Saw it while driving a van for work. Spent my lunch break driving this thing back to my house.

It’s got some rust, the existing paint is faded, and the thermometer is shot.

So I got a wire wheel for my grinder, a couple cans of high temp flat black paint, and a couple universal thermometers.

It’s far from perfect, but it looks great from 10 feet away, and it only cost me like $20 n supplies!

I’ve never owned a grill before, believe it or not. Let alone a smoker, or anything to do with charcoal. But so far I love it.

Made lots of hotdogs to practice getting it hot and running it. Made steak for my friends, with some guidance, and the consensus was “tasty!”

  • mbp@slrpnk.net
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    7 hours ago

    Bravo! I got the tiny version of that for $10 at a yard sale, the Brinkmann Smoke ‘n’ Grill

    I didn’t have to paint it but I did notice the dial is CRAP. I am gonna swap that out before my next smoke sesh.

    Congrats!

    • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      5 hours ago

      Thanks!

      Heads up, the stock thermometer is some kind of weird insert. Not standard.

      Like, the hole in the grill is 2 inches in diameter, and the whole thermometer recesses inside of that. I couldn’t find an exact replacement since they don’t make it anymore.

      So I just busted the glass out of the old one, pulled out the guts, and drilled a ¼ inch hole for the new one to go through. So basically I mounted the new one INSIDE the old one.

      Just be careful not to beat up the old one too much, it’s thin aluminum and I almost couldn’t get it to go back in cleanly because I squished it a tiny tiny bit when I was breaking the glass out, so it was deformed. It’s a tight fit.

      • mbp@slrpnk.net
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        4 hours ago

        What a legendary tip! No excuse not to try fiddling with it Friday now that it’s on my mind.

        May your brats and loins be tender and flavorful

  • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    my good dude, if you weren’t planning on keeping that smoker, that’s one hell of a flip. I’d toss you a few grand for one in that condition were i looking for one, and that’s excellent beef you cooked up. i ain’t even had my weed yet and i’m getting hungry looking at it.

    i went through this absolutely idiotic period of my life where i had no appetite but weed was not legal and i was literally so lawful stupid i was dying myself to death rather than have a joint to quite literally save my life. (no really, the effects were that drastic when i finally did) i bet a community of delicious food photos could really help people as stupid as me. also i want to look at them.

    i can tell you already know your way around a kitchen, but these websites taught me the ins and outs of smoking: amazing ribs, virtual weber bullet, and… probably serious eats? i know there was a third but i’m only halfway through coffee yet. the third website, whichever it was, taught me a ton.

    • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      13 hours ago

      No joke! That’s about $30 in sirloin, but still.

      I strive to be frugal everywhere I can in life, which helps save money for the times I want to splurge.

      Not buying a smoker, literally helped me afford the steak. And that’s also why I practiced on hotdogs instead of steak.

      Additionally, the mashed potatoes was a giant pot that cost maybe $5 to make.

      Between the steak and potatoes, we ate leftovers for literally 4 days off that meal, not a bad investment.

      There are better, but not bad 😅

      • Snapz@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Yeah, I figured. Sound reasoning, noble pursuit.

        Can I ask though, why did you put a thermometer in the smoker side? Isn’t that just where you feed more wood and then you monitor the temp on the bigger chamber?

        • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          9 hours ago

          Mainly because I could, the two pack cost the same as one larger one. And it looks cooler I think?

          Also my buddy has a similar grill, and sometimes he does hi temp searing in the small side, it has grates too. So knowing the temp there might be useful? IDK.

          And finally, I’ve been using it like a regular grill, putting the coals directly under the grate in the main chamber. And I noticed that the temp in the small chamber would climb up to just under 200f. So now I put my plate in there to warm it up before putting the finished food on it. Or to keep things warm but not still cooking, instead of the top rack on the opposite side of the coals, which would be really warm and probably still cooking a bit. 🤷‍♂️

          IDK still figuring it out. Why not?

          • Snapz@lemmy.world
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            7 hours ago

            Nothing in the rule book that says a dog can’t play football.

            Glad your getting use out of it. Keep sharing the progress!

    • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      13 hours ago

      Hardy har 😅

      Jokes aside, I went for a walk at a park the other day, and one of the paths goes along the side of a shared driveway/deadend road, and someone had spray painted the entire thing, basically aggressively telling pedestrians “this is our street, stay on the side of the road”.

      Granted it’s on a small hill, blind corner. But also it’s short, if you’re driving at a safe speed it’s plenty safe.

      People are crazy.

      • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        we’ve got a path along a street that the running teams like to run. no sidewalks, we just would accordion out of the way of traffic and keep our heads on a swivel, which worked great in the world before hybrid cars. i don’t know what the kids do now, but they have these fancy vests with lights on them. we just took our shirts off and blinded everyone.

        there was this one corner kind of like yours. the spray paint was not so good at night, so they started putting an array of largery and largery rocks on the corner. boulders really, judging by the bumpers by them. still better than the year a drunk 20-something landed in their living room tho

    • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      1 day ago

      Thanks!

      I cannot lie though, the phone did some post processing on its own, it was a bit more gray than that unfortunately. Pink in the center though.

      Still really good! But not properly cooked

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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        14 hours ago

        The good news is, with modern AI phone cameras, your steak will always be perfectly pink on the inside regardless of how it looks in real life and we know that’s what matters most!

        Jokes aside, a steak made on your own grill is great even if it doesn’t turn out completely perfect.

  • tenacious_mucus@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    Awesome! That’s exactly how i got started on my serious grilling/smoking path some 15 years ago. A free roadside offset smoker that just need a little attention….keep it up and enjoy the rewards!

  • otp@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    I was wondering how rare cigarette users are in your area that you felt the need to go to such lengths to humiliate them

  • brognak@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    23 hours ago

    I grew up eating my very Alabaman dads ribs off a nearly identical one! He still has it like three decades later, his has wooden slats on the front instead of the metal grid and he’s had to replace them as they weather but otherwise it’s held up great.