OK, I did my second smoke. This time a started with two Weber starter cubes in the back left of the firebox and just covered with briquets and filled the rest of the firebox. Lit them and opened all the intakes. This was slower, of course, than using the chimney, but more controlled. It took about 40 min to hit 230-40. I smoked a chicken and a pork butt.
I ended up adding the pork butt after the chicken for my neighbor, since I had only planned for the chicken. So needed to add briquets during the smoke. I just dumped unlit on top. That seemed to work and the BWS kept the temp just fine.
Happy new year and if any of you have advice, I'd appreciate it.
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