275gal offset smoker techniques and suggestions
 

Hello fellas! I have been a member of the site for a time but this is my first post.

I just bought a 275 gallon offset smoker off of craigslist. I was just wondering what techniques and/or suggestions you have on using the firebox. I have used grills of this size but not with the firebox. I just wanted to know what is the best technique. My main question is should I use the firebox solely for heat or should I put wood/charcoal inside the tank also? Also, should I use a wood/charcoal mix or stick strictly with would?

I have included some pics and will upload some more tonight or tomorrow to give you a better idea of the design. I really can not wait to fire this thing up. I am going to clean and paint it this weekend and hopefully next weekend fire it up.

Any suggestions are greatly welcomed and appreciated.

I don't see a firebox

You must be the number one lurker on this site :wink:
Don't know anything about one that big, but it sure looks sweet!!
Can't wait to see more pron!!

It's off to the lower left corner. You can see the bottom of it. I will definitely upload more pics for a better view.

fweck, thanks! I will definitely put some pics up Saturday when I finish painting it.

Hard to tell from the angle, but at first glance, that looks like a pretty small firebox for that much metal.

Will hold definite opinions until better pictures surface, but if it's as small as it appears, I forsee a lot of mesquite in your future. ;)

Looks like a nice stickburner... to answer your questions your going to want to do some test runs... conventionally with smokers like that you start a small charcoal or lum charcoal fire... about a quarter of a bag.. then add sticks for fuel the rest of the cook about every 45 minutes to an hour you are adding 1 or 2 logs, depending on the temp you are cooking at, the weather, altitude, moisture in the air and in the wood.. etc. no fire in the cooking chamber at all.

the sticks burn down into coals to replenish your coal base and keep your fire going...

Thanks DownHomeQue! I was kind of figuring that but wasn't sure. I will measure the firebox and send pics this evening for a better observation.

Yeah Funky D, I thought the same thing once I got on this forum and compared it to others but there are some that are kind of the same size too. So I guess I'll just have to get it fired up.

Charcoal isn't going to cut in a smoker of this size, you need to burn sticks and only in the firebox. I have one that's similar and the temp had a hard time getting over 100+/- even with as much charcoal as the grate would hold. There's just too much volume for charcoal to heat. Be prepared, it's going to be a fuel hog. On average i put in about 2-3 pieces of wood everytime i refuel which is about every hour or so depending on how hot i'm running. Once you get it dialed in then it's no big deal but there's deffinately a learning curve.

Agreed

As promised here are some other pics of the smoker. The firebox is 24x12x12.

I use pecan logs is mine. Will put a small bed of charcoal under wood when first light to have instant coals. Once it gets up to temp it burns 2 logs about every 1.5 hours and I always cook at 225.

This thing is a beast and it's gonna put out some good Q! Looks like it's made to be a carolina hog cooker. To use it as a true offset, the firebox is quite small. By my rough calcs 275 gallons = 37 cu-ft; you need a +12 cu-ft firebox or something like 30"x30"x30" to be safe. I'm pretty sure that is why there is a door to add coals for direct heat. I'm just guessing but it's pretty common to use this kind of cooker in conjunction with an external fire source where you can shovel in hot coals and spread them as kind of a low intensity direct heat.