Build your own offset smoker with our simple tutorial. Reproduce the perfect barrel smoker design and custom fit with the best offset smoker mods.
With so many types of smokers, as well as different features, it’s sometimes difficult to cut through all the noise and find a smoker that’s perfect for you.
Because of this, you may want to create your own at some point.
While this may sound daunting, there are many good reasons to do so.
You can add any features you want. You can choose your heat source, your fuel type, and your airflow and insulation configuration.
In this guide we’ll take a look at how to build your own offset smoker and everything you need to be aware of.
Shopping list
Some quick Amazon links in case you’re missing essential gear
The best thing about offset smokers is that they aren’t as complicated as you think. At their core, they are simple cooking appliances and their only job is to constantly produce hot smoke over a period of time.
An offset smoker requires two middle sections. One is the firebox element that “shifts” to the side and embraces our heat source. The other is the main chamber where we will cook our food.
The two elements need a connection between them and YOU need to place a vent in each to regulate airflow. This helps us deliver the heat while also ensuring the smoke doesn’t build up and overwhelm our food.
In this guide I will build this in accordance with a barrel layout. Not all home smokers need to be built this way, but kegs serve many purposes and are probably the easiest place to start.
Be careful: this emphasizes a lot of soldering.
Deliver
The main structure is built around barrels, so you’ll need some barrels.
The choice of keg is up to you but I highly recommend you use one BUT it is absolutely crucial(for your own safety) that the kegs have NEVER been used to store chemicals or harmful.
Two 33-gallon kegs work well, but a little bigger is great too. Just remember that while you can cook more food in a larger keg, it takes longer to heat up and the temperature is more manageable. It’s about finding a balance.
Next, get a soldering iron/soldering iron. You can hire a welder to do this, or if you know what you’re doing you can use a MIG welder.
Stcik welders tend to burn through thin metal so opt for a MIG welder to keep everything intact and generally much neater and cleaner.
Build a frame
At the heart of any good grill is a solid structure.
The best designed DIY smokers are usually designed relative to the size of the pitmaster.
It is therefore sufficient to design the frame in such a way that the main camera is at hip height. This way you avoid having to constantly bend down or reach too far. Cooking for hours can be a necessary burden on you.
Frame materials may vary. Some people use wood and others prefer steel. I would go for the latter just to reduce the risk of something catching fire.
1 inch square bar is a good option and should be fairly easy to come by if you can look it up at your branded metal yard. Alternatively, steel tubing is easy to buy online.
You will need a chop saw or angle grinder to cut the frame to your specifications.
The dimensions YOU align with are related to the size of the kegs you purchased, but there are plenty of guides that might help here.
There are no fasteners to attach to the frame to hold the censer in place. Just build it so that the keg can rest lightly and be tight enough on the frame.
You can then weld the steel together.
Cut the barrel
If your kegs are the same size, I recommend cutting out a section of the keg for the firebox to cut out. It doesn’t have to be as big as the main chamber tube.
For the main chamber cannon, you must cut a door in it. If you do this, make the door tall and try to make rounded corners. Rounded corners are safer to use and reduce the risk of cutting yourself. Make sure you cut as smooth as possible to reduce smoke escaping while cooking.
Cut a door into the smaller barrel for a firebox.
Welding
Reweld the small barrel once you’ve removed a section of it.
Align the two barrels so they connect in a staggered pattern with the top of the barrel side welded to the bottom of the large chamber.
Mark them and then cut out the appropriate sections of the barrel they touched. This allows for easy smoke passage between the two.
Weld the small barrel and the large barrel, using the cut sections as a guide for YOU. We want a walkthrough between the two while also making sure they are resilient to being together.
Cutter
In addition to the passage between the two chambers, we’ll also need holes at each end of our new smoker. This serves to form the smoker’s inlet and outlet ports.
These should be of a good size to allow good airflow through the smoker, both inwards and outwards.
Cut a circular hole for the combustion chamber inlet.
Cut a hole in the main garden for the vent.
Attached documents
Just like DIY pellet smokers, offset smokers require accessories and conversion kits to get started. An important offset spit mod accessory for our exhaust flap is an exhaust pipe. To do this, use a heat conduction sheet, which is usually available at any hardware store. The ideal length for this is about three feet.
Check out this calculator to find out the exact sizes YOU should use to design your smoker.
For your intake flap, close a flap to control the amount of incoming air.
As a final note, you might want to add some handles for extra stability. This will also help YOU move the smoker if you usually need to. Helps you keep your hands off the steel of the camera, reducing the risk of burns or abrasions.
You can also get wheels to make your smoker portable and a sweat blanket to insulate your smoker from cold weather during the winter.
You might also want to give your grill a coat of paint paradise. You can do this with high temperature paint. I find dark color looks worse(as bad as good…I’m fine).
Grid, grid, grid
You can find cooking grates fairly easily. Get them(enamel ones are best, but cast iron is fine) and also get some hangers to weld to your camera to hold the grilles.
Learn more about the differences between cast iron and stainless steel grates
Regardless of which method you use to assemble your DIY offset smoker, there are some key principles and factors to keep in mind throughout the process.
Airflow
Good airflow is perhaps the most important aspect of building your grill. The rationale behind this is that air should flow into the offset smoker box and bring heat into the main chamber before escaping through the exhaust vent.
This helps maintain a healthy supply of oxygen to the embers from our heat source while also depleting them to ensure we don’t get official smoke.
A well-controlled amount of smoke cooks and flavors the meat, spread over a long period of time to cook it in the best possible way.
Portability
This may not be your primary concern with an offset smoker, but it’s worth considering before building your smoker.
If it is important to you that you can take your DIY with you on the go, be it to the tailgate or camping, whenever you construct it lighter.
This can be in the form of wheels or just being careful not to load it with excess steel.
However, portability doesn’t mean you’re on the go. It can also simply mean that you can move it a few feet if necessary.
A permanent fixture is fine, but you need to make sure it’s built to withstand or be protected from the weather.
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
