British BBQ Society Forums

After loads of searching I have finally bought a pot to start my Smokey Joe Mini WSM build. In the end I had to get the Vasconia 32qt Tamale pot shipped from the US as I wanted to be sure to get something that was a good fit and it seemed that most people TVWBB used this model. I did look at a few pots in the UK but they weren't that cheap and may have needed the top to be modified to fit the lid

I am currently in the process of sourcing all the additional parts and will document the build as I go. So far I have the Smokey Joe Premium which I picked up for free and Vasconia Pot:

Last night I cut the bottom of the pot out using a Dremel, seemed to work quite well and thought that this would be better than drilling holes in the bottom. I will post a picture of it at the weekend.

I have ordered A2 Steel M8 Nuts, Washers and Button head bolts from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Bolt-Store and will probably end up buying some threaded rod from them to make handles for the air vents.

I plan to get some stainless 316 mesh to make a fire bucket from The Mesh Company http://www.themeshcompany.com/ as they can supply two pieces cut to size for £13, I am not sure how long lasting this will be but it seems better than buying a whole sheet of expanded metal.

Ordered an extra smokey joe charcoal grate so that I can use the bbq without a fire bucket and an additional cooking grate from http://www.garden4less.co.uk/

Just need to find some wire to attach the mesh to the charcoal grate and buy some VHT paint to finish the whole thing off.

Interested to see how this turns out, and the overall costs. After seeing some oil drums in the flesh, it's looking like a UDS is going to be way too big for my garden.

I am hoping to keep the costs relatively low, I got the Smokey Joe for free so that has helped. Once I have everything I need I will list out the parts and costs.

Made a bit more progress with the smoker, you can see how far I have got in the pictures below.
I need to cut the same size hole out of the lid and then attach this to the bottom which will give a tighter fit into the smokey joe and then spray VHT paint to match. I think I will use an enamel paella pan which come in various size and fill with sand to act as the heat sink.

Here is what it looks like when its all put together:


I chucked a small piece of pork shoulder on earlier today for a test run:

Hi Bec
Great build!!!

Si

Looks great.

Do you mind me asking how much it cost in total to the pot from the US?

I'd love to build one of these but first i'd need to get the Smokey Joe and then with the cost of the pot compared to how cheap they are in the states, i'm not sure it's worth it for me compared to getting a Pro Q frontier or saving for a WSM.

What do think yours has cost?

And are you planning on painting it?

Cheers

Dave

Looks great Bec, where did you get the temp gauge from?

Nice build, you're going to love using it.

Here's a link to the one I did: http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2604

I use it all the time, since I'm usually only cooking for two people, I now use it way more than my 22" WSM. It's light & portable and the amount of food it can cook is amazing. It's also very efficient, I can do a 6-8 hour smoke on about 1/4-1/3 bag of charcoal.

@stevenscustomguitars my pot cost US$51 incl. shipping (£34 at 2012 prices) - the total build probably cost about £60ish (Pot £35, extra cooking grate £11, bolts £3, thermometer £5 (ebay), high temp paint £8). I already owned the Smokey Joe and because you don't need to alter it at all I don't count it as a cost as it retains it's original function.

If you can't afford the new 14 inch Smokey Mountain - which I reckon they brought out because most BBQers in the States seem to have built a Mini WSM - then this is a very cost effective way to get a great small smoker.