The religious relic, cause it's holy, is on it's way out and a new pit on it's way. Pics soon.

In the mean time I'll give a hint on the new pit. Rust eating it's way through won't be much of a concern. :-)
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I replaced my old smoker a couple of months ago, it was a fuel hog. If I was smoking a brisket, it took over a 20lb bag of charcoal. I still have it for sentimental reasons, dad gave it to me, but I really didn't like the amount of charcoal I had to use to cook anything. So the wife agreed to let me replace it. Decided on a Backwoods Chubby. More than I wanted to spend, but it should be the last one I ever need to buy. I like it because it's insulated and I can use it during the winter and won't have to fight heat loss as much.
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Backwoods Chubby by Jeff Carroll01, on Flickr
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Backwoods Chubby by Jeff Carroll01, on Flickr
Decided it was entirely too short for me so I built a rolling cart to make it easy to move around the deck if necessary.
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Chubby on a stand by Jeff Carroll01, on Flickr

Today I have pork spare ribs and a couple of racks of beef ribs on it.
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That chubby looks like a sweet little smoker.

For about $20 you can turn your old smoker into an electric cold smoker for cheese, cured meats, etc.:-)
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That's a good idea Andy, never thought about that!
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A new Weller SP23L soldering iron, an old soup can with the lid only partially removed or a heavy stoneware coffee mug (a shaving mug works well), some metal duct tape and a bag of smoke wood chips is all you need.

Clean the bbq and seal the vents with the metal duct tape. Punch a hole in the bottom of the can for the soldering iron barrel to go through, fill the can with chips jam the soldering iron in through the hole (make sure the "backstop" where the barrel meets the handle is not touching the can, otherwise you'll melt the handle on the iron), plug the iron in, put your food on and it'll be smoking within a few minutes. Every fifteen minutes or so, open the lid, shake the can to get fresh wood in contact with the iron barrel. Most foods will be done in 40-60 minutes.

If you use a shaving mug, just fill it with chips, stick the iron in, and stir it a bit about every 10-15 minutes.

In a 1 hour smoke, I get less than a 10F temp rise in the chamber of an 18" weber that I have dedicated for cold smoking.
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That's a nice smoker. Good work on the cart too.
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Just started smoking some baby back ribs.
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Thanks Jason. I was worried about it being top heavy and it is a little. Smoker weighs 115lbs and it would be better if the legs flared out a little to help keep it stable, but I won't move it too often and as long as I don't try to run while while moving it, tipping shouldn't be an issue.
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Really been enjoying putting center cut, bone in pork loin on the smoker lately. Turns out super juicy thanks to the maverick dual probe thermometer. No one in their right mind should be without one.
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That's a nice looking smoker Jeff. That's a Tel-Tru thermometer on the BC' door?

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If you're not feeling industrious, this cold smoke generator seems to work well. I know a lot of the people who cold smoke sausage use these. Been thinking of picking one up myself

http://www.amazenproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=12
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Good information Bob:-)
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I see they have a version now that'll use sawdust or pellets. :-)
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Thanks for the link Bob. If I ever get around to finishing the conversion of a spare file cabinet I had lying around into a vertical multi-tray smoker, one of those will be perfect for low temp / cold smoking.
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I did 2 ten pound pork butts today.
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Got an entry level COS yesterday, couldn't pass up the deal. I got the material to make a few mods to it already. Baffel, tuning plates, stack extension, and soon coal basket. Anyhoo... I think it's pretty good, all pictured for $205...
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Of the many cheap smokers I've had Jeff, that was probably my favorite and the only one I regret selling. Good luck and good eats.
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Thanks Jason, that's encouraging!
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If you end up with keeping it up to temp, which you just might. You can use fire brick like a lot of people do to add heat mass. Or as I preferred using small aluminum trays filled with clean new playground sand. You can mold them to however thick you want and can get them to curve. Cover them with foil and they last quite a while.
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I will keep that in mind! I also bought some 3M fire barrier silicone to close up all of the joins and holes and have a plan in mind to correct the play at the lower edge of the main door.
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