Brinkman Smoker Mods Modifications for Brinkman Water Smokers

Welcome to BrinkmanSmokerMods.com

$45 for the Brinkman Charcoal Smoker plus $20 in Mod-Gear makes for a pretty awesome cheap smoker!

First off, you probably think I'm dork for going to the trouble of actually registering this domain and setting up the site. I wanted to check out the new Microsoft, "Office Live" web site builder which includes a free domain name, and I had just finished researching, and then completing some mods to my Brinkmann Deluxe Gourmet Charcoal Smoker, so I figured what the hell, I'll build a smoker-mod site to share my experiences.

Other Brinkman Smoker Mod-Sites that were helpful to me:

RandyQ's Barbecue Ramblings - Some good mods are descripbed in detail, but some of them are not necessary w/ the new Brinkman Gourmet design.
Smokintim's Bullet-Smoker Album - One of the few online sources I found with mod-photos of the newer style Brinkman.
Modifications to the Basic Brinkmann Water Smoker by Tom Kelly - no photos

Smoking Tips and Recipe Sites:

Smoked Chicken Wings
Jerky-Making
FAQ of the Internet BBQ List
See the bottom of this page for some recipes that I've tried.

Please email me at mike@brinkmansmokermods.com with any links you'd like me to add, or with questions or comments. Thanks!

	INTRODUCTION: This is what my Brinkman Gourmet Smoker looked like when I first brought it home. After using it a few times, I identified a few small problems such as: Difficulty maintaining heat The feet on the bottom of the smoker were too short, causing the heat from the charcoal to bubble the paint on my deck. The thermometer that comes with it doesn't tell an exact temperature. After running a couple searches on Google, I quickly learned that others were having these same problems, but with a few simple fixes the ECB (el-cheapo-brinkman as it's referred to on some other sites) can go from good to great for about $20 and a little time. Below are the modifications I made.
	ADDRESSING THE HEAT ISSUE: Out of the box, the ECB was having difficulty maintaining heat because there was no place for the charcoal ash to go, except into the air luveers, which caused the ash to smother the hot coals. To solve this problem I drilled four holes on opposite sides of the charcoal tray, about 1 inch up from the bottom, and inserted four bolts, so I could add a new grate for the charcoal to sit on.
	Another view of the four bolts I added for the new charcoal grate.
	At Home Depot you can purchase a 13" Weber charcoal grate for about $8, it fits perfect and works great.
	Here is the bolt-head on the outside of the charcoal tray. I discovered that I could space the bolt w/ an extra nut, and by doing that on all four sides it worked as a self-centering mechanism within the bottom bowl that the tray sits in, ensuring the tray received maximum airflow on all sides.
	The extra nut on the backside of the bolts that hold the new grate help center the charcoal tray inside the bottom of the smoker.
	ADDRESSING THE HEIGHT ISSUE: The bottom part of the smoker comes with short little one-inch feet. To raise it up, I used some left-over Weyerhaeuser ChoiceDek (sort of like Trex) pieces, and glued them togehter two-high, with Gorilla Glue.
	I then drilled through the small metal feet on the smoker, and through the three new feet I made out of composite decking, and bolted them together.
	ADDRESSING THE THERMOMETER ISSUE: At Loews I was able to purchase two new BBQ Temperature Gauges for about $6 each. No that I've installed/used them, I've learned one would have been fine, you don't really need two.
	I attached one of the new temperature gauges to the door. This one is pretty worthless because it measures the heat traveling up the inside, outer edge of the smoker, not the heat in in the smoker. It usually reads 400 degrees because of it's location.
	I added the other temperature gauge to the lid, this one is very useful, it reads about 225 when the gauge that came with the smoker is on the "I" in, "Ideal" (and the worthless one on the door says 400).
	Adding the grate to the bottom so that the charcoal could breath without being smothered by ash made a HUGE difference. Before I added the grate, I needed four chimneys of charcoal, or about 10-12 pounds to maintain heat around 225 degrees. After adding the grate, I can maintain that same temperature for a solid four hours with only one chimney of charcoal! Adding that grate reduced my charcoal usage by 75%!
	CONCLUSION: I LOVE THIS SMOKER! I don't think I've ever had such an enjoyable hobby that only cost $65 /- to get started! Since I bought this in early July 2006 I've used it every weekend except Labor day because I was out of town. Here's some of what I've cooked (in order from first to most recent): Mustard Cognac Pork Loin (the recipe for this came with the smoker) Baby Back Ribs with Dean and DeLuca Rib Rub A whole chicken with smoked corn on the cob with cajun butter Smoked Alaskan BBQ Salmon Smoked chicken wings, first covered with yellow mustard, then with Iron Works BBQ rub, plus boneless skinless thighs covered with yellow mustard, Iron Works Rub, then wrapped in bacon, yum! Smoked Halibut Smoked Shrimp Please email me with any questions, comments, or your own smoker mod stories or links!