308 AR Cycling Issues

[kcstott]

Heavy duty card board box and a hot plate from Walmart. I used and old electrical enclosure. But you only need 250 degrees to do the job

[liber]

Heavy duty card board box and a hot plate from Walmart. I used and old electrical enclosure. But you only need 250 degrees to do the job

Hmmm...thanks for this suggestion. I have an old Brinkman smoker, that never worked worth a crap, maybe I can use a hot plate in the bottom of that.

I could probably hang parts off the top grate.

[ar15barrels]

Hmmm...thanks for this suggestion. I have an old Brinkman smoker, that never worked worth a crap, maybe I can use a hot plate in the bottom of that.

I could probably hang parts off the top grate.

That would work.

[kcstott]

I can show you how to use that smoker too.

you like good BBQ I can teach you.

[liber]

I can show you how to use that smoker too.

you like good BBQ I can teach you.

Haha...that's something I do know how to do...ever since I gave up on the Brinkman and got a Weber Smokey Mountain, I've got it down...ribs, chicken, brisket, short ribs, pulled pork butts, etc...yes, I do like 'que...I use mostly hardwood lump. I do our turkeys for TG in the smoker also...anything low and slow goes in the smoker, high heat on the Weber Kettle.

The Brinkman sucks as a smoker as it's not sealed and air gets in, but it will work for the cerakote. I think it will be just about perfect with an adjustable electric hot plate. This I could use some tips on... Any way around blasting? I don't have a tank of any type...would metal etch work?

[kcstott]

you should blast it. Cerakote needs a semi rough surface to stick good.

As far as etching goes you can try it and see.

You feel like driving down this way? You could bring a piece of test metal etch it and test it with out wasting your Cerakote. Just waste a little of mine.

BTW the cheep hot plate you my want to remove the thermostat and just run it always on you can approach 300 degrees doing that. I have two hot plates one with a thermostat and one without. So I can dial down the temp and do wood and plastic too. Feel free to PM me any questions you have or just email me.

An before you ruin that smoker I might offer you some cash for it mine needs parts,

FYI my ribs take six to seven hours @180 brisket takes 12 to 16 at the same temp at least mine does.

[ar15barrels]

Any way around blasting? I don't have a tank of any type...would metal etch work?

Nope.
Do it right.
Get a big compressor and a blast cabinet.
You will find you use it for all sorts of other stuff too...

[liber]

you should blast it. Cerakote needs a semi rough surface to stick good.

Ok, Randall says the same. I'll plan to do that.

You feel like driving down this way? You could bring a piece of test metal etch it and test it with out wasting your Cerakote. Just waste a little of mine.

I'd like to, but it's too far, I'm up in the Bay area.

An before you ruin that smoker I might offer you some cash for it mine needs parts

It is really no good for a smoker, trust me. They have some with electric burners, those might be able to hold a steady temp, but the charcoal version is impossible to use as a smoker correctly.

FYI my ribs take six to seven hours @180 brisket takes 12 to 16 at the same temp at least mine does.

Something is wrong...are you sure 180? I cook my spareribs at 265 for about 5 1/2 hours. I foil them after about 3 1/2 hours so they don't burn. Brisket takes about 16-18 hours at 265, I split the point and flat when the flat reaches 160, foil the flat and take it to 190 internal. Point gets cubed and placed into a tin, and rendered down into burnt ends with sauce. Short ribs I do kinda similar to the brisket, 265 degrees, take them to 160 degrees internal, foil them and take them to 190 internal. The collagen doesn't break down until they hit 190 degrees internal. I use a Weber Smokey Mountain with hardwood lump, controlled by a Stoker (https://www.rocksbarbque.com/).

I will look at getting a blasting box.

[kcstott]

265˚f is way to damn hot. Foil to keep them from burning that should have given you a clue that your temp was way to hot. 180˚ to 200˚f tops if it gets hotter, and I monitor my smoker constantly, I cool it down water spray on the logs. I don't monitor meat temp at all. I just poke the meat or pull on the bones. The collagen breaks down just fine and meat pulls right off the bone with just a little bit or spring and good texture 1/4" to 3/8" smoke ring on brisket easy 1/8" to 1/4" on the ribs.

Our family uses a Special rub that has seen it's fare share of BBQ competition, I don't compete but I have family members that did, they have since gotten out of the rat race. but the rub does two things, Obviously it add a bunch of flavor but there is some chemistry going on that helps hold the moisture in the meat. That And I don't trim the cap of the brisket as much as some do.

I don't have any issues keeping a steady temp plus or minus 10˚f from the 180˚ to 200˚ mark. I start off with a half chimney of coals to get her going and get the wood going then four to six briquets and a new log every two to four hours. depending on the weather. Your area may be different if you are battling wind, or have wide temp swing though out the day, that can wreak havoc with your temps.

Wood is soaked for 24 min prior to use long smoke is done over night with my alarm set every 2 hours to keep and eye on it. I start my stuff 8 Pm and let it run to the next day doing the ribs at the end so everything comes off the smoker ready to plate.

I disagree about the burnt ends. I cut the burnt ends off after the meat has finished. I've had what you are talking about as burnt ends and it's fake. it's not the real deal.

I do brisket split from the get go just because the chunk is to large to get on the grill I do 15 to 20 lb briskets


Now that all said I feel that top end BBQ can come in many shapes and sizes, this is just how i do it and how I like it and what works for me. If you Q makes you and your family happy thats all that matters,

Now back to the build topic. My next project is going to be a copy of a Southern Pride smoker. I can fab everything and even install a PID on the fan and flue with a digital read out and have multiple thermocouples

I need something I can smoke about 100# of meat or more in one shot.

[liber]

Nope.
Do it right.
Get a big compressor and a blast cabinet.
You will find you use it for all sorts of other stuff too...

I don't have a blast cabinet, but do have a 60 gal compressor, and I just picked up a small 50 gal syphon sand tank with hose and gun.

Hopefully that will get the lowers/frame/slide/etc blasted and I'll rig up the old smoker with a hot plate for the heat. I already have an Astro HVLP/LVLP spray gun.

[kcstott]

Get that cheep blast cabinet from HF you're not going to like having all your media blown away or at least dial the pressure down and blast into a corner with a tarp hung up or something to contain it.

[kcstott]

Done

[liber]

That looks great kcstott! I'm been away all weekend, but see this when checking back in...that very nice!

Do you have any threads here on doing cerakote? I think we're crapped enough in the OP's thread...LOL

I will search...

[kcstott]

I chimed in a few time on Cerakote topics.
Pm me if you have any questions.

And thanks for the kind words, that rifle was a ton of work

[ojisan]

Not when you build the loads I build stuff I make is double factory load cost or more

I built this rifle to ring steel at 1000 meters we won't be doing mag dumps

Match grade everything, Nosler brass, Sierra bullets, hand weighed charges, micrometer bullet seater, All loaded one round at a time on a single stage press. Yes even for a Semi auto rifle I just tone down the anal retentiveness on the components

For a bolt gun everything gets sorted and weighed to .1 grain increments, Powder is weighed as close as my electronic scale can repeat to. Cases are neck turned, trimmed and chamfered, then primer pockets uniformed, flash hole uniformed, then hand primed. Run out checked and those that don't meet spec are rejected and separated

This is the reason you have no social life.