ECB being the El Cheapo Brinkmann smoker.
After years of good service, first arriving here in 2013, the bottom tray and the base itself has rusted through. This makes temperature control difficult and raises the issue of hot coals dropping out the bottom. No bueno.
Sadly, Brinkmann has gone out of business and replacement parts are hard to find. Quite a few parts for the electric models are floating around Ebay, but none of the bases nor charcoal trays there match my model, and the prices are pretty darn high almost as much for those two parts as for what I paid for the while thing to start with.
In short no way to repair it and time for it to go.
But fear not, there is another.
So today I received and assembled its successor and its rather an upgrade.
The Weber Smokey Mountain 18 inch smoker.
It's bigger than the ECB so more food will fit, as well as a larger water bowl. It has multiple adjustable vents for heat control and has a nice firebox arrangement that should make cleanup and maintenance a lot easier. The door is larger and easy to get more wood and charcoal into the firebox. The smoking grates have nice handles for ease of removal which will be appreciated when using it.
Assembly wasn't terrible, but note the instructions are in the back of the manual with the parts schematic up front, which leads one to think the only instructions are the schematic which was kinda sketchy.
Assembly was pretty quick and easy with only one - actually three cuts from the sharp sheet metal (ouch!) and the pain of getting the thermometer pass-through installed.
Will break it in shortly, and will begin this smoking season with a nice new smoker.
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