Old Country BBQ Pits

INSULATED PORTABLE BBQ SMOKERS


Even though traditional offset BBQ smokers produce great BBQ and are practical to use, when it comes to heat conservation they are not the most efficient ovens.



They lose heat through the smokestack, the lids and the walls of the BBQ smoker itself.



When barbecuing we open, close and adjust the smokestacks and the lids loosing heat while doing so. As a fabricator and designer there is not much we can do about that but... the walls of the BBQ Smoker are another matter.



There are three things to consider when it comes to heat loss through the smoker walls:

*The thickness of the wall,

*The difference in temperature between the inside and outside of the smoker,

*The material used in the wall of the smoker.



A thicker wall looses less heat than a thinner one. The larger the difference in temperatures the more heat will be lost. The thermal conductivity of the material used is the biggest factor regarding the heat loss through the wall, the higher the conductivity the bigger the heat loss.



One way to measure thermal conductivity is BTU/h*ft*F. This basically means BTUs per hour, in an area measured in feet and in Fahrenheit degrees.



AT 250 F, the thermal conductivity of steel is around 30 BTU/h*ft*F and for mineral wool is 0.304 BTU/h*ft*F. It is easy to see that steel is one hundred times a better heat conductor than insulation.

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