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

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:37 pm

Hi Folks,

Lurked a good bit over the past year and asked a lot of goofy questions. Thanks to all.

Finally started on the big project.

Been cooking for a while on an offset OK Joe's. Like it a lot but 6 Boston Butts is about the max.

My goal with this rig is to be able to cook for the folks we serve at the rescue mission downtown. We do breakfast once a month now and it's cool and all but you don't really have much opportunity to talk to the people. It's 15 seconds of "Hey, how are you?" and you place the pancake or scoop of syrup on the tray and then you're on to the next guy. It seemed to me that it would be cool to pull the trailer downtown and set up in the parking lot and just hang out all night cooking. BBQ at it's core is basically shooting the breeze in front of a campfire. And this will allow me to do this. Smelling that burning hickory and pork fat for 14 hours is like a cattle call for people. I think I can draw a good crowd. Especially when it's free.

I also will use it to feed my Bryant Boat employees. We have regular events where I'll be serving 75-100 folks. We have a Bryant Boat Owners thing in the Summer where owners have a get together at our factory and I'll use it there too.

Depending on how that goes, I can see branching out to other catering type gigs. I don't think it will be too hard to connect with folks that want some sort of event catered. And if that goes well, then a real brick and mortar restaurant might be the end result one day. Who knows.

I started with a boat trailer for one of our 27' boats. We cut the bunks and fenders off and we've added a floor to it that is 16' long x 8' wide. This thing is going to be pretty big.

On one end, I'm going to have a cabinet style upright smoker. It will have 2 cooking chambers that are 48" wide x 36" deep x 48" tall. Fired by a firebox below that is 44" wide x 27"deep x 36" tall. One of the unique features I'm going to have on this is that the firebox will feed two cooking chambers that are separate and I'll be able to control the heat in each chamber. This will give some flexibility over one huge cooking chamber.

As I researched this project, the one thing I kept seeing on these monster cookers is that can quickly become obsolete for anything other than feeding a huge crowd. I wanted to combat that as much as possible and maybe add some "scalability" to this. But we all know it's a lot easier to get smaller than it is to get bigger. Things like being able to just use 1 cooking chamber will do that. The firebox will also be designed so that I could raise the floor with additional firebrick or a baffle that would decrease the volume of the firebox.

At the other end of the trailer, I will have a charcoal grill that will be 96" wide by 36" deep. Lots of room for grilling.

Along the starboard side (that's the right side if you're facing forward for you land lovers ) I'll have a sink and prep station. Along the port side (other side), I'm going to have a cooking area with 3 propane burners (like you'd use for frying a turkey) that give me a lot of flexibility to cook whatever I want like on a stove top. Whether it's fried chicken, or french fries or big skillets or maybe even rig up a flat top type insert.

I'll have a roof and awning type side pieces that fold out for protection in the rain. Generator for lights and such.

Modeling after a cooker that a guy I know owns. Adding some tweaks that I like and making it my own.

Should be a good deal. At the very least a fun project for my Dad and I. He's a master craftsman and loves stuff like this. I'm a hack but I'm a pretty good helper.

I'll post pics for anyone interested. Here is what we have so far http://s640.photobucket.com/albums/uu124/joebryant-photos/Big-E-Pit-Build/

Let me know what you think.

I do have a question I posted in a separate thread about the outlet from the firebox into the cooking chamber. Any help there is much appreciated.

Thanks a ton.

J

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:00 pm

Joe that's going to be a big unit for sure it looks like it will be great for the big cooks.
Nict to hear that someone is cooking at a rescue mission.
As for what size of pipe from your firebox to the cooking chamber I don't know. but if it is to big you can allways cut the flow down but to small you can't do much other than add another pipe later I would guess. Wink

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 1:08 pm

Ok, after much thought and discussion about the firebox being too big, here is the plan for now:

We're too far along to change the base firebox dimensions. I've been thinking I want a little slope on the firebox ceiling anway from the front door upward toward the back wall where the outlet to the cooking chambers will go.

Were going to weld a 1/4" horizontal plate that starts just above the top horizontal opening of the firebox and slopes up to meet the ceiling of the firebox back at the back wall. In essence, I'm going to take a wedge of volume out of the firebox. It's a triangle that will be about 6" x 28" x whatever the long side turns out to be.

I get the benefit of reducing the size in the firebox a bit and also funnelling the heat / smoke back toward the outlets where they'll need to go.

I also have the option of laying a second layer of firebrick on the floor if I wanted to take out some more room.

J

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:03 pm

Mod to the firebox ceiling with a "wedge". Takes a little volume out of the firebox and also possibly somewhat funnels heat / smoke toward the rear of the firebox where the outlets to the cooking chamber will be. I know it's a little hard to see from the picture. Basically, added a "false ceiling" the firebox that starts at the top horizontal edge of the door opening and slants upward to the back top edge of the back wall of the firebox.

J

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:06 pm

Firebox door on the hinge. And yeah, those are grease fittings on a hinge that's bigger than it needs to be. But that's my Dad. :thumbup:

J

Inside detail on firebox door.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:33 pm

Joe,
Good idea with the deflecter plate. Also, if you are insulating the box, drill some holes in it to relieve the pressure buildup between the two plates. Here's what i did.

Bryan

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:05 pm

Thanks Bryan. That's a great looking firebox you did.

I will make sure to drill some holes like you said. Thanks.

J

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:14 pm

Joe, tell your dad that the door looks like a bank vault. P.S. I love it, annd keep the pics rolling. P.S.P.S. Hurry up, I'm hungry. Laughing

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:32 am

jet_deck wrote:

Joe, tell your dad that the door looks like a bank vault. P.S. I love it, annd keep the pics rolling. P.S.P.S. Hurry up, I'm hungry. Laughing

Thanks Jetdeck. That's exactly what I said. Feels like one too. Taking a break here for the next couple of days as I have to work a boat show in Kansas City. Upside is I get to eat lunch at Arthur Bryants BBQ in Kansas City today. Nice. Will be back on it Monday.

Hope to have some of the routing questions from the firebox to the cooking chamber and exhaust out of the cooking chamber worked out by then. THanks for all the help.

J

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:33 am

Have fun Joe, We ate at Arthur Bryants at the Speedway last year, place was packed.

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:59 pm

OK. Finally figured out what I'm doing for routing heat to the firebox and chimneys. Thanks to all for the help.

Front view:

Side view:

We'll see how it goes.

J

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:31 pm

I really don't think it's going to work. BUT, go ahead and finish it and I'll swing by and take it off your hands. Laughing

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:43 pm

pile-o-bones wrote:

Have fun Joe, We ate at Arthur Bryants at the Speedway last year, place was packed.

Hi Pileobones,

Forgot to post my pic from lunch. This is what I think a brisket sandwich should look like...

J

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:18 pm

wow. thats a sandwich. Your poor colon Laughing

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:50 pm

Hey Joe that is looking real good. I will convince Gene that once it is complete we will come for some bbq and a boat ride.