Birth of "Big RC" - Joe's Trailerable BBQ Kitchen

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:26 pm

Really nice job Joe congrats on the build. Now you got to get cooking.

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:40 pm

Thanks a lot pile--bones. Axles will be in next week and then we'll be heading down the home stretch. Not long now.

J

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:35 am

Hoping the propane burners give me lots of flexibility.

Here is a shot with 4 Lodge 10"x20" cast iron griddles and a 17" cast iron skillet on the burners for a breakfast type setup. I really don't know how well the entire griddle will heat as the burner will be along the edge in the center of each griddle. I'm sure I'll have to learn how to manage the hot spots and such. But hoping the cast iron will help with the distribution. We'll see I guess.

J

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:52 am

Your going to have to couver thoes tires well or your stove will be history fairly fast. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:55 am

Definitely Barry! I'm going to have to with bigger axles and also will have to move them forward to get the tongue weight right. (I thought I was saving money starting with the boat trailer I had but not sure I wouldn't have been better fabbing the trailer from scratch. Oh well) Once we find the right balance points, we'll set and then build fenders.

You guys think I'll need any more heat protection than just regular fender?

J

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:03 am

Joe I never though about heat but it shoulden't brother the tires with fenders over them I was thinking about mud and stones and water hitting the burners of your stove By the way that is a great build you have done I'm sure it will work great lots of good Q going to come out of that cooker. Smile

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 5:23 pm

Hi Folks,

Sorry to have been gone for so long. Been buried with "real work" stuff (boat business has been a real challenge) but also glad to say I've been busy finishing the rig and cooking on it.

Side view:

3/4 angle:

J

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:42 pm

Looks good Joe. Glad to have you back.

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:44 pm

smokinJim wrote:

Looks good Joe. Glad to have you back.

Thanks Jim.

J

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:15 pm

Quote:

Sorry to have been gone for so long. Been buried with "real work" stuff (boat business has been a real challenge) but also glad to say I've been busy finishing the rig and cooking on it.

You should live up here, the "boat season" is over and snowmobile season around the corner. You would have lots of time to work on your trailer and hobby. And yes you would get used to the cold, eventually.

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:37 am

Nice work Joe, the finished rig turned out real nice! Very Happy

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:19 am

Hey Joe good to see you. Nice big rig.

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:31 am

Joe, fine rig! How is it working?

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:07 am

smokinJim wrote:

Quote:

Sorry to have been gone for so long. Been buried with "real work" stuff (boat business has been a real challenge) but also glad to say I've been busy finishing the rig and cooking on it.

You should live up here, the "boat season" is over and snowmobile season around the corner. You would have lots of time to work on your trailer and hobby. And yes you would get used to the cold, eventually.

Hi Jim,

Too much Southern Boy in me - I don't think I'd ever be able to handle the cold. I love visiting the North - we've got a good boat dealer in Minneapolis. But I don't think I could handle it all the time. Not tough enough like you guys!

J

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:15 am

Oz wrote:

Joe, fine rig! How is it working?

Hi Oz,

Thanks for the good words. I couldn't be more pleased with how it's working. I was really worried that my concept of splitting the heat from the firebox into two separate cooking chambers wouldn't work.

But it's worked perfectly. I can cook on one side and easily close the other chamber off saving the heat energy that would have gone into heating the empty side. I can crack the damper on that side later and easily get it to 150 or so for warming or holding. Or I can open it wide open and cook on both sides. I love having the control.

I've also used it to "bleed off" some heat if I get the cooking chamber too hot. I can open up the damper to the empty chamber and pull some heat out as I bring down the temp on the other chamber.

I'd advise anyone thinking about a system like this to go full speed ahead with it.

The other thing that's been really pleasing is how even it heats from top to bottom. This is my first vertical cooker and I was worried I'd be fighting temp differences. It's amazingly steady though. I'll normally not have more than 10 degrees difference top to bottom.

The other thing I'm really glad I did was make the firebox so thermally dense and heavy. It's full of firebrick and castable refractory. It takes a long time to get up to temp as all that mass "soaks" up the heat. But once it's there, it's so smooth. Compared to my old OK Joe offset with 1/4 plate, it's like comparing heat retention of a cast iron skillet to a cheap thin aluminum job. It really makes cooking on it easy.

I've got some more pics of the cooker with the graphics installed. I'll throw those up here soon.

And anyone with questions, feel free to ask. I'll be glad to try and help however I can. This thing was a big learning experience.

J