Just picked this up last night and put it together.
That's right, it's a classic ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann)
I've been smoking on my Weber Kettle grill up until now and have wanted to get a smoker for a really long time. Only problem is that they can get pretty pricey for a nice one. And with 2 kids, day care bills, etc etc etc.....I just couldn't justify shelling out big $$$ for a new smoker.
So I've been reading about ECB's on the net for a while. I don't think that it's any big secret that out of the box, they most often produce "less than desirable" results. They are very cheaply made, don't fit together well and are not engineered for maintaining temps at a desirable level. That being said, there are LOTS of articles that have been written about how to modify ECBs to get them to perform significantly better than they do out of the box. That is what I intend to do with this one. As you can see in the pic, the very first thing I did was install the legs on the outside of the body of the smoker as opposed to the inside. This allows you to lift the entire smoker on/off of the charcoal pan for easier access in the event you need to add more fuel. Much easier than going through the top when you have the barrel loaded up. Other than that, the smoker is out of the box stock right now.
Over the next week or so (time permitting) I will be making the following modifications to this unit:
1. Drilling holes in the charcoal pan to increase available oxygen flow.
2. Adding a small charcoal grill to the charcoal pan. It will sit about an inch off of the bottom to allow ash to fall down as opposed to smothering the coals.
3. Drilling holes and installing a damper kit from a Weber Kettle grill in the lid to enable better temperature control.
4. Adding a real grill thermometer in place of (or in addition to) the one that came with the unit. Or may just opt for a digital thermometer with a wireless transmitter.
5. Adding a fire proof replacement gasket from a Big Green Egg Grill around the base of the lid (just under the lip) to get a better seal.
From what I've read so far, folks have been able to turn ECBs into decent little smokers that perform pretty well with the above mentioned mods.
Sounds like a lot of work for such a cheap little smoker, but I actually enjoy tinkering around with stuff like this so it will be insteresting to see what sort of results I'll be able to produce post mods.
Anybody else got one of these that they've been using? Love to hear what your experience has been like....
That's right, it's a classic ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann)
I've been smoking on my Weber Kettle grill up until now and have wanted to get a smoker for a really long time. Only problem is that they can get pretty pricey for a nice one. And with 2 kids, day care bills, etc etc etc.....I just couldn't justify shelling out big $$$ for a new smoker.
So I've been reading about ECB's on the net for a while. I don't think that it's any big secret that out of the box, they most often produce "less than desirable" results. They are very cheaply made, don't fit together well and are not engineered for maintaining temps at a desirable level. That being said, there are LOTS of articles that have been written about how to modify ECBs to get them to perform significantly better than they do out of the box. That is what I intend to do with this one. As you can see in the pic, the very first thing I did was install the legs on the outside of the body of the smoker as opposed to the inside. This allows you to lift the entire smoker on/off of the charcoal pan for easier access in the event you need to add more fuel. Much easier than going through the top when you have the barrel loaded up. Other than that, the smoker is out of the box stock right now.
Over the next week or so (time permitting) I will be making the following modifications to this unit:
1. Drilling holes in the charcoal pan to increase available oxygen flow.
2. Adding a small charcoal grill to the charcoal pan. It will sit about an inch off of the bottom to allow ash to fall down as opposed to smothering the coals.
3. Drilling holes and installing a damper kit from a Weber Kettle grill in the lid to enable better temperature control.
4. Adding a real grill thermometer in place of (or in addition to) the one that came with the unit. Or may just opt for a digital thermometer with a wireless transmitter.
5. Adding a fire proof replacement gasket from a Big Green Egg Grill around the base of the lid (just under the lip) to get a better seal.
From what I've read so far, folks have been able to turn ECBs into decent little smokers that perform pretty well with the above mentioned mods.
Sounds like a lot of work for such a cheap little smoker, but I actually enjoy tinkering around with stuff like this so it will be insteresting to see what sort of results I'll be able to produce post mods.
Anybody else got one of these that they've been using? Love to hear what your experience has been like....
