Built in smoker

[TexasEd]

Long term planning here. I am builkding a new house and was thinking that it would be nice to have a built in smoker in the backyard with a stone surround, etc. Kind of like a stone oven with a grate and a cover.

My mom tried to talk me out of it.

I am trying to make a list of pros and cons, here is what I started with:

Pros:
stone should help regulate heat
I can make it almost as big as I want
I can include a gas starter for the wood
shouold be easier to clean out the ashes

Cons:
Will require some custom metal working (Grate, lid, door for wood)
Can't move it if I don't like the way the smoke is blowing, etc
Could become an albatross - If I just don't like the way it turns out it would take a lot of work to change it/tear it out.

What do you guys think?
Anyone have any good designs or tips?

 

[Jellydonuts]

Additional pros:

"My mom tried to talk me out of it"

 

[NickDanger]

I've had to remove albatrosses like that from all 3 homes I have purchased.

 

[wolfman]

Go for it. Dont worry wheather or not someone else will like it or not. It is your house, make it as enjoyable to yourself as you want.

 

[MrPhlegm]

I can include a gas starter for the wood?

You're not going to put wood in the pit before burning it to coals first are you?

You need to put a burning pit outside the BBQ pit and only put coals in the BBQ pit, otherwise you will get a creosote whang on your meat.

 

[Brisketexan]

Phlegm, the creosote concern (and it is a real one) is really only an issue with mesquite. That wood should be burned to coals before being put in the box.

Oak, pecan, and similar woods, can go right in the fire box, with no real creosote effect (so long as the wood is properly dried/seasoned -- green wood of any variety can give you the creosote taste).

I've thought of doing one, except it would be a hybrid -- it would work as an argentine style parilla for grilling, a cooper's style low but direct mesquite coal heat smoker, and an offset box smoker. I drew up a concept a long time ago. Now I can't afford to even think about it. Oh well.

 

[MrPhlegm]

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[Brisketexan]

Most every centex bbq joint where I can see the fire puts their oak logs right on the fire. For example, at the old Kreuz's, you used to have to step left to avoid stepping on the burning oak logs that were feeding heat directly to the pit.
From the New Braunfels Smoker site:

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[TexasEd]

Thanks,

Nick - your experience may have changed my mind. I'll have to see how things go after the house is up.

Ed

 

[NickDanger]

I wasn't trying to tell you not to do it. More like just musing. At the first house it was so decrepit that I could remove it with a digging bar. By the time I bought the second house I owned my own electric jackhammer.

One observation was that they had all 3 been abandoned. Ivy all over them and such. They were all also built in a manner that they could not be easily repaired. The metal had rusted and rendered them unusable. I had no desire to do so, but I realized that it was going to be very difficult to repair them and have them look good at all. Two were brick and one was rock.

I recently traded my Lammes for a yard mow. That baby had a grill surface of 48" x 24". The bottom of the firebox had rusted out. Actually the ash catcher underneath the firebox had rusted out. It needed painting and it needed a quarter cord of wood to develop any heat. It was just too big for what I needed in my own yard. I now leave the Q to the ranch where I have several big smoker/cookers and I grill steaks at home on my cheap gas grill. The point though is if you do decide to do it, keep in mind that smoking/cooking meat can be pretty hard on a unit left outside and you should plan against the obsolescence.

The ones in my back yards may have been 50+ years old. My homes were built in '43, '32, and '19-21.

 

[TEXumAS]

You should do this. My Dad had one in the house we had growing up....I still want one today.

 

[UTEE]

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[txtxyeha]

I say go for it. When house hunting a few years ago, on house we were looking at had a built-in smoker that was a definate plus. Reinforcing what Nick said, it was in decent shape.

 

[suttree]

You can add seasoned wood directly into the firebox. You can even add seasoned mesquite directly into the firebox. Creosote is only a green wood problem.