It's deffinitely different than what most people are used to but it does have it's advantages: for one as you said you don't get that massive blast of heat directly from the fire box, but also because you have that plate underneath you have much more even temperature throghout so it all cooks evenly, you don't have to move stuff around so much, etc. And another advantage is that if you have smaller baffles instead of one solid 3/16 plate you can do a lot of tuning with them- different size holes, different number of baffles and so on so you have a lot more control over what is going on inside than you would a standard flow. But all that comes with the cost of extra weight, extra complexity and so extra cost/time if you're buying/building one.
Lang flow owner here, so the way I clean my plate is that I give it a steam bath before and after the cook. As I bring it up to temp I usually over shoot it then give it a quick spray from the eater hose. Any leftover grease washes down the drain. And then when I'm done cooking I heat it back up to 300 and then spray again let it shut down. If I have any troublesome grease then I scrape it a bit. Langs have a nice grease drain running down the middle of the baffle plate so that's helpful.
I have both and I find myself cooking on the reverse flow more than the offset. Just like anything I had to learn the pit. I did notice that the food was not near as smokey as the offset, and that's a good thing. It's still smokey, just not overly so just a cleaner smoke. I cook more on the top rack on mine rather than the bottom rack and it seems to help mitigate the effect from the baffle plate. I feed mine a split about every hour after its up to temp. I have a built in propane jet burner on the fire box to help get the logs started and its the bomb.
@@ralphalf5897 Its a 500 gal smoker yes i feed it that often to maintain even temperature. I can load it heavy and let it go for longer but what fun is that.
I own a Lang 84 deluxe and After I learned how it cooks I love it. I can smoke from a whole hog to anything smaller. I put a propane burner and put an iron skillet on the burner and put some splits in the skillet and pellets for some smoke. Worked great. I cooked a hog that way below 32* degrees.
Reverse flow is great its just a slight learning curve if you come from traditional offsets, i have a shirley patio 36 and i absolutely love it, nothing dries out from excess heat, in fact the temps are pretty consistant throughout the cooking chamber. I dont have experience with any other rev flows but i can vouch for mine for sure. Better than traditional? I dont think either style is better than the other. Just know your pit and your good. Ill also add that mine is pretty easy to clean
I have a huge Shirley Fabrication reverse flow smoker. It is phenomenal, but, I agree, there are different temperature zones that I just rotate when needed. I can cook about 55-60 pork shoulders in the main chamber alone, so for me, it's well worth it...
I built a reverse flow 8 years ago out of a truck fuel tank that burned propane. (175 gallon) which is at least 3/8" thick. I used the 24.5 inch wheel for the firebox and old axe wood handles for the handles. I also use mesquite for wood, which has a stronger smoke flavor. I have found that running the pit between 225 and 250 works best, rather than the 275 to 300 most people do on traditional offsets.
I've always run my offsets at those lower temps. Been smoking about 20 years. 220 to 250 is the ideal temperature envelope for smoked meats no matter what you use.
First off, loved this whole video series, thank you! I agree with you on the standard offset. I enjoy cooking on it more than the reverse smoker I have. One thing that I have on my reverse smoker that may help with clean up on yours is putting an access door on the lower half that swings up (at the end cap), and you can open it for cleaning purposes to get under the plate. Also, I put aluminum foil on top of the plate the length of the pit and replace it as needed. Definitely makes things easier to clean. Just a few tips that have helped me. Again, great videos. Keep up the good work!
I have a Shirley Fab. Reverse Flow and I learned pretty quickly that traditional offset is still the way to go for the same reason that it’s really a pain in the A- to clean almost every after cook.
I find it helps a lot to line the baffle plate with foil trays. Trays block a lot of that radiant heat and fill up with drippings which extenuate that effect.
I learned on a big reverse flow, had two cheap traditional flows for several years, and got a 6ft reverse flow of my own two years ago. I love them. I get much better temp consistency across the length of the chamber. I love them, but it’s possibly because I know them so well. Also, my grease spout is on the opposite side of brad’s.
I have both the TMG Fridge and a Workhorse 1975 (Sorry Chud, they were closer for pickup). After plenty of cooks on both, I can say honestly they both have their strong points. I think of the traditional flow as “a convection oven” where as the RF is more of a regular “oven”. The TMG cooks chicken great, but the WH crisps the skin up like it was fried. I like Butts better in the TMG. Brisket better in the WH because it renders the fat better and ribs better in TMG. I line the baffle plate with foil and cleans right up. The TMG has so much cooking area, to keep at 225-250 I have to have a huge raging fire.
My baffle plate stays clean in my Reverse Flow Lang because i fill up with water throughout the whole cook when I'm cooking. It serves 2 purposes, 1. It keeps meats moist from the steam,.. 2. It keeps the heat down from the baffle plate so it doesn't sear my meat... I pull off perfect bbq every time 😁
No disrespect to Chud’s reverse flow smoker (I am a huge fan of his channel!), but I believe Lang has a much better design. I used to have a 48D, I now have an 84D. Lang is so much easier to clean, the baffle is not flat, and the stack is positioned differently so that when smoking on top rack results are great…without the heat from the baffle plate. Would love to also own a regular straight through offset.
@@dutchdykefinger Nope I still get a nice bark, And the meats are never ever dry... And I get real good smoke flavor too... But I've been using my Lang Reverse Flow for about 10+ years now so I've really got cooking on it dialed in to perfection now lol
Great video. I have a couple of suggestions for you. Remove the lip from the firebox to cook chamber opening. Add a lip at the left end of the baffle plate. having the lip on the baffle allows all of the mess to be caught up top where it is accessible. If you need to clean below the baffle do so from the firebox end with a long mop. The other cool thing this allows is that you can use that entire baffle as a water pan should you desire to do so. yes that comes in handy. Your drain also needs to extend up to your baffle as well. Great looking pit. I prefer reverse flow over traditional for smaller pits.
I know its already a hefty beast, but I've realized you can use ceramic tiles on the baffle to act as a sort of insulator to protect from radiant heat. I use 2 small pieces of tile on my dyna glo offset box smoker to protect from the direct heat flow from the box and its treated me very well. I use them the same way, run it across my bottom rack like a baffle. They make 24" x 24" ceramic tiles so it shouldn't be an issue to find a couple that you can insert for heat protection but also remove at the end of the cook for ease of cleaning. I put my tiles in my garage sink and let them soak for a few, then the chudstuff just wipes off with a paper towel, Super easy.
I remember a video from a company that has sold these for years. I was most impressed by the drain in the bottom on the far end from the fire box. To clean it they would wait till the next cook, stoke the firebox, open the drain and when everything was hot; use a hose to clean it.
My reverse flow cook chamber is made from a 1/4" thick 48"x20 pipe. Firebox is sized for the cooker. I have only used a reverse flow. For me brisket are not a problem, temps are even side to side, your right about being fantastic for ribs. Mine take longer than 2 hour, usually about 5..
Nice build! Love your work. I built a 175 gal reverse flow about a year and a half ago. Almost identical to your build but not as neat. I thought it would cook more even but the radiant heat from the baffle plate makes it cook very different from side to side. Its only 7 degrees hotter on the fire box side but cooks like its 50. Finished 2- 15lb briskets in 6hrs with the thermometers reading 250° blew my mind. I just recently cut the stack off and turned it into a traditional offset. Haven't used it yet.
Love all your videos. I think there are pros and cons either way. In my 24x36 Shirley Fabrication reverse flow I place a 18x26 stainless cookie sheet on top of the baffle plate and fill with water. The water adds some moisture to the cook chamber, but it's mostly to insulate the meat from the radiant heat. Also makes for easier cleanup. Of course you have to keep it filled with water as it evaporates. I just add a little water to the pan any time I open the door to add mop sauce or check internal temps.
Hey Chud, one thing I've learned with my reverse flow is that if you want to avoid the radiant heat from the plate toasting the bottom of your brisket is to use the top rack.
I have seen a lot of Shirley Fab owners put aluminum trays on top of their rf plate to collect drippings and minimize the amount of cooked on grease, just an idea!
I’ve grown to fall in love with my reverse flow however I agree with everything you’re saying. Lol. I just find I can manage temp a lot better than an offset. The one thing I do get annoyed with is the inconsistent ambient temperature. You almost need a temperature gauge for every inch of it. lol.
I converted a traditional offset smoker to a reverse flow and quickly realized my mistake on my first cook. That baffle plate generated so much bottom radiant heat that it was almost like grilling. I heard stones were better but never had a chance to try that before I sold it. Went to a UDS and not looking back.
Hey Bradley I really like the look of your reverse flow smoker. I got a little tip for you I built a smaller reverse flow and I line my bottom baffle plate with heavy-duty foil, it makes for a nice easy clean up and keeps a baffle plate clean. Love your videos. 😎🍻👍😋
I’m building my offset with the scoop coming off the firebox, like Jeremy Yoder from Mad Scientist BBQ talked about. I replicate it to an extent with my current smoker using a deflection plate aimed up, my temps are even across the entire cook chamber.
did same on my Pecos reversed the deflector and extended the exhaust pipe all but 4 inches is now cooking space and no burnt bottoms and great burnt ends ... not sure why this is not used more often on smokers
I was coming to ask something about that. If the problem with direct flow offsets is the hotspot by the firebox, why not put a baffle plate vertical in front of it instead of all across the bottom to make a reverse flow? Maybe a double to snake the smoke up and then back down if one isn’t enough. You only lose a few inches of cook space. But I’m not an expert and there could be other issues to the direct flow smokers I’m unaware of
@@MFTomp09 if you throw it up, just to throw it back down, it won’t make your temps consistent across the entire chamber and you’re going to lose cooking space. You either don’t utilize the entire bottom grate, plus put a piece of wood in front of the closest meat to the firebox to protect it, or deflect it up and not have any top rack. I personally don’t use the top shelf, so it doesn’t matter to me that I lose that space.
You could try a full length water trough right down the center of the baffle plate with a tube at one end to easily keep it filled with water. It would both soak heat out of the plate and put a huge amount of moisture into the cook chamber.
I was thinking of buffet pans for steam tables. But it’s the same idea. Mine get removed, where yours can be emptied (if a valve is installed) to flush the pit.
Great great review i do have a reverse flow and all you said is true . What i did was i used removable plates so cleaning is easy other than that i love my reverse flow .
We put the drain at the other end on my reverse flow, with a small sheet along the bottom to force all the goodies to that end. The idea was to keep the grease away from the firebox as much as possible. Grease fires suck. We used two baffle plats sitting on angle iron. That way I can take them out if I need to. I find maintaining the temp to be incredibly easy on it. But for my last cook, in this central Texas heat, I hardly used any wood. It kept hot without needing it, so I didn't get near as much smoke on it. I didn't really understand what was going on until I saw the smoke ring. Everything tasted good, but it didn't have as much smoke as during the winter. A searing box is just above the firebox, with a smoke box above that. So I can almost get a cold smoke while smoking brisket or whatever. And I can smoke my steaks as well, then sear them in the middle. It works well.
I think it turned out awesome good size good design and the thing I like the most is the way you finished the outside good job Mr. Chud The more you use it the better you will like it.
Hope you’re still considering building a gravity feed smoker. They look very interesting but from what I’ve been reading about them, the most popular brand is a hit and miss for quality.
I love your channel man. Thank you for creating this channel. Definitely got me in the thought process of making my own sausages and building a smoker now lol.
Brad - You could make a 2 door without a center. Think of a split walk through door. Only issue - One door would have to open 1st every time. To open the 2nd, the 1st would need to be open already. Because of the overlap.
I had a reverse flow on a trailer built by one of the top pitmasters in Texas. I did like it and not opposed to them, but I do like the versatility of traditional cookers better.
Bradley you got THE Best UA-cam channel for cooking authentic BBQ Keep em coming!!! Love my 250g reverse flow. It's 1/2" riveted steel from 100 year old boiler on a trailer and cooks amazingly even top shelf and bottom so I can really load it up and not worry too much. However, I've always used water pans (sheet pan) to keep the plate clean, and im sure I'd run into radiant heat problems from the baffle plate if I didn't. Best results for my brisket is to slow cook at 225f until I wrap in butcher paper with beef tallow then bump it up to 275f to finish. I really hope you try another brisket soon and see what you come up with. Keep the the great videos coming Bradley and keep, checking them boots brother. 👢 🐍
By baffle plate has 2 inch lips at either end and a drain I fill it with water it makes steam which helps in the cook. Start with water add apple juice as I go I cook everything on mine with no issues and very stable temps and flow
A few things I didn’t see addressed in the video or comments. When you mention it cooks hotter and briskets get a little crispy underneath that sounds like your temps are simply too high. You didn’t say what your target temps were. When you said the baffle plate was hard to clean are you comparing it to cleaning the bottom of a straight flow? I can’t see how a flat plate is harder to clean than a pipe. My biggest reason to look at reverse flow is getting full use if the pit. I’ve watched hundreds of smoking videos and everyone uses the opposite side from the firebox exclusively so you lose 1/3 of the space. I’ve been using COS cookers and a ceramic Komodo for years but always gave my sights on upgrading to a proper pit so I have no direct experience on either but at this point in my research I prefer reverse flow, as you might have guessed.
With that baffle plate, I feel like you should install "Cleanout" sort of like the grease trap but behind the smoker so you can just scrape it into a bucket etc. Just so it's a little easier than shoveling it out.
I just built my own from an old air compressor, it work very well so far, i will certainly make some modification in the air intake setup but so far i will hold a 250F temp at the grill level with a good fire from sugar maple wood. I would like to thank the bbq showdown show on netflix for giving me the idea to built a reverse flow because i was getting hard time because of the air versus exhaust... forcing me to stay close to the smoker to manage exhaust and air all time, was getting hot spike in temp everytime i was loading with new wood... On my reverse flow my temp remain steady all time and allow me time to drink a cold beer by the time it is cooking
I have a traditional 250 gallon offset but its 30" wide on the inside and I have 15" plates across the middle. They are 1/4" thick and it keeps Temps very well.
To each its own really i haven't found the bottom of my lang 36 to burn the meat not saying it cant but i would rotate meat if worried. I would like to get a standard offset smoker and see for my self. Happy cooking
Great informative video, im deciding on which smoker to buy, reverse or standard, you gave me some good tips and pointers on these smokers, thanks mate, all the best. !
A tip for people looking to get a cheap start on practicing their beginning welding techniques without ruining a good piece of steel: Find a farrier (horse shoe-er) and ask if they have used shoes available for cheap, or even to give away. My family's farrier has to pay to dispose of his used steel shoes, so I have a massive pile of free scrap material to play with because he's happy to leave a pile of shoes behind at every visit. Horseshoes make great bottle racks, shoe racks, and plenty of other artistic creations.
Have you thought of adding a tube drain to pass from the top plate through to the bottom and add a short lip to the top plate so you capture the drippings and drain them without running everyting through the bottom where it is hard to clean?
Chud, I noticed the collector was above the grate. Do you think that dropping the firebox down so you could split the collector 1/2 above the grate and 1/2 below the grate would increase the smoke flavor? It should hold more smoke at grate level I would think.
There appears to be a wide variety of smoker styles to choose from. Would you consider making a single video comparing and contrasting their pros and cons?
Brad have you ever considered adding another stack on the other side and having shut off plates at each stack. Then you could have the best of both worlds. A reverse flow and a tradition offset.
but he welded the baffle plates in. they would have to be removed in a traditional style smoker otherwise it would get little to no smoke on the meats....otherwise i was wondering why he decided to weld the plates in instead of making them removable, he never explained why he did that.
@@mark929rr5 yeah thats what I was thinking. Could you make a smoker that you remove this and block off that and open this and now you have a traditional smoker and then you add that back in and you have a reverse flow. Not cost effective to sell but would be cool project. "Chud Transformer"
I know it would be adding more to the build but perhaps some fire brick would fix the bottom heat issue and is something you could take out if you want heat from the bottom. 🤷🏻♂️
Very nice looking smoker and super impressive! I have been wanting to get into welding for a while... might be time to hit up the marketplace for a starter kit and then knock myself out.
On a reverse if you put too much heat into the firebox you could introduce burnt smoke from the drippings smoking off your baffle. Not the clean smoke we are trying to achieve.
My pit can be standard or reverse flow by moving they bolt on stack to either side and using a plug on the unused side. I prefer the reverse flow as the heat is equalized more with no hotspot. I don't see a reason for your baffle to be 3/8 in thick. Minus thinner and lower in the cook chamber so the radiant heat is minimalized.
I own a Lang 36" reverse flow smoker. So I was super curious as to what he was going to say about how this works vs. a traditional offset. Everything he said, I agree with. If I had seen this video prior to me buying this smoker, it may have deterred me from buying one. However, I absolutely love my Lang 36" @LangSmokerCookers. My fiance and her mother absolutely love my smoked tri-tip (brisket style). They love the ribs and everthing else I have smoked. I do not smoke briskets as I cannot dedicate that much time to a large piece of meat. But, I can wake up early Sunday morning, get the fire rolling and get some meat smoked before the football games start. When I met the owner, he said the only problem people have who own a 36" Lang smoker is they always regret not buying the 48" smoker. I tend to agree with him...
What do you think about a baffle plate constructed similar to a insulated firebox. .25 steel-insulation-.25 steel. Maybe that would cut down on heat on the bottom.
Two hours for ribs sounds like the temperature is way too high. My reverse flow takes the typical five plus hours at 250F. I keep the temp at the meat within a few degrees using a custom built controller.
it stands out to me that your grease drippings can flow off the baffle into the bottom and then TOWARDS the fire. that is a grease fire waiting to happen and the baffle makes it much harder to put out. I really highly suggest using foil trays ontop of the baffle
Really the question people should be asking you is… “Why did you think it’s okay to put celery in salsa?!” In my house we kind of use this phrase like ‘ya done fucked up’ and the phrase is “You put the celery in the salsa!” So thank you for giving us that phrase. But good job on the reverse flow! 👍
Instead of putting another 100 pounds and the added cost. Needing more wood to heat up more metal, harder to clean and you can’t clean under the reverse flow plate. I took a traditional stick burner, that had a 5” stack in the middle of the opposite fire box end. The problem was the heat traveled along the top above the meat and exited the stack before it hit the meat. So I took a piece of 5” flex pipe for fireplace flue. And made it offset from stack down to bottom of pit down half the length of pit. This kept the h heat at top of pit till ait cooled a cooled and drop down to the flue pipe. Pit became more efficient and more controllable. And I didn’t have to move stack or cut the pit open to put in a hundred pounds of plate steel. So if you have a large stick burner, pick up a piece of glue flex pipe. And fix it to your stack outlet and try cooking with your pit like this. I like this channel.
It's deffinitely different than what most people are used to but it does have it's advantages: for one as you said you don't get that massive blast of heat directly from the fire box, but also because you have that plate underneath you have much more even temperature throghout so it all cooks evenly, you don't have to move stuff around so much, etc. And another advantage is that if you have smaller baffles instead of one solid 3/16 plate you can do a lot of tuning with them- different size holes, different number of baffles and so on so you have a lot more control over what is going on inside than you would a standard flow. But all that comes with the cost of extra weight, extra complexity and so extra cost/time if you're buying/building one.
Lang flow owner here, so the way I clean my plate is that I give it a steam bath before and after the cook. As I bring it up to temp I usually over shoot it then give it a quick spray from the eater hose. Any leftover grease washes down the drain. And then when I'm done cooking I heat it back up to 300 and then spray again let it shut down. If I have any troublesome grease then I scrape it a bit. Langs have a nice grease drain running down the middle of the baffle plate so that's helpful.
I have both and I find myself cooking on the reverse flow more than the offset. Just like anything I had to learn the pit. I did notice that the food was not near as smokey as the offset, and that's a good thing. It's still smokey, just not overly so just a cleaner smoke. I cook more on the top rack on mine rather than the bottom rack and it seems to help mitigate the effect from the baffle plate. I feed mine a split about every hour after its up to temp. I have a built in propane jet burner on the fire box to help get the logs started and its the bomb.
Every HOUR? 😒
@@ralphalf5897 Its a 500 gal smoker yes i feed it that often to maintain even temperature. I can load it heavy and let it go for longer but what fun is that.
Did you insulate the fire box?
I own a Lang 84 deluxe and After I learned how it cooks I love it. I can smoke from a whole hog to anything smaller. I put a propane burner and put an iron skillet on the burner and put some splits in the skillet and pellets for some smoke. Worked great. I cooked a hog that way below 32* degrees.
@@danielgordon8403 yes firebox is insulated.
Reverse flow is great its just a slight learning curve if you come from traditional offsets, i have a shirley patio 36 and i absolutely love it, nothing dries out from excess heat, in fact the temps are pretty consistant throughout the cooking chamber. I dont have experience with any other rev flows but i can vouch for mine for sure. Better than traditional? I dont think either style is better than the other. Just know your pit and your good. Ill also add that mine is pretty easy to clean
Cleaning tip ~ After your cook crank the heat up and hose out. It steam cleans it. That is how Ben Lang showed me how to clean my Lang Offset
They are a solution in search of a problem. But Brad's is a work of art and craftsmanship.
I have a huge Shirley Fabrication reverse flow smoker. It is phenomenal, but, I agree, there are different temperature zones that I just rotate when needed. I can cook about 55-60 pork shoulders in the main chamber alone, so for me, it's well worth it...
I built a reverse flow 8 years ago out of a truck fuel tank that burned propane. (175 gallon) which is at least 3/8" thick. I used the 24.5 inch wheel for the firebox and old axe wood handles for the handles. I also use mesquite for wood, which has a stronger smoke flavor. I have found that running the pit between 225 and 250 works best, rather than the 275 to 300 most people do on traditional offsets.
I've always run my offsets at those lower temps. Been smoking about 20 years. 220 to 250 is the ideal temperature envelope for smoked meats no matter what you use.
First off, loved this whole video series, thank you! I agree with you on the standard offset. I enjoy cooking on it more than the reverse smoker I have. One thing that I have on my reverse smoker that may help with clean up on yours is putting an access door on the lower half that swings up (at the end cap), and you can open it for cleaning purposes to get under the plate. Also, I put aluminum foil on top of the plate the length of the pit and replace it as needed. Definitely makes things easier to clean. Just a few tips that have helped me. Again, great videos. Keep up the good work!
My reverse flow has a removable plate and two different places for the stack both normal flow and reverse both have worked really well
Same here. I mainly use it as reverse flow.
I have a Shirley Fab. Reverse Flow and I learned pretty quickly that traditional offset is still the way to go for the same reason that it’s really a pain in the A- to clean almost every after cook.
I find it helps a lot to line the baffle plate with foil trays.
Trays block a lot of that radiant heat and fill up with drippings which extenuate that effect.
that also helps a LOT with the cleaning.
I learned on a big reverse flow, had two cheap traditional flows for several years, and got a 6ft reverse flow of my own two years ago. I love them. I get much better temp consistency across the length of the chamber. I love them, but it’s possibly because I know them so well.
Also, my grease spout is on the opposite side of brad’s.
Which is common sense.
I have both the TMG Fridge and a Workhorse 1975 (Sorry Chud, they were closer for pickup). After plenty of cooks on both, I can say honestly they both have their strong points. I think of the traditional flow as “a convection oven” where as the RF is more of a regular “oven”. The TMG cooks chicken great, but the WH crisps the skin up like it was fried. I like Butts better in the TMG. Brisket better in the WH because it renders the fat better and ribs better in TMG. I line the baffle plate with foil and cleans right up. The TMG has so much cooking area, to keep at 225-250 I have to have a huge raging fire.
My baffle plate stays clean in my Reverse Flow Lang because i fill up with water throughout the whole cook when I'm cooking. It serves 2 purposes, 1. It keeps meats moist from the steam,.. 2. It keeps the heat down from the baffle plate so it doesn't sear my meat... I pull off perfect bbq every time 😁
isn't the steam kind of keeping it from getting a nice color though? or is it still barking on the top?
No disrespect to Chud’s reverse flow smoker (I am a huge fan of his channel!), but I believe Lang has a much better design. I used to have a 48D, I now have an 84D. Lang is so much easier to clean, the baffle is not flat, and the stack is positioned differently so that when smoking on top rack results are great…without the heat from the baffle plate. Would love to also own a regular straight through offset.
@@dutchdykefinger Nope I still get a nice bark, And the meats are never ever dry... And I get real good smoke flavor too... But I've been using my Lang Reverse Flow for about 10+ years now so I've really got cooking on it dialed in to perfection now lol
My reverse flow I built I used angle iron in the middle as a v in plate and put the drain in it to stop the grease from going under the plate.
Great video. I have a couple of suggestions for you. Remove the lip from the firebox to cook chamber opening. Add a lip at the left end of the baffle plate. having the lip on the baffle allows all of the mess to be caught up top where it is accessible. If you need to clean below the baffle do so from the firebox end with a long mop. The other cool thing this allows is that you can use that entire baffle as a water pan should you desire to do so. yes that comes in handy. Your drain also needs to extend up to your baffle as well.
Great looking pit. I prefer reverse flow over traditional for smaller pits.
I know its already a hefty beast, but I've realized you can use ceramic tiles on the baffle to act as a sort of insulator to protect from radiant heat. I use 2 small pieces of tile on my dyna glo offset box smoker to protect from the direct heat flow from the box and its treated me very well. I use them the same way, run it across my bottom rack like a baffle.
They make 24" x 24" ceramic tiles so it shouldn't be an issue to find a couple that you can insert for heat protection but also remove at the end of the cook for ease of cleaning. I put my tiles in my garage sink and let them soak for a few, then the chudstuff just wipes off with a paper towel, Super easy.
Probably my favorite YT channel, thanks for sharing for all of us.
A little off topic but, I followed many of your tips for smoking a brisket, best one yet , thank you
Great series, I always wondered if the baffle plate would hold heat and cook faster. Same issue I’ve seen with pellet grills.
I remember a video from a company that has sold these for years. I was most impressed by the drain in the bottom on the far end from the fire box. To clean it they would wait till the next cook, stoke the firebox, open the drain and when everything was hot; use a hose to clean it.
Lang has a great grease drain and they recommend a quick spray while cooker is hot, not at beginning of next.
My reverse flow cook chamber is made from a 1/4" thick 48"x20 pipe. Firebox is sized for the cooker. I have only used a reverse flow. For me brisket are not a problem, temps are even side to side, your right about being fantastic for ribs. Mine take longer than 2 hour, usually about 5..
Nice build! Love your work. I built a 175 gal reverse flow about a year and a half ago. Almost identical to your build but not as neat. I thought it would cook more even but the radiant heat from the baffle plate makes it cook very different from side to side. Its only 7 degrees hotter on the fire box side but cooks like its 50. Finished 2- 15lb briskets in 6hrs with the thermometers reading 250° blew my mind. I just recently cut the stack off and turned it into a traditional offset. Haven't used it yet.
Love all your videos. I think there are pros and cons either way. In my 24x36 Shirley Fabrication reverse flow I place a 18x26 stainless cookie sheet on top of the baffle plate and fill with water. The water adds some moisture to the cook chamber, but it's mostly to insulate the meat from the radiant heat. Also makes for easier cleanup. Of course you have to keep it filled with water as it evaporates. I just add a little water to the pan any time I open the door to add mop sauce or check internal temps.
Hey Chud, one thing I've learned with my reverse flow is that if you want to avoid the radiant heat from the plate toasting the bottom of your brisket is to use the top rack.
I have seen a lot of Shirley Fab owners put aluminum trays on top of their rf plate to collect drippings and minimize the amount of cooked on grease, just an idea!
I’ve grown to fall in love with my reverse flow however I agree with everything you’re saying. Lol. I just find I can manage temp a lot better than an offset. The one thing I do get annoyed with is the inconsistent ambient temperature. You almost need a temperature gauge for every inch of it. lol.
Put water pans on the bottom plate while cooking.
I converted a traditional offset smoker to a reverse flow and quickly realized my mistake on my first cook. That baffle plate generated so much bottom radiant heat that it was almost like grilling. I heard stones were better but never had a chance to try that before I sold it. Went to a UDS and not looking back.
I place a sheet cake pan with beef broth on the deflector plate just under my brisket. It insulates the bottom of the brisket from the radiant heat.
Hey Bradley I really like the look of your reverse flow smoker.
I got a little tip for you I built a smaller reverse flow and I line my bottom baffle plate with heavy-duty foil, it makes for a nice easy clean up and keeps a baffle plate clean. Love your videos. 😎🍻👍😋
Do you think a water tray on top of the plate wound help with the convection heat and allow a slower smoke for more flavor? Beautiful job btw..
ive been welding with a $110 chicago electric flux core for 2 years no complaints
I’m building my offset with the scoop coming off the firebox, like Jeremy Yoder from Mad Scientist BBQ talked about. I replicate it to an extent with my current smoker using a deflection plate aimed up, my temps are even across the entire cook chamber.
did same on my Pecos reversed the deflector and extended the exhaust pipe all but 4 inches is now cooking space and no burnt bottoms and great burnt ends ... not sure why this is not used more often on smokers
I was coming to ask something about that. If the problem with direct flow offsets is the hotspot by the firebox, why not put a baffle plate vertical in front of it instead of all across the bottom to make a reverse flow? Maybe a double to snake the smoke up and then back down if one isn’t enough. You only lose a few inches of cook space. But I’m not an expert and there could be other issues to the direct flow smokers I’m unaware of
@@MFTomp09 the only thing with the baffle/scoop trick is that you can’t have an upper shelf, or utilize it; you’ll torch that food
@@burntendzzz snaking the smoke back down with a second plate wouldn’t solve that?
@@MFTomp09 if you throw it up, just to throw it back down, it won’t make your temps consistent across the entire chamber and you’re going to lose cooking space. You either don’t utilize the entire bottom grate, plus put a piece of wood in front of the closest meat to the firebox to protect it, or deflect it up and not have any top rack. I personally don’t use the top shelf, so it doesn’t matter to me that I lose that space.
LOVE LOVE LOVE my reverse Flow. It's a great pit and it has it's flaws of course but overall it is an awesome cooker
You could try a full length water trough right down the center of the baffle plate with a tube at one end to easily keep it filled with water. It would both soak heat out of the plate and put a huge amount of moisture into the cook chamber.
I was thinking of buffet pans for steam tables. But it’s the same idea. Mine get removed, where yours can be emptied (if a valve is installed) to flush the pit.
My meadow creek is designed this way
Great great review i do have a reverse flow and all you said is true . What i did was i used removable plates so cleaning is easy other than that i love my reverse flow .
Thank you for your honesty on this. The thing still looks killer.
We put the drain at the other end on my reverse flow, with a small sheet along the bottom to force all the goodies to that end. The idea was to keep the grease away from the firebox as much as possible. Grease fires suck. We used two baffle plats sitting on angle iron. That way I can take them out if I need to.
I find maintaining the temp to be incredibly easy on it. But for my last cook, in this central Texas heat, I hardly used any wood. It kept hot without needing it, so I didn't get near as much smoke on it. I didn't really understand what was going on until I saw the smoke ring. Everything tasted good, but it didn't have as much smoke as during the winter.
A searing box is just above the firebox, with a smoke box above that. So I can almost get a cold smoke while smoking brisket or whatever. And I can smoke my steaks as well, then sear them in the middle. It works well.
This is why I designed my little 60 gallon as both. (I showed you on IG) I get to pull the baffles out and open the other smokestack.
I think it turned out awesome good size good design and the thing I like the most is the way you finished the outside good job Mr. Chud The more you use it the better you will like it.
This is why we love you. Honesty
really beautiful build! your skills have come a long way in both cooking and welding. it's so inspiring to see your tenacity
Hope you’re still considering building a gravity feed smoker. They look very interesting but from what I’ve been reading about them, the most popular brand is a hit and miss for quality.
Super scary fire hazard too
I love your channel man. Thank you for creating this channel. Definitely got me in the thought process of making my own sausages and building a smoker now lol.
Brad - You could make a 2 door without a center. Think of a split walk through door.
Only issue - One door would have to open 1st every time. To open the 2nd, the 1st would need to be open already. Because of the overlap.
Nice series Bradley. Really enjoyed it.
I had a reverse flow on a trailer built by one of the top pitmasters in Texas. I did like it and not opposed to them, but I do like the versatility of traditional cookers better.
The plate is a good place to put a pan of water. Works great if you want to cook something with a good bit of humidity.
I did wonder about that baffle plate and how it would clean up over time. Great build and overview!
Bradley you got THE Best UA-cam channel for cooking authentic BBQ Keep em coming!!! Love my 250g reverse flow. It's 1/2" riveted steel from 100 year old boiler on a trailer and cooks amazingly even top shelf and bottom so I can really load it up and not worry too much. However, I've always used water pans (sheet pan) to keep the plate clean, and im sure I'd run into radiant heat problems from the baffle plate if I didn't. Best results for my brisket is to slow cook at 225f until I wrap in butcher paper with beef tallow then bump it up to 275f to finish. I really hope you try another brisket soon and see what you come up with. Keep the the great videos coming Bradley and keep, checking them boots brother. 👢 🐍
By baffle plate has 2 inch lips at either end and a drain I fill it with water it makes steam which helps in the cook. Start with water add apple juice as I go I cook everything on mine with no issues and very stable temps and flow
A few things I didn’t see addressed in the video or comments. When you mention it cooks hotter and briskets get a little crispy underneath that sounds like your temps are simply too high. You didn’t say what your target temps were. When you said the baffle plate was hard to clean are you comparing it to cleaning the bottom of a straight flow? I can’t see how a flat plate is harder to clean than a pipe. My biggest reason to look at reverse flow is getting full use if the pit. I’ve watched hundreds of smoking videos and everyone uses the opposite side from the firebox exclusively so you lose 1/3 of the space. I’ve been using COS cookers and a ceramic Komodo for years but always gave my sights on upgrading to a proper pit so I have no direct experience on either but at this point in my research I prefer reverse flow, as you might have guessed.
Dude that color on that smoker makes it look you painted great seasoning man
With that baffle plate, I feel like you should install "Cleanout" sort of like the grease trap but behind the smoker so you can just scrape it into a bucket etc. Just so it's a little easier than shoveling it out.
Had a bumpy time on switch from std flow but now enjoy the speedier cook. Brisket fat down is awesome on the RF plate, renders nicely.
I just built my own from an old air compressor, it work very well so far, i will certainly make some modification in the air intake setup but so far i will hold a 250F temp at the grill level with a good fire from sugar maple wood.
I would like to thank the bbq showdown show on netflix for giving me the idea to built a reverse flow because i was getting hard time because of the air versus exhaust... forcing me to stay close to the smoker to manage exhaust and air all time, was getting hot spike in temp everytime i was loading with new wood...
On my reverse flow my temp remain steady all time and allow me time to drink a cold beer by the time it is cooking
Chud (Aka Bradley), the man, the myth, the legend.
Very good break down on the cooker. Thanks for answering the questions, this video was awesome!
I have a traditional 250 gallon offset but its 30" wide on the inside and I have 15" plates across the middle. They are 1/4" thick and it keeps Temps very well.
If it tuning plates, i had them in the past and they worked great, even temp from box to stack.
I really always wondered about this. I'm happy to hear your experience and thoughts are kind of what I expected.
To each its own really i haven't found the bottom of my lang 36 to burn the meat not saying it cant but i would rotate meat if worried. I would like to get a standard offset smoker and see for my self. Happy cooking
Hey brother, thanks for reading my question. Much appreciated. I hope you and Brooke are well.
I’ve definitely asked numerous times, thank you Brad
Great informative video, im deciding on which smoker to buy, reverse or standard, you gave me some good tips and pointers on these smokers, thanks mate, all the best. !
A tip for people looking to get a cheap start on practicing their beginning welding techniques without ruining a good piece of steel: Find a farrier (horse shoe-er) and ask if they have used shoes available for cheap, or even to give away. My family's farrier has to pay to dispose of his used steel shoes, so I have a massive pile of free scrap material to play with because he's happy to leave a pile of shoes behind at every visit. Horseshoes make great bottle racks, shoe racks, and plenty of other artistic creations.
Thanks for building and experimenting for our benefit. Hopefully, the revenue from UA-cam will offset (no pun intended) some of your build costs!
Have you thought of adding a tube drain to pass from the top plate through to the bottom and add a short lip to the top plate so you capture the drippings and drain them without running everyting through the bottom where it is hard to clean?
Chud, I noticed the collector was above the grate. Do you think that dropping the firebox down so you could split the collector 1/2 above the grate and 1/2 below the grate would increase the smoke flavor? It should hold more smoke at grate level I would think.
@bradly. For more smoke in the beginning cant u use the cold smoke ring with wood chips
Geebus man. Lets keep it a real BBQ pit. Those pellet cookers that need devices annoy me. Hes got wood and fire here. That should be enough
Fav smoker reverse flow.
I wonder if making a insulated baffle would help with the bottom heat if materials usage wasnt a issue
You should be able to make a long scrapper togo through the firebox to be able to clean under the baffle plate
Love the Always Sunny reference in the middle
There appears to be a wide variety of smoker styles to choose from. Would you consider making a single video comparing and contrasting their pros and cons?
Brad have you ever considered adding another stack on the other side and having shut off plates at each stack. Then you could have the best of both worlds. A reverse flow and a tradition offset.
but he welded the baffle plates in. they would have to be removed in a traditional style smoker otherwise it would get little to no smoke on the meats....otherwise i was wondering why he decided to weld the plates in instead of making them removable, he never explained why he did that.
@@mark929rr5 yeah thats what I was thinking. Could you make a smoker that you remove this and block off that and open this and now you have a traditional smoker and then you add that back in and you have a reverse flow. Not cost effective to sell but would be cool project. "Chud Transformer"
I know it would be adding more to the build but perhaps some fire brick would fix the bottom heat issue and is something you could take out if you want heat from the bottom. 🤷🏻♂️
Weld a piece of 2" flat stock on the open end of the heat plate. I've opened up my ball valve to drain mine, nothing drips out
Great video series and insight. I'm going to stick my a traditional myself. 🍻
Very nice looking smoker and super impressive! I have been wanting to get into welding for a while... might be time to hit up the marketplace for a starter kit and then knock myself out.
Curious if the top rack would get enough smoke and enough distance from the baffle plate.
Would you recommend a reverse smoker if I’m only doing turkey breast, chicken breast, pork chops, and Ribs?
On a reverse if you put too much heat into the firebox you could introduce burnt smoke from the drippings smoking off your baffle. Not the clean smoke we are trying to achieve.
My pit can be standard or reverse flow by moving they bolt on stack to either side and using a plug on the unused side. I prefer the reverse flow as the heat is equalized more with no hotspot. I don't see a reason for your baffle to be 3/8 in thick. Minus thinner and lower in the cook chamber so the radiant heat is minimalized.
I wonder if you laid fire bricks over the baffle if that would help?
What if you converted it to a pizza oven? Add bricks to the plate and and keep a hot 🔥. First offset revers flow wood fired pizza oven?
I went back to conventional. Reverse was not for more me :) Ty for your input/review.
I own a Lang 36" reverse flow smoker. So I was super curious as to what he was going to say about how this works vs. a traditional offset. Everything he said, I agree with. If I had seen this video prior to me buying this smoker, it may have deterred me from buying one. However, I absolutely love my Lang 36" @LangSmokerCookers. My fiance and her mother absolutely love my smoked tri-tip (brisket style). They love the ribs and everthing else I have smoked. I do not smoke briskets as I cannot dedicate that much time to a large piece of meat. But, I can wake up early Sunday morning, get the fire rolling and get some meat smoked before the football games start. When I met the owner, he said the only problem people have who own a 36" Lang smoker is they always regret not buying the 48" smoker. I tend to agree with him...
Good build look forward to seeing more cooking on it.
What do you think about a baffle plate constructed similar to a insulated firebox. .25 steel-insulation-.25 steel. Maybe that would cut down on heat on the bottom.
Two hours for ribs sounds like the temperature is way too high. My reverse flow takes the typical five plus hours at 250F. I keep the temp at the meat within a few degrees using a custom built controller.
Water pan under the Brisket will keep the bottom protected from the heat coming off of the plate.
it stands out to me that your grease drippings can flow off the baffle into the bottom and then TOWARDS the fire.
that is a grease fire waiting to happen and the baffle makes it much harder to put out.
I really highly suggest using foil trays ontop of the baffle
He said the baffle plate is pitched toward the stack. Plus the plate is welded to the wall, so the grease can't actually drip into the fire
@@evanmyers6003 watch it again he actually says the opposite. its higher toward the stack so it flows down and under the baffle
@@matthewantonello5029 you're right, my mistake wasnt thinking through it the right way
@@matthewantonello5029 You're a moran. Just stop....
Really the question people should be asking you is… “Why did you think it’s okay to put celery in salsa?!” In my house we kind of use this phrase like ‘ya done fucked up’ and the phrase is “You put the celery in the salsa!” So thank you for giving us that phrase. But good job on the reverse flow! 👍
Instead of putting another 100 pounds and the added cost. Needing more wood to heat up more metal, harder to clean and you can’t clean under the reverse flow plate. I took a traditional stick burner, that had a 5” stack in the middle of the opposite fire box end. The problem was the heat traveled along the top above the meat and exited the stack before it hit the meat. So I took a piece of 5” flex pipe for fireplace flue. And made it offset from stack down to bottom of pit down half the length of pit. This kept the h heat at top of pit till ait cooled a cooled and drop down to the flue pipe. Pit became more efficient and more controllable. And I didn’t have to move stack or cut the pit open to put in a hundred pounds of plate steel. So if you have a large stick burner, pick up a piece of glue flex pipe. And fix it to your stack outlet and try cooking with your pit like this. I like this channel.
CAN you cook low & slow on it? How would you adjust to cook a brisket with the extra radiant heat? Lower the temp?
Nice explainations, been wondering how the hell these reverse flows are supposed to work
I turned an old okc joes longhorn into a reverse flow… put a big ole stack.. heavy as shit .. cooked great..sold it the new owner loves it
I have a reverse flow I just bought you think drilling a few holes across the bottom of the heat pan will help out