smoked meat central.

Back to it!

2007-08-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Okay. A lot's been going on over here. I'm getting a new concrete pad installed at my place, where I will park my new smoker. Well, new to me, anyway.

It's a Pitt's and Spitt's 30x60, with the two lower-temp boxes on the left, a big ole firebox, and a propane eye. It's really nice. Should do everything I need.

I'm planning to pick it up and fire it up this weekend. Wooo!

A five month reprieve.

2007-02-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, there's been no posting. Not a whole lot of 'cue cooking, either. This was a big summer and I had to reset some things...

1) The trailer has to be rebuilt. We've got a lot of what we need, except..

2) time. Jason's been on two HUGE projects, one of which won best in show at the Southeastern Flower Show a couple weeks ago. I've been getting out of my old role at work, getting into my new role at work, and --best of all-- spending a lot of time making beer.

3) It's winter. I'm generally hunkered down at home on my little rig making a few briskets here and there. Nothing worth writing about, really.

Oh! Big News! Fox Bros. BBQ took over the old Asada mexican joint right down from where I used to live in L5P. The (ahem second) best barbecue in Atlanta is about a mile and a half away! Yay!

Sometimes it's Actually Work

2006-10-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow, two of my very good friends are having a wedding party. I believe the wedding was a private affair and this represents the community celebration. He's designed the business cards for the venture that this will eventually become; she is my cat's doctor. She is a vegetarian, but for this party, they've ordered over 100lbs of barbecue: 60lbs brisket, 25 lbs pork shoulder, and a whole rack of chicken. My first order this size. So all week I've been hauling cuts of meat, mixing up spices for the rub, and the other chores that go along with this.

I'm getting to the end of my backyard's firewood bounty (which my neighbor calls "God's endorsement of your cue") so I now have to worry about obtaining firewood. Craigslist has lots of people who offer free firewood; it's usually a tree down in their yard and you can have it, if you can haul it off. So, I need a chainsaw. As is my usual style, I want to buy a chainsaw that will last twenty years. I want it to be a professionals' tool. I went with a Husqvarna 455 Rancher.

So I went to the first place that had responded about the firewood. The lady told me that it was at so-and-so address, to go ahead and chop it up. Well, apparently her idea of what constitutes "firewood" diverges a bit from mine. It was a freakin' stick! 3" wide at the fat end. I got maybe 15lbs of wood out of it. I felt like a fool chopping up this twig with a 20" husky. (But it cut the stuff like butter!)

When I get home from work tonight I'm going to have to prep the briskets and shop for the veggie offerings. We're making these killer veggie burgers for the bride. Then, the briskets will go on the trailer at midnight or so. They'll cook all night and until around noon tomorrow, when I'll pull them off, wrap them in cellophane and put them in the warm cooler. The shoulders will have the same treatment. Then the grill can rest until around 4, when I'll drag it over to their house, fire it up again, and throw the chicken on.

So as I said, this is the biggest catering job I've done yet. I'm pretty confident but it's a lot of work.

Oh and the business cards? I ordered them, paid extra to have them here by today. Nope. They're here monday. Dagblammit.

Crazy Times

2006-09-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

At an outing last week, someone backed into the trailer. FAST. As in, they launched it into the pickup truck behind it. The trailer fared better than the truck, but it will definitely require some serious reconfiguration.

And the week before, I bottomed it out pulling into a parking lot, and popped the jack foot out (stripping the bolts.) So that's damaged too.

What I'm going to do is order two new axles, much shorter ones and not drop axles, and we're going to build ourselves a better trailer.

On the other hand, the food is immensely popular, as evidenced by the fact that we're using it every weekend. Last night someone told me that last week's brisket was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

The Drive Invasion

2006-09-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

Steven says "You need to get there early to secure a prime spot." Doors at 9, I figure, 7:45. I was 2nd in line. I started the briskets before they opened, and pulled the smoker right down to the very front, center, in front of the screen, and then set about with the "campsite." Which was, the Suburban with a tarp hanging over the back to provide shade and rain protection.

We connected up with the group next door, the Star Bar folks. The leader of this group seemed to be Jim Stacy, one of the Star Bar's owners, and we made briskets and sausages enough to feed all those guys too. Jim invited us in on the low country boil he was making:

This is currently my desktop background.

It was a great event! Muscle cars and bands. The headliner was Blue yster Cult -- yes, the REAL Blue Oyster Cult! Too cool.

And here is exactly why we're glad we brought the tarp.

Drive In-Vasion!

2006-08-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Dawgs (or at least the main dawg) will be barbecuing at Starlight Six for the Drive-In-Vasion, or however the heck you spell it. Drop on by!

And soon, we will return to work...

2006-08-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Having steel delivered at the end of August for this project, and now that the heat is breaking, we'll be getting back to building.

For the friend you hate...

2006-08-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

... the gift is corporate 'cue.

If you can't take the heat...

2006-07-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Jeebum H. Jiminy Cricket Jehosaphat, it's hot.

I can't bring myself to start the monster up.... even though I could go for a brisket.

Happy Fourth of July!

2006-07-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

We opened up the shop and had some people over. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time that I completely forgot to take pictures!

We made six slabs of ribs as detailed below, but they weren't as done as I'd like 'em. Ran out of time. But Raydarr had told people to bring something for the grill, so there was a whole range of interesting items -- kebabs, steaks, veggie burgers and dogs, and a couple big pot roasts.

I split the party early to go see the fireworks downtown. As I sped in to the city, it rained like crazy. That was cool though -- the party just moved indoors! Set off a few rockets and then called it a lovely, lovely night. The fireworks at the end really capped it for me. :)

Recipe: Ribs

2006-06-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Now, everyone's got their different ways to do ribs, and lots and lots of them are excellent. This is my style, which you may try and like, or not; but if you do, then I thank you and wish you good luck.

I buy my ribs from the local bulk meat market by the case. He sells 'em for around $60, which usually gets you nine slabs (sometimes ten if several are kinda small.) I cut open the cryo-pak and throw them on the grill. After two hours, I start mopping them with:

10 parts apple juice
2 parts Captain Morgan® or other spiced rum
1 part Frank's hot sauce (the official taste of Buffalo wings!)

The rule being "when you think of it, mop 'em" aiming for every 20-30 minutes. Every other mopping, flip 'em and mop again. If you mop the ribs regularly, they won't get a deep black crust on them, but they'll get a very deep shade of red. The smoke ring will be truly striking and the smoky flavor will be divine.

I use an offset firebox smoker, where the fire goes into a little pit off to the side, and the enlarged meat box is essentially in the chimney. This lets you run low heat for a long time -- truly low smoking. I start a chimney full of charcoal with a wax firestarter (no chemical flavors) and dump that amongst four logs, usually an equal mix of oak and hickory (though occasionally I'll throw in alder, or a fruitwood or something.)

The target temperature in the box is 250°. If it gets too warm, don't be afraid to throw water on the fire. You should have a little too much fuel, and need to be watering it a bit, to generate a bunch of smoke. You should always leave the exhaust wide open, and restrict the intake; this keeps your food from being sooty.

Do this for about 5 hours or so, until the ribs start to crack when you turn 'em, and they pull back from the bones a bit (like 1/8"-1/4".) That's when they're done. Bring 'em in and cut 'em. You cut the knobby bits (the "rib tips") off first, and then slice from the shiny side where you can make out the ribs.

There are lots of schools of thought on sauce. I don't normally think sauce is necessary, but I do enjoy dipping my rib bits into the sauce. I particularly like Dreamland's sauce for ribs, but everyone has a favorite and I'm not here to ignite any holy wars! Eat 'em like you like 'em.

I hope your Fourth of July is filled with smoke and light and smiles!

The Road Show

2006-06-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

Went to Knoxville this weekend for the wedding of some friends. It was a real homegrown affair. We got to the national park (Cades Cove) and there was a trailered smoker just like mine for the ribs. Well I turned around and the GROOM was starting the grill -- seems his grill-tending friends had flaked out on him.

You know I wasn't gonna let that happen... I stepped up and took the reins. We cooked 72 slabs of baby-backs and about ten pounds of kielbasa (the bride's family is Polish.) I got a standing ovation when I left! It was very cool, and I was mighty glad to be of service.

From a Pro Photographer

2006-06-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

And a damn fine shot!

Chicken!!

2006-06-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Man.. this thing is hell on some chicken, too.

Apologies for the lack of updates...

2006-06-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

... but I went on a week vacation and the resulting life-pressure has gotten in the way. But I did get the electrics completed, and then got it titled and registered. It's street legal! Woo!

This weekend we'll be barbecuing at the Brownwood Bike Rally. Come by around lunchtime, sorry about the late notice ;)

We'll get some good pictures posted this week.

Chef-In-Training

2006-05-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Someone took a picture for me...

2006-05-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

Success!!

2006-05-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

The results of the trip... first of all, as the aforementioned map laid clear, we were totally boned w/r/t the weather.

As I sat waiting for the driver, an hour late, I worried like crazy about the ability of the thing to hold a temperature, or even, keep a fire going. How would it do?

*clang*WRONG! I should have been worrying about the trailer, and not the barbecue. Our driver, having not been instructed to take it easy, drove the poor baby through some really nasty potholes, and the frame took a beating. Some of the frame members now have a permanent deflection of 3-5 degrees right under the bottle. Barbecue, magnificent. Trailer, ass.

More later. I'm beat. Must. Sleep.

Maiden Run Today

2006-05-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I hurriedly finished up the rig enough to use. I cut a hole in the bottom where the firebox will eventually vent, but for now, it's just an open air inlet:

That other grate is just laying in there. I finished up a second rack, so I'll have some pretty decent cooking space to work with:

I bolted the bottle down, and voila, it is usable. Not done, by any means, but I had an event to cook for, so I wanted to get it far enough to use.... which I have.

So let's set sail for Ribland!

Edit: It's pretty lousy weather for a maiden run, but ROCK AND ROLL!

A new sketch ...

2006-04-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

This time done in Gimp.

Another highly productive weekend

2006-04-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I arrived to find Jason finishing the second door. We mounted the big tank to its frame, and then he set to work on other parts while I got dirty as all hell by cleaning the inside of the tanks.

Not only did it make a ton of mess inside the tank, it also made the shop a mess everywhere. Including the people working.

dirty old men

I proceeded to get VASTLY dirtier than this picture indicates!

Anyway, we mounted the frame on the small bottle, and put both of these guys on the trailer (so when you see it it begins to more and more resemble the final product.) And today we did our own stuff, but this afternoon I went over and built the first of the sliding trays!

someday a little piggy will sit right here -------^

Jason's story of the big bottle

2006-04-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

He was cruising down the street one over from my house, and came across a guy doing some renovation with a Bobcat. He asked if he could hire him, and the guy was like "sure, man, i'll do it for free, just get a chain." He got a chain, but the guy was gone... A couple days later, he saw him again, and having the chain, got the thing loaded up into his truck.

We were lucky, too, because he'd just gotten his truck fixed.

I've been sick as a dog the past couple days, I think I got food poisoning from some bad sushi. Shoulda stuck to the all-cue diet.

The trailer is done

2006-04-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

And we're on to the big bottle.

More later.

Oh, and Jason wanted me to mention how we got the bottle out of the backyard. He had some guy with a Bobcat do it but I don't recall the details. I'll get it out of him at some point.

Great day!

2006-04-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Jason rented a workspace over on Rogers St., and we moved in this morning. We ran up to Northern Tool in Snellville to get a chain hoist and some other tools. Northern Tool is geek heaven, man. They've got all sorts of great project stuff.

By the time we got moved, got all our supply metal put in order, and got some lunch, it was almost 2pm. We hit it good, cutting the main tank's support and spending some time talking about the eventual position of the tank. We settled on basically this arrangement:

The tank will be 3 inches back, to sit correctly on the frame, the position of which is correct.

We then put the big tank away, and got to work finishing the trailer. We put the central strip of expanded metal in first; I got my feet wet cutting with a blowtorch. Then I cut two long strips of cross-hatch plate, and while I was cutting Jason was welding things in. We spent the rest of the day finishing the running boards on the trailer; all that's left now of the base is 5 pieces of cross-hatch, 4 of which have yet to be cut. Hopefully we can knock those out tomorrow.

Blowtorches R Fun

2006-04-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Fortuitous developments...

2006-03-25T07:47:00.000-08:00

My neighbor just had concrete poured on his driveway this week, and so there's a nice paved apron that ends about ten feet from the tank. This is a huge help! We may see about that today. or do some thinking, anyway.

I want to get the oxy-acetylene torch out and working today too. We'll cut up some of that crosshatch plate for the running boards. I also need to get brackets for the lights, which means taking the lights to the store...

We were wondering how in the hell we were gonna work with this big tank up in the air, when Brendan (whose house we're building this beast behind) pointed out that he has a steel frame crane back behind his house. I need to get a chain hoist, and then we're in business!! Everything works so serendipitously with this project.

And now I'm off for parts.. what a gorgeous spring day.

2006-03-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Today's Update

2006-03-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

We spent most of the day trying to figure out how to get the big tank out of my backyard. Promising ideas, but no winners yet.

We're going to put running boards on it, and Jason welded on the first piece of that. We'll knock that out next time (when he brings the oxy-acetylene torch.)

We got chain connection stuff (cool lookin') and some really cool black spray-paint that's less a paint and more of a bonding agent with the rust. It's wild -- bonds with rusty and unrusty steel equally, and turns them flat black.

Got a few pictures but will upload more later.

Rolling...

2006-03-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Video of the rolling trailer.

Pics of the Trailer

2006-03-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Trailer Frame Is Complete

2006-02-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

Jason attached the tongue. I've got to get the axle over there tomorrow so we can call the trailer done. Thankfully, I've got the day off, so I should be able to whip up something.

Fabrication Day

2006-02-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

Today we built the frame, added the hangers and springs, and built the tongue. It's looking really nice.

Having some trouble with the new laptop and the pictures, but we'll keep working on it. I'll update when I've got it sorted.

Got all the material!!

2006-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

Okay. So in the last couple weeks I've assembled:

- The trailer kit
- The frame steel
- The cutting torch and gas bottles

We're ready. Saturday at 8AM the odyssey begins, as the trailer begins to take shape.

And it's here.

2006-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

Hardcore!

Single drop axle with electric brakes and an LED-based light kit. Now I need to score some angle iron, and we're on our way! Maybe something this weekend!

Trailer kit enroute!

2006-01-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

I bought a trailer kit today. When it gets here, Jason'll find some angle iron, and the assembly shall begin in earnest!!

Drained the tanks yesterday.

2005-10-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

This week, Jason and I will procure cutting torch supplies.. I'll buy the gases and he'll buy the equipment (as he'll get future use out of it.)

Time to get it on! woo woo!

Hey, it's actually getting there.

2005-08-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

The amount of propane stank that's coming off this thing is beginning to diminish. It's still visible when you're running water through it (little splashes of rainbow will appear in the runoff) but it's noticeably less stinky. I think it'll be ready by the time it cools off.

So that's the basic timeline; start construction in mid-September or so. Here's the plan I've developed so far:

Complete the design. We've got some pretty solid graph paper designs. They don't have to be hyper-accurate, but they do need a bit more work.
Get the trailer kit. We're going to do a tandem axle kit, and I think I've seen those with the light kit and all accessories for under $400.
Obtain a bunch of angle iron and rebar.
Build the base trailer.
Figure out how to get the tank out of my backyard. Like dumbasses, we dragged these tanks down the hill behind my house, where cars routinely get stuck. They're heavy, like four hundred pounds. It took four of us pushing the big tank across cardboard downhill. So I think the way we're going to do it is:
- Drain the tank.
- Cut the doors and ports out of the tank to lighten it as much as possible
- Sandblast the tank right there
- Drag it to the far side of the house where the driveway is and then, using a car, drag it halfway up my driveway (my driveway is two paved tire tracks with grass/dirt in between)
Buy a dozen of the longest 4x4s I can find and build a scaffold.
Raise up the big tank and weld it in place on the base trailer.
Raise up the small tank and weld it in place on the base trailer.

And that's about as far ahead as I've thought right now. That's far from done, of course. There are tons of details to work through, and I'll just drop a few of the basic features:

The locomotive cab will have an angle iron frame with a thin sheet metal cover. The upper part (ie. above the midpoint of the smoke box) will have a canvas top or perhaps be fully canvas. The idea is to make it removable for travel, for lower air resistance.
The firebox will have a portal for smoke into the smokebox, a removable lid with a rebar grate for grilling, and partitions to create a water boiler tank containing around 10 gallons. You'll be able to put your fire under any or all of the three. With the hot water tank, there'll be a tap at the bottom for hot water (warning! contents under pressure!) and one at the top for steam.
Ideas for the steam:
- Steam whistle! (it's for the kids!)
- Steam fittings in the smoke box to add moisture to your cooking (i'm thinking for the bottoms of briskets)
- Standard steam tap for whatever you might need (like espresso ;) )
- Pressure relief valve to make that classic steam locomotive "pshhhhhhhhhh" sound
The smoke box is going to have four doors, two on each side. Inside those doors, from one side to the other, will be angle iron holding up sliding racks. The racks will have some sort of detent to give them a 'home' position, but they need to be able to come out of the unit entirely.
Along each side of the smoke box we'll put a piece of angle iron, and then about a foot outside, some rebar rails. Their height will give the sliding racks a place to sit. The angle-to-rail distaince will be sized to a full steamtable pan, the short way, so it'll also accomodate half pans.
We'll get some cutting boards that fit in that arrangement. I think one of the ones I currently own would work.
Under the smoke box will be lockable storage for wood, and lockable, weather-protected storage for charcoal and tools.
At the moment I'm planning five thermometers: Two in each door on the left side, and one in the firebox. Also there will be a steam temperature gauge, and a steam pressure gauge. I might go electronic with all this, not sure yet.
We'll make a little cow-catcher out of rebar.
We need to build a bellows stack at the front end of the smoker, and use that as our primary exhaust. We'll plug the central outlet, and mount the steam whistle on that.
We're going to paint it with that stuff that reacts and turns rust black. It also happens to keep new rust from forming. Then we're going to paint a flame job on it, and "FIRE DOGS BARBECUE TEAM" in old-timey letters.

The vision is beginning to solidify...

Four months!!

2005-07-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

And still, it puts off propane. Not as much, but it's still quite noticeable. Argh!

almost three months...

2005-05-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

... that damn thing has been making my backyard stink of propane. Wow! I figured they were bullshitting. But hey, at least it's almost over.

My buddy J, who's gonna help me, has a really painful hernia right near his leg. I have a feeling the real work on this is also going to be stalled until he gets it worked on.

Been cooking a lot, experimenting with the brisket. It's pretty good, but nothing really does it better than time. I've actually been doing cooking gigs. Cooked for a kids' club this weekend, and the biodiesel/WVO crowd last weekend.

I can't wait for this thing to be serviceable.

Features of the Smoker:

2005-05-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

First off, as you can tell from the sketch below, it's going to be based on a steam locomotive. I think we're going to do a two-axle design, perhaps 60" wide on the frame.

In a remarkably phallic layout, the fire box (small tank) will sit below and perpendicular to the meat box (large tank). Inside the firebox, we'll weld in metal to make a water tank above the fire; cut holes to accomodate the exhaust, intake, work area and ash dump. The water tank is going to be for hot water and steam. We'll weld in rebar to act as the grate for the ash.

For the meatbox, there will be two doors on each side, for a total of four doors. One side will have four thermometers at various places. Inside each door will be two sliding shelves, made of expanded metal and angle iron. The top sliding shelf will have a design that keeps it from falling; the bottom sliding shelf is going to rest on the railing...

... which we'll build about 18" out from the tank. About 3" under the railing will be an angle iron strip running the length of the meatbox, matched up with one welded to the tank, which will hold full-size steamtable pans. Along the length of the smoker we should be able to hold about eight full pans. Also we would be able to put chopping blocks here. At one end we'll put a propane eye, too, so we can do things like french fries, gumbo, corn-on-the-cob etc.

Back to the water tank in the firebox. Out the top, we have essentially a radiator cap and a steam feed. I have two immediate uses for the steam: first, a steam whistle, hooked up to the pipe currently on top of the smoker. (We're going to seal that one off and install a different exhaust, shaped like a traditional bellows stack, towards the far end.) The kids will love a chance to play with the steam whistle. Second, I am going to run a few steam outlets underneath the 2nd level grates, valve controlled. This allows me to set a brisket above an outlet, thus keeping the bottom from drying out while not having to bother the meat. I think chicken and turkey could probably benefit from some applied moisture as well. But I will also build on some extra valve stuff (note: figure out what the right stuff for steam plumbing is).. hah. Expansion slots for steam.

At the bottom of the water tank would be a standard spigot. This would have pressurized hot water when in operation. The outlet would be out the bottom of the subtank to make sure that we could drain it well.

Aside from that, there's angle iron and sheet metal and paint to make it look like a choo-choo train. We'll have to give it a name and a number. Suggestions? At the moment I'm liking "1945" on the front (my parents' birth year) with "Old '45" on the side. But I'm totally open to other suggestions. We'll have to see what J thinks, when he's mended.

A sketch..

2005-03-29T21:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend's work.

2005-03-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

These came out pretty good. They smoked for about eight hours (from 9am to 5pm), and for the last half of that time I washed them about every half hour with a wash made from apple juice, captain morgan's spiced rum, and frank's hot sauce.

Why I love barbecue.

2005-03-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

People tell me I'm a barbecue maniac. Over the top. That I'm waaaaaay too into it. And then comes the inevitable question: "Why do you love it so much?"

Hm. Well...

... First and foremost, it's very primal. It's, to me, a connection with the entire long line of humanity. You're cooking over a wood fire. It's obvious that when cooking was invented, this was how it was done. Even three hundred years ago, all food was cooked on a wood fire. But with the modern mechanization of society, we have moved away from wood-fired to "taste-neutral" methods of cooking. My tendency to rebel manifests itself, in this case, in a return to wood-cooked meals. And wood-cooked meals rule because...

... Wood tastes fantastic. Not all wood -- pine tastes like ass -- but for the most part, wood smoke just tastes wonderful.* Oak, hickory, apple, maple, it's all great and has its place. You can't forget that wood smoke is one of the spices you're working with. If you go into very high-end restaurants, you'll see they cook their steaks over a wood fire.

... Boys love fire. See "primal" discussions.

... It's a very slow way to cook, which forces you to go about your day in a slow manner. I tend to run a million miles a minute. I've always got a dozen things going. When one of them is the smoker, it tends to slow my day down, which is what I ought to be doing (ie. resting.) So in that sense, in the slowing-me-down sense, it's very healthy for me.

... It's a positive activity that always makes people smile. No one hates the barbecue man, if he does it right. In fact, people will laud the man who makes excellent 'cue. Which means you always get invited back, you always get free beer, you get introduced to all the hotties etc. Unless the hotties are vegetarians, which has happened once or twice in my life. I really want a vegetarian to balance me, but they get a little turned off by the massive bloody slabs of animal I like to work with. Oh well. I smoke potatoes and onions and stuff.

*: I believe that this is a deep racial memory: When we smell wood smoke, we immediately associate "warmth" and "food". With good reason: Again looking back fifty thousand years, a fire DID mean warmth and food.

THE GOAL.

2005-03-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

I made this brisket today. The chicken is my next door neighbor's. This is my old smoker, which we'll be replacing with the monster.

Ran a lot more water through the tanks today.

Propane Stinks.

2005-03-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Since propane tends to float on water, and propane tends to evaporate in air, the liquid level in the tank goes down at a far faster rate than it would if it were just H₂O. Hence, we have to top off the tank at regular intervals.

Last night I dropped the hose in and ran it for 10 minutes or so, which probably equates to fifty gallons or so. You could tell propane was washing out because it stunk horribly, and the liquid had that rainbow sheen that identifies an oil-on-water mix. The tremendous odor of propane permeated my clothes and skin for hours. Duh.

I did it again this morning. But I learned that white vinegar is a good solvent for propane. I don't know exactly if it dissolves the liquid propane, or if the two odors just cancel each other out. But it did a pretty good job.

Step 1: Obtain your propane tanks.

2005-03-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

I bought one 250 gallon tank and one 50 gallon tank from Taylor Gas, a propane dealer south of the city. They're 20 years old, rusted, but plenty usable for a barbecue. The metal's around a quarter inch thick.

You have to flush out the remaining propane when you get these things. There's going to be some, not a whole lot. But the way to do it is to fill the tank with water and let it sit for a couple months. The tiny propane bubbles on the side of the tank will work their way out.

So when I got these tanks, they had fittings all over, remnants of their original purpose which were no longer necessary. I used a pipe wrench to pull as many as I could, and then broke out the Saws-All to clip off the top of the big tank. It took about 40 minutes to fill the big tank with 250 gallons of water.

Now, they sit for a month or two, while we get the parts for the trailer.

Intro

2005-03-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hi. I'm Steve Sparks. I am constructing a big smoker trailer to use for competition barbecue. This is the log of that project.