instructables

Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker

by carterkimball

This Instructable will show you how to build the
ultimate backyard barbecue pit. This trailer mounted
smoker was built using an old 250 gallon propane
tank and is the perfect size large parties, catering,
competitions, or whole-hog barbecue. However, the
design principles and manufacturing process could be
easily applied to any size pit. My goal was to make a
simple, traditional offset smoker that was very fuel
efficient and maximized airflow in order to maintain a
clean burning fire. The design of this smoker was
largely inspired by the smokers used at Franklin
Barbecue in Austin, TX considered by many to be the
best barbecue in the country. While this is a large
project, it can easily be completed in a backyard or
garage a few basic tools.

Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 1

Step 1: Design

This first major design choice you must make when cooker. This calculator is a wonderful resource to use
building a smoker is what you're going to make the when thinking through your design and deciding on
cooking chamber out of. For this build I used an old the different dimensions.
250 gallon propane tank because they're made of
thick 1/4" steel and relatively easy to find but any For this smoker I used a much larger and taller
other kind of steel tank or pipe will work just fine. smokestack than is traditionally recommended in
order to maximize airflow through the cooker and
For the firebox I used 1/4" plate steel but also ensure a clean burning fire. When a smokestack is
included 1.5" of ceramic insulation to help retain heat too short it doesn't create enough draft causing
and improve fuel efficiency. I would recommend using incomplete combustion in your firebox which leads to
at least 3/16" steel for the firebox as anything lighter thick smoke and bitter tasting meat. I'd recommend a
will loose heat quickly causing you to burn more fuel smokestack that is 6" - 10" in diameter. You'll also
and will warp and burn out over time. The insulation is notice that the smokestack draws from the side of the
not necessary but definitely improves the cook chamber rather than the top like many other
performance of the smoker. cookers. This is to ensure that the hot air and smoke
flows directly across the grates where the meat is
A good rule of thumb for sizing your firebox is to instead of pooling in the top of the cook chamber.
make it roughly 1/3 of the volume of your cook
chamber in order to provide enough heat for you

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Step 2: Tools and Materials

Tools

MIG Welder
Angle Grinder
Cut off wheels (lots of them!)
Abrasive wheels
Clamps

Optional Tools

Oxy-Acetylene Torch
Metal Cutting Chop Saw
Metal Cutting Circular Saw
Jig Saw
Welder's Magnets

Materials

250 Gallon Propane Tank (cook chamber)

1/4" Steel Plate (firebox)
Square Tubing (firebox and cooking grates)
Ceramic Insulation (firebox)
Expanded Metal (cooking grates)
Angle Iron (cooking grate brackets)
Round Stock (hinges and handles)
Tubing (hinges and handles)
Flat Bar Stock (door seals)
Large pipe (smokestack)
Thermometer

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Step 3: Cutting the Doors
IMPORTANT: Cutting into a propane tank can be
very dangerous if not done safely so I'd recommend
having a professional clean and cut the tank for your
if you're not comfortable doing so. A good method for
cutting into a propane tank safely is to fill the entire
tank with water and dish soap in order to remove any
residual propane and safely cut into the tank.
The first step is to mark out where your doors are
going to be. I like to measure a quarter of the way
around the tank for the bottom of the door and then
have the top of the door a few inches from the top of
the tank. Use a level and soft tape to ensure your
lines are straight. If you're building a smoker for
cooking lots of whole hogs you may consider having
just one door instead of two. However, when you only
have one door you have a greater risk of distortion
when you cut out the door. All the internal stresses in
the steel are released when the door is cut from the
rest of the tank and the doors can flatten or distort
heavily making fitting them much trickier. This is why I
recommend two doors instead of one. It is also a
good idea to weld your hinges onto the door before
you finish cutting it out so the door remains in
alignment.
There are many different types of hinges you can buy
but you can just as easily make your own using some
tubing and round stock. If you're making your own
hinges you can cut some tubing and round stock to
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 4
length using an angle grinder and a cut off wheel or a
metal cutting chop saw if you have one. First, tack
weld the tube just above where you will cut out your
door.
Next, make the hinges that will slide into the tube by
bending some round stock in a vice. I was able to
easily bend the round stock in a vice using a piece of
tube to increase the the bending force but you could
also use a torch to heat the material and make the
bending easier. I used a simple jig to create a relief
bend in the hinges to leave room for the door seal at
the top of the door.
Now that you've got your hinges ready you can start
to cut out the doors but be sure not to cut out the
whole door until you've got your hinges fully welded
on. Cut along the lines you marked with an angle
grinder and a cut off wheel. If the tank still full of water
this part can get quite messy!
Once you've got the doors mostly cut out you're ready
to weld on your hinges. Simply slide the L shaped
round bar pieces into the tube and weld them onto the
door. Once your done welding the hinges you can
finish cutting out the doors.
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1. Clamp the stock where you want your bend and use a piece of tubing to
increase the force you can put onto the material.

1. Simple jig for making relief bend in hinges

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1. Relief bend for door seal

Step 4: Door Handles

You can make door handles in much the same way you made the hinges. I bent two more pieces of round stock
and fit a tube in between them in order to make handles. These types of handles are nice because the tube rotates
on the round bars as you lift the door which makes opening the doors much easier. However, anything you weld
onto the door that you can grab will suffice as a handle.

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Step 5: Door Seals

While not entirely necessary, adding trim along the doors helps to keep smoke and heat from leaking out the
cracks while you're cooking. I used 1" x 1/8" flat stock for these door seals and progressively clamped and welded
down the door to match the curvature. Use a flexible tape measure to calculate the length of the curves or just
leave the piece long and trim it once it's welded in place.

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Step 6: Smokestack
Now that you've got your doors finished it's time to
start on the smokestack. The easiest way to attack a
smokestack is to cut a hole in the top of the cook
chamber and weld a pipe to it. However, as I
mentioned before, you will get much better results by
moving your smokestack to be in-line with your
cooking grates at the middle of the cook chamber. For
the smokestack I'd recommend finding a large steel
pipe (5" - 10" in diameter) and leaving it long as you
can always cut it down to length once you know how
your cooker performs. It is much harder to make a
stack taller than it is to shorten one.
First, mark on the tank where you want the opening
for the smokestack to be. I marked a centerline and
went a few inches above and below it to get a big
enough opening. You also want the opening to be
wide enough so that it collects air from the whole
width of the smoker and not just the center. Once
you've got your opening marked you can cut it out
1. Mark your opening and few inches above and below the centerline of
the cook chamber
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 8
with the angle grinder.
Next you'll want to cut a notch into your pipe that is
the same height as your opening. Then you'll cut out
pieces to form the rest of the smoke collection. For
these pieces you can use 1/8" sheet or match
whatever wall thickness your pipe is. You can use a
piece of cardboard as a template to get the shape to
match the curvature of the cook chamber and the
pipe. I cut these pieces out with a jig saw but you
could also use a cut off wheel on the grinder if you
don't have a jig saw.
Once you've got all your pieces cut out you're ready
to weld them onto the tank, starting with the bottom
plate, the pipe, then the side pieces and top. Make
sure your bottom plate is welded in well enough to
support the weight of the tall smokestack.
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1. Making sure everything is plumb.

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Step 7: Cooking Grates
The next step is to make the cooking grates. There
are many different methods for creating a cooking
surface but I like to keep it simple with with two
removable cooking grates located in-line with the
bottom of the doors. If you want to increase your
cooking surface you could easily add more shelves
above the bottom ones. The easiest way to build a
cooking surface would be to weld a piece of
expanded metal directly to some supports in the tank
but making your grates removable makes cleaning
much easier and you'll thank yourself later.
For these cooking grates I used expanded steel (#9
thickness and ¾" opening size), ¾" x " angle iron,
and ¾" square tubing.
First you'll want to weld in some angle iron into the
cook chamber to support the grates. Make sure these
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 10
supports are parallel to each other and perpendicular
to the door so your grates will fit properly.
The next step is to measure size of your grates and
and cut out your expanded metal and square tubing
for the frame. Make a rectangular frame with the
square tubing to support the expanded metal then
weld it all together. Make sure to jump around with
your welds on the expanded metal so you give the
metal time to cool and don't cause any warping in the
grate.
Once you've got your expanded metal welded on
you're ready to install the grates. There is a small gap
between the two doors which I later welded a small
piece of expanded directly to the angle iron in order to
increase my cooking area.
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1. You can fill in this part with some more expanded metal to increase your
cooking area.
Step 8: Building the Firebox
Now that you've got the main chamber complete it's
time to build the firebox. You want your firebox to be
roughly of the volume of your main cook chamber
and should preferably be made of ¼" steel. If you use
thinner steel you will loose a lot of heat out of the
firebox causing you to burn more fuel and risk
warping over time. I also chose to insulate my firebox
with a layer of ceramic insulation of the top and sides
to help with heat retention and fuel efficiency.
Finding a large piece of steel pipe or a smaller fuel
tank is the easiest way to build a firebox but I chose
to fabricate my own box so I could insulate it and get
the exact size I wanted. For this firebox I used ¼"
thick steel plate for the interior box and 14 gauge
steel for the exterior skin covering the insulation.
The first step is to cut all the sides of your box. You
can have a steel supplier do this for you to make it
easier but you could also cut it yourself using a metal
cutting circular saw or a cutting torch. Once you've
got all the sides ready you can tack weld all the sides
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 11
together and then run welds along every edge. Be
sure not to but the edges completely together so that
you have a gap you can fill in with your welds in order
to achieve a stronger joint.
Once you've got the box all welded up you can cut
out the opening for the door and the connection to the
cook chamber. I built the door for the firebox using the
same method as I did for the cook chamber doors.
If you're going to insulate the firebox the next step is
to weld some square tubing along the sides your
going to insulate. I used 1 ½" thick ceramic insulation
which I ordered online and 1 ½" square tubing to
capture the insulation. After you've got the tubing
tacked in and insulation in place you can complete
the firebox by covering the insulated sides with some
thinner steel. I used 14 gauge sheet to save weight
and cost. However, do not cover the top of the firebox
yet as you'll need the ¼" plate exposed for welding
onto the cook chamber.
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1. Leave a gap here to get a stronger weld.

1. 1 ½" Ceramic Insulation

Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 12

Step 9: Attaching the Firebox
Now that the firebox is finished you're ready to attach
it to the cook chamber. This is one of the tricker parts
of the build because of the weird geometry involved
between the two shapes but shouldn't be too difficult
if you approach it incrementally.
The first step is to cut an opening in the cook
chamber. I marked a line half way down the tank at
the same width as the firebox. I place the firebox here
so that the hot air and smoke enters the cook
chamber right at the grate level and travels straight
across the tank to the stack opening. From that line
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 13
you want to cut straight down and around the tank to
create a half moon shaped opening. I used a cutting
torch but you could also use a cut off wheel for this
step. You'll likely have to do some grinding to get the
right fit.
Once you got a good fit you can weld the firebox on
along the edges around the tank. After welding the
top edge you can put in the insulation and weld on
the cover sheet to complete the firebox.
Step 10: Seasoning
Now that you've got the smoker mostly completed
you need to do a burnout and season your cooker.
The first step is to fill the cook chamber and the
firebox with a bunch of charcoal or wood and get it as
hot as you can. This step is necessary for burning off
any debris or chemicals that have been left from the
tank or the manufacturing process.
Let it burn for a few hours and thoroughly clean out
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 14
any debris. Now you want to season the cooker in
order to get it ready for cooking. Get some vegetable
oil in a spray bottle or on a clean rag and coat the
entire interior of the cooker. Now you'll want to get a
nice hot fire going in the firebox and let it cook for
several hours. Once it has cooled you'll want to wipe
it down and repeat this process. Now your cooker
should be clean and ready for cooking!
Step 11: Building a Trailer
Now that you've got a finished smoker you'll need to
get some wheels on it. I would recommend looking for
an old utility trailer to mount it on but I decided to
build my own trailer because I couldn't find one that
quite suited my needs.
Building a trailer is pretty straightforward and there
are several tutorials already online so I won't go into
too much detail here but may post another tutorial for
building a trailer in the future. If you want to build your
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 15
own trailer you can buy trailer kits online that include
the axle, wheels, springs, hitch, and lights so all
you've got to do is weld up a frame. For the frame I
used 2" x 3" tubing because it is very sturdy and easy
to weld but you could also use angle iron or C
channel. The biggest challenge with building a trailer
is getting everything square and straight so that the
trailer tracks straight when driving with it.
Step 12: Mounting It to the Trailer
Now that you've either purchased or built a trailer
you're ready to mount the smoker on to the trailer.
The biggest trick here is maneuvering the smoker
around in order to get it onto the trailer. For this entire
project I used a chain hoist which I got from Harbor
Freight for around $50.
You'll want to block up the smoker until you find a
height that feels good. I like to have the grates
roughly at waist level for the most comfortable use.
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 16
Once you've determined the height you can weld
some supports onto the trailer to accept the smoker. I
used the same rectangular tubing to support the
bottom of the tank and angled pieces to support the
sides. Finally I notched out the back of the trailer and
welded the firebox sides directly to the trailer. You
don't have to worry about cutting into the trailer as
welding the smoker onto the frame will make up for
any structure lost from cutting into the frame.
Step 13: Finishing Touches
Now that the smoker is complete and its got some
wheels you're all ready to cook but there are some
final finishing touches that you may want to add on to
the smoker.
First, you'll likely want to add some thermometers to
the cook chamber so you can maintain a consistent
temperature. You'll want to mount these at grate level
so get an accurate reading of the temperature where
the meat will be. I'd recommend buying Tel-Tru
thermometers or another high quality brand. They can
be expensive but are very accurate and consistent.
Cheap thermometers are an easy way to screw up
some great bbq.
You can also paint your smoker to protect it from rust
but you definitely don't need to. If you are going to
paint it you'll need to get some high temperature paint
so that it won't start peeling away from all the heat.
You can get this paint at most hardware stores in
rattle cans. You could also take your smoker to an
Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 17
auto shop to get a more professional finish if you'd
like.
You may also want to add a grease drain somewhere
in the bottom of the cook chamber with a valve so you
can make clean up easier. This is as easy as welding
on a piece of pipe with a valve onto the bottom of the
tank.
Another useful addition is adding a grate to the
firebox to help air flow around the fire or adding a
layer of firebrick to help with insulation.
You could also add a damper on the the smoke stack
or create an airflow valve on the firebox to control the
temperature. I don't think these are really necessary
as I can easily control the temperature by opening
and closing the firebox door and controlling the size
of the fire but many people like having these features
to fine-tune their temperatures.
Step 14: Cooking Time!

Congrats! Now the hard work is done and you're ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor. It always takes some time
to get used to a new smoker and how it cooks but the more you use it the better you'll get and the better your
results will be. Remember, cook low and slow, be patient, keep a clean burning fire and you'll wowing your friends
and family with some amazing barbecue as well as your beautiful craftsmanship.

Build a Professional Barbecue Smoker: Page 18

 Wow!

THANK YOU for this!!

What pipe size did you end up using for your smoker? I plan to build one of these and I'm just
curious what size (diameter and length) ended up working best for your build? Thanks! Great Job,
btw.

Somebody else is a fan of Aaron Franklin's work. Amazing job! I want one!

Awesome project - I learned a lot, thank you! :)

This would be perfect for summer cookouts.

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