[dieselfuel]

is there any kind of guideline for offset firebox dimensions vs cooker dimensions?  if my cooker measures 20"x20"x33" would a 20"x20"x20" firebox be big enough?  im wanting to take my existing charcoal grille and build/add an offset firebox...

[dieselfuel]

so, uh...   guess ill just try it.

[azkitch]

I'd say that'd be big enough! I haven't looked for any formulations regarding the dimensions. I bet there's something out there. I'd think you could go smaller for the FB if you wanted to. That's a lot of air and metal to heat up before you start heating the pit, it seems to me. Maybe 16 cubed...All the books I've checked out of the library, and I haven't looked into the nuts & bolts of building a pit. I guess cuz I don't have a stack of metal or a welder. Or any welding skills...

[dieselfuel]

thanks, maybe that is a little big, i never thought of it that way.  the split wood we can get locally is usually about 16-18" in length, but i could always cut it down some more.  either way, whatever i come up with, ill post pics of the build.

[KidCurry]

Never have built a pit but have heard the rule of thumb that a firebox should be about 1/3 the size of the cooking section.

Here is a firebox calculator...

http://webpages.charter.net/tomchism/BBQ%20CALC%20Forms/BBQ%20Smoker%20Calculators.htm


If you don't have excel get open office here: http://www.openoffice.org/

and then down load the files here...

http://webpages.charter.net/tomchism/New%20calc%20files/

http://webpages.charter.net/tomchism/Dodis%20Calculator/

Here is the thread they came from... http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20871 Lots of pit building going on on the smokering forum.

[dieselfuel]

cool thanks!

[Trailhound]

I check out the fire box calculator if I did it right this is what I need for my new pit.
The pit comes out to 72,000 cu. in., the fire box would need to be 24,000 cu. in.
Fire box is 1/3 of the pit.
That means my fire box would have to be 30" x30” x 26.7” holy crap.
I must have done something wrong.
My pit is 60”wide, 40”tall & 30”deep comes to 72,000 cu. in.

Hey son put these numbers into that calculator and see what you come up with.

[azkitch]

thanks, maybe that is a little big, i never thought of it that way.  the split wood we can get locally is usually about 16-18" in length, but i could always cut it down some more.  either way, whatever i come up with, ill post pics of the build.

Good point about the splits...building a square fire box? 16"d X 20 would be good for a round, I'm thinkin'. pi r square=192" area of a 16" D circle, which would be approx. equal to a 14" square. A 16" square, 20" long firebox would likely be large enough...Just my S.W.A.G. My Brinkmann SnP is a 16" X 36" cook chamber, and the firebox is 16"D X 15". I don't think it's meant as a pure stickburner, though. Although I'm likely going to try it as such again.
YMMV!
Good luck!!  I still want that steel box with 2 doors I saw at the yunkjard the other day...That'd make a pretty neat smoker....

[chefrob]

all these numbers make my head hurt......i'm just a dumb chef!