Dial face thermometers stick through the shroud at the cooking level. Magnets are placed over probe holes when temps are not being checked. I can place my hand on top of the cooker and discern approximately how hot it’s running.
There’s a high rack to hang 3 rods of links from.
Boneless hams in fibrous ham casings.
Fully-cooked boneless ham.
Whole beef strip-loin.
When cooking at the 60 pound capacity, the copper water refill tube is pushed slightly off center, but still works to keep the cast iron boil-off pan resupplied without having to open the cooker. Water is resupplied slowly from the top until ash coming from the fuel/flue pipe indicates that the boil-off pan has overflowed.
Casings are hand-stuffed with large chunks of marinated pork shoulder butt or beef chuck. Ends are tied with cotton butcher’s twine.
Notice the coal-flicker leaning against the cooker. It is used down the fuel/flue pipe to push partially lit briquettes onto the forward sloping fire grate whenever more heat is called for. The flicker is fashioned from a barrel rim of the 3rd drum cut-down to make 2 cookers.
Loaf was oven cooked in a Pullman loaf pan, chub was smoke-cooked in a large fibrous casing. Both were made from coarse ground gooseneck round.
Funnel is in gas-pipe fitting of water resupply copper tube. Coal-flicker is resting on a 17 inch diameter Weber fire grate; that can be purchased at “big box” builder supply stores.
Firebricks stored separate from cooker so everything is easy to move.
Copper water refill line easily detaches at flared gas pipe fitting for product placement and removal.
2/3 can of partially lit briquettes are needed approximately every 2 hours. They are dropped 8 to 12 at a time down the pipe then flicked out onto the forward sloping fire grate. Water soaked hardwood chunks are added at cook start-up; briquettes keep them smoldering long enough to achieve plenty of hardwood smoke color & flavor on finished products.
After pork chub has reaches 180F internal rinse soot of casing exterior; beef chuck chunks go to 190. The bottom rack of pork takes about 12 hours while the top rack takes about 13 hours to reach temp. Beef is 13 and 14 hours. Cooking temperatures are maintained between 200 and 240F, for a 220 average, throughout the cook. Alternatively, chubs can be smoked for 5 or 6 hours then opened and chunks finished in large covered oven roasters that are place in a 220F oven. The 100% humidity inside cooking, covered roasters brings meat up to finished temps comparatively quickly.
Casings containing seven, 2 rib sparerib portions.
Cooker will boil-off most of this large container every 2 hours.
Ash clean out is the only clean up needed.
Sometimes I smoke roast on the top rack for awhile then bring them up to finished temperature in a covered oven roasting pan.
Cast iron boil-off pan and fire grate are both widely available at a reasonable price.
Firebricks and heavy metal cooker components help keep cooking temps consistent. Although, there’s no need to open cooker until either transferring smoke-cycle completed product to oven cooking or for checking for finished internal temperature after an expected number of hours.
Pipe is 3 inch diameter, schedule 40 gas pipe and radiates a lot if heat through itself and connecting rebar racks.
2 rib sparerib portions cooked for 7 hours in large fibrous casings then browned on a grill. 1 whole sparerib and 1 additional 2 rib section fits in each casing. That equates to 7 full racks per 6 casing cook.
Out-of-pocket new material & supply costs are just under $250.
The easiest way to learn more is to google “Wolfer Smoke Cooker.” While on the Pork & Beef Express, look up the Case for Casings post.