a normal flow smoker, and I have a 5-8 degree temp variance in the food chamber. A well constructed offset smoker has no issues with temp swings. I think that is largely due to the many cheap offset smokers available on the market, which are badly designed and have large temp swings. And that without even having used one, reverse flow or not. NOTE: many first time builders I talk to have their mind set on building a reverse flow smoker since they just ‘know’ it is better. You get slightly more even temps with the reverse flow in a small smoker. That being said the reverse flow design suits smaller smokers better since the BTU (energy) in is wood high. If unsure of which to build, start with a normal offset smoker, due to a simpler construction. One must remember that air moves a lot faster through an offset smoker than in your ordinary kettle or kamado.
This distributes heat more evenly when it enters the food chamber. The hot air flow is slightly redirected by the smaller holes at the top, forcing some of the hot air down where the larger holes are. A common way to solve this is to use a slanting baffle perforated with different size holes. Completely depending on different constructions an offset smoker is typically hotter the closer to the fire you get. The main idea behind reverse flow is (as mentioned) to reduce temperature differences in the food chamber. Reverse Flow Offset Smoker – a different version Reverse Flow Offset Smoker with perforated baffle The most obvious sign of a reverse flow offset smoker is the chimney being mounted on the same side as the firebox. The drawback is that air must travel longer, thereby potentially reducing draft if it isn’t dimensioned properly. This helps even out temperature differences since the radiant heat from the baffle and food chamber walls heat up the air more evenly. Reverse Flow Offset Smoker Reverse Flow Offset SmokerĪs illustrated the reverse flow smoker uses a long baffle to move air all the way through the food chamber before being turned around, or reversed. Depending on how it is constructed it naturally runs hotter in the firebox end of the food chamber but this can be compensated for. This is a ‘simple’ design that works well. Hot air and smoke travels through the food chamber and out through the smoke stack. Normal offset smoker Normal Flow Offset SmokerĪs you can see from the illustration above, the fire is in the firebox to the right. There are roughly two types of offset smokers. ‘Offset’ means the fire is offset, typically sideways, so you get the indirect heat setup that is key to barbecue. How it worksĪn offset smoker is typically using wood as a fuel source. My aim is to take away some of the guesswork and myths when it comes to building offset smokers.
I discuss what you need to think of, and also what can be ignored. Below follows a detailed walkthrough of all parts of a smoker, regardless of whether it is a normal one or a reverse flow smoker. Being an engineer means calculating and measuring, instead of just guessing. I’m an advocate for what is commonly known as ‘fat-stack’ smokers. This page is thought to be your guide when building your own offset smoker. So, you plan to build an offset smoker? Congrats! It’s a large undertaking, but fun and educational.
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