Chimney smoker and firebrick question

Posted by Jason

Rado, I am going to build a barrel dome oven and would like to design a chimney that can also be a smoker for meats/fish. I am thinking that the way it will work is that I will have a door on top of the chimney that can close off. I will put two little removable grills for the food to sit on, with slots in the brick so they can slide down in and fit just right. I am thinking two sets of slots at different levels. Then I will close the oven door and use the ash slot for the fresh air fuel. Will it work?

I have never made a smoker or an oven before, so I may be misunderstanding heat and smoke, etc. I have read your articles and you have said that the oven will get so hot that there will be no smoke. Is there a way to keep it cool enough for smoke to continue, say, with the fire near the front of the oven?

Also, in McGills Warehouse for Firebricks, I have found some firebrick that is 0.5g/cc density. Is that dense enough for the dome, or will the bricks crush under the weight of the dome and concrete cladding? I have also found denser 2.6g/cc bricks, but they are double the price.

Thanks for your help,
Jason