Got supplies and got started

This past weekend I made a trip to Walmart for shelving, Lowe's for construction materials, and Walgreens for the hot plates.  I figured I would get started with the hot plates (hereafter known as the "burners").  For about $14 each here is what Walgreens had to offer: 

They had only 2 - a black one and a white one.  I really didn't care what color they were so I got both.  

The platforms are made of plastic.  I do not want plastic inside my smoker so I had to take the burners apart and rebuild them to meet my purpose.  My desire is to have both of them, mounted side-by-side, with their controls on the outside of the cabinet.  Here is what I found after I disassembled them:

One bolt attached the heating element to the base and it was easy to remove.  The wires connect to the heating element via tabs which are about 1.5" below the bottom of the heating element.  I needed to provide a support which would allow room for these tabs and wires.  I also did not want a hot burner sitting directly on top of the wood base below it.  So, I was able to kill two birds with one stone by building some feet:

I found the brackets in my junk box.  I marked and drilled holes in the burners pan and used rivets to attach everything together.  Photos of the completed feet will be in the next blog entry.