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!”

    • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.worksOP
      11·
      26 days 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
        3·
        25 days 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
          2·
          25 days 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
            3·
            25 days 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!