my first offset smoker

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I'm taking a mig class and figured id building and offset smoker would be cool. I'm using a water heater tank to do it. I'm gonna keep it simple. Any tips are more than welcome.
Reply:I made my first smoker out of pine boards, believe it or not. Came out great and works well too. My advice is to consider the food you want to smoke, and make sure dimensionally you are not making it too small. Also, good smoke cooking is all about temperature control. Make sure you consider adding some vents/dampers at the firebox and and at the chimney to control airflow.Miller Multimatic 255
Reply:Size wise it's good. Mainly building for my Thanksgiving brisket and no I'm not from Texas. But that and a turkey maybe. Do I need a water pan by chance?
Reply:A water pan is used to control heat, believe it or not. The water pan does not add/control moisture. It is basically a heat sink. Remember that good Q is all about temperature control. Pork really should never be above 225 degrees, Fish 180 degrees, etc.If you are burning hardwood, I would say, yes, do plan on a water pan. My smoker is electric, so I can go without, since i have much finer control over the heat.Miller Multimatic 255
Reply:do a search on reverse flow smokers. they are the best for indirect cooking. ive built a few and they have just as much heat control as Louie's electric. last one i built i could leave it for 10hrs and she would hold steady at whatever temp i set it to.
Reply:My son built a vertical smoker out of an 80 gallon water heater.  I'll look for a photo. It does a very good job.
Reply:I know this is a welding forum, but please forgive my pics of my wooden smoker, I couldn't resist. cost me all of $50. Based on an idea from TV Chef Alton BrownMiller Multimatic 255
Reply:I've gotta keep this simple as I can do to my class only being 6hrs on sat only. That may be something I do at home if I can get me a flux core wire welder.
Reply:This is a cool place but wayyyyy to many good ideas for projects.http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/index.php
Reply:Originally Posted by Louie1961I know this is a welding forum, but please forgive my pics of my wooden smoker, I couldn't resist. cost me all of $50. Based on an idea from TV Chef Alton Brown
Reply:How bout the water heater tank I was gonna use for a smoker got stolen from the school. Good thing I had 55gal drum to do the same with. I know it will be small but I'll make it work.
Reply:Check out smokerbuilder.com.