A new outdoor Rocket system

[Lollykoko]

My big question would be odor. You can smell wood smoke for miles, and I don't like advertising when I'm out there alone. I usually don't have a gun close enough to hand if need were to arise. If other people are there with me, campfires are great and the amount of wood used be damned. Well, so long as I don't have to stand over the fire and cook, that is.

[matt walker]

Lolly, after the first three minutes or so, there's absolutely no tell tale signs it's burning. Absolutely zero smoke, seriously. It is amazing.

I took it apart yesterday, rebuilt it, took it apart again, rebuilt it again. It's really fun to play with, and the central burn unit can be built in around 20 minutes. I totally broke it apart, put the remnants in a bucket, added water, and built it again. I love this stuff. I'm working on refining the way the burn tunnel goes together so I can actually share a workable plan with you guys, rather than say "just make a pile of mud around some boards." I'll try to come up with a little tutorial here this week.

[davidmiller]

Great setup! I'd love more tech detail on your design.

[matt walker]

Thank you David. If you have specific questions I'd be happy to answer them, otherwise, I'm revising the design and I'll probably post a little tutorial here once I settle on the burn tunnel design. I took it apart again yesterday and rebuilt it.

This time it's really interesting. I blocked the burn tunnel with a stack of bricks so the flame path is a "C". It's forced out along the window before it comes back to center and up the heat riser. It looks amazing, keeps the window soot free, and throws a TON of heat out the window. Downside is less heat to the bench. I like it though, and it cooks great. Had a great bbq meal last night out there under the stars.

[dave brenneman]

[nk14zp]

How do you like that bench so far?

[matt walker]

[matt walker]

[nk14zp]

Your new bench/bell/chamber idea might be another one of your great ideas I steal.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Is the hight of the BBQ grill any problem for you? Is it easy to reach, or do you have to stand up on something to peek in at the meat etc to see how it is cooking. With the rocket I am guessing that you cook on HIGH alot. Hard to slow down the heat. I guess its something you get used to using and learn how to cook on it. Move things around to the edges etc to control the heat. You seem to feel that it works great as a cooker, so I am sure that it works well for you. I am having a little trouble wrapping my head around the system and how it works. Why didn't you run an exhaust pipe down the bench to force the heat to the end of the bench befor you let it exit through your rock void and exit up the stove pipe? Your design makes the rock void fill with smoke I guess and that will help spead the heat. I guess I feel that forcing the smoke all the way to the end of the bench might work better. Maybe in the summer time the bench would get much too hot that way? Anyway, I can't knock what works well for you even if I truely don't understand why it works well.