Just got my "hogsy" for my 26'er

[bob hope]

As Golly has stated, Hogsy has a great set up that he made. Now I had a idea to make somthing like what Hogsy made my self and after seeing how Hogsy went about it, lets just say it lit a fire that I couldn't put out. I have a friend that works with sheet metal and such that I now owe a favor to. He told me to just make a template out of cardboard and he would laser cut it out of SS for me. So I did it for my 26'er and here it is ....

Thank you Hogsy for helping my mind wrap around this Great Idea!!

[1Cavman]

Like the idea of a solid bottom for the cooking area it would definitely save on aluminum foil .. Guess my only question is how much heat is generated by the plate and slits separating the charcoal area. The idea of the firebricks or heat tiles is to act as a heat sink. If you place the basket over a single vent and set the top vent on the opposite side over the cooking area you get a nice convection flow with very little heat coming from the basket side.

[Duke]

Great job! I can't wait to see it being used.

[zavod44]

I don't know what you do with it, tell me what the heck it is!

[Mark Schnell]

I'm curious as to the purpose of the cut away section in the bottom-center of the vertical piece.

Somebody made a one piece unit that is very similar to this on the TVWBB site. But I like this design better because the vertical piece sticks up higher, therefore causing the heat to channel up higher near the lid and create the convection effect like Cavman was talking about.

I want one of these babies.

[zavod44]

I'll take one, I don't know what to do with it but I'll take one....

[bob hope]

Like the idea of a solid bottom for the cooking area it would definitely save on aluminum foil .. Guess my only question is how much heat is generated by the plate and slits separating the charcoal area. The idea of the firebricks or heat tiles is to act as a heat sink. If you place the basket over a single vent and set the top vent on the opposite side over the cooking area you get a nice convection flow with very little heat coming from the basket side.

I also don't know how much heat it will generate, But i do like the Idea of "fire tiles" and may still put a couple in between the fire and the side plate.

[bob hope]

I'm curious as to the purpose of the cut away section in the bottom-center of the vertical piece.

Somebody made a one piece unit that is very similar to this on the TVWBB site. But I like this design better because the vertical piece sticks up higher, therefore causing the heat to channel up higher near the lid and create the convection effect like Cavman was talking about.

I want one of these babies.

If you look at the second picture you'll see the charcoal grate its not like the standard on the 22. It has the four bars instead of the one, the cut away section allows the vertical piece to sit down into the charcoal grate rather than on top. Locking it in.

[bob hope]

I don't know what you do with it, tell me what the heck it is!

I use it with my automatic temperature control unit (AKA Pitmaster110) creating the convection effect on a kettle.
Like 1Caveman was showing in his post and Hogsy has shown in a recent post that I cant seem to find. It will allow a long cook with out exposing the meat to direct heat and help with a more even cook with out flipping or turning the meat.

[Hogsy]

Great work Bob.... I love it, I wish I had the option of using it in a 26er
And I'm honored that I inspired you to try it
There I was thinking that it was just another crazy idea from The Land Of Odzs
A couple of things I like  about using this setup
1. No direct heat
2. More cooking area
3. Even heat over entire cooking area
4. Less fuel needed to generate more heat
5. No mess below charcoal grate
As far as using the metal instead of fire bricks. Well I can't comment cause I've never used them
But there is no direct heat, which is what I was trying to stop
I've found that when cooking wings that the wings  at the back of the grate cook just as well if not better than the ones next to the metal plate, without the plate I always had to move the wings around to ensure they all cooked evenly or didn't burn..... Must have something to do with the convection
The only thing that worries me is the fact that the fuel is against the kettle which may cause crazing
So I made this charcoal basket out of an old kettle bowl

It holds more than a full chimney of fuel and leaves an inch gap between the bowl and the basket
The other idea I had was to weld an inch high band around the bottom deflector plate to turn it into a drip pan

[Hogsy]

Here's a pic of it with the plate and grate

The good thing about using an old bowl is it follows the contour of the kettle so no need to try and shape the steel
Bad thing is you ruin a kettle but if you find an old beater it's better than it going to scrap