tommykendall
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Bretheren -
On Saturday I smoked 3 racks of BB's, 2 chickens and sausage. It was a cool windy day in MD. For 3 farking hours, I fought with fire and smoke control, something I haven't had any problems with in a very long time. The pit temp would barely hit 200, on very brief occasion it hit 220. The wood (oak, hickory, and cherry) wouldn't burn correctly even though I knew the wood was fine. Bad smoke to good smoke to bad smoke again, for 3 hours or so. Open the cook chamber door, close it, open the damper door, close it, crack the fire box, uncrack it, turn the wood, add wood, you farking name it. What the hell was wrong?
After several brews to help soothe the frustration, I was ready to give the Bandera the 10# sledge hammer mod and find another cooker. I said to myself - this cannot be, something is really really wrong here. So I opened the cook chamber door one last time, peering top to bottom. "Son of a farking beeatch" I said to myself. Case solved! You know the grease catch pan that lays in the bottom of the chamber under the water pan? Like always I had lined the bottom with heavy duty foil. There on the right side, the foil stood up 3 inches straight at a 90 degree angle, competely blocking off the baffle opening from the fire box. I poked the foil down and the temp rose to over 275 in seconds.
A simple yet frustrating lesson in operator error. Food photos attached.
On Saturday I smoked 3 racks of BB's, 2 chickens and sausage. It was a cool windy day in MD. For 3 farking hours, I fought with fire and smoke control, something I haven't had any problems with in a very long time. The pit temp would barely hit 200, on very brief occasion it hit 220. The wood (oak, hickory, and cherry) wouldn't burn correctly even though I knew the wood was fine. Bad smoke to good smoke to bad smoke again, for 3 hours or so. Open the cook chamber door, close it, open the damper door, close it, crack the fire box, uncrack it, turn the wood, add wood, you farking name it. What the hell was wrong?
After several brews to help soothe the frustration, I was ready to give the Bandera the 10# sledge hammer mod and find another cooker. I said to myself - this cannot be, something is really really wrong here. So I opened the cook chamber door one last time, peering top to bottom. "Son of a farking beeatch" I said to myself. Case solved! You know the grease catch pan that lays in the bottom of the chamber under the water pan? Like always I had lined the bottom with heavy duty foil. There on the right side, the foil stood up 3 inches straight at a 90 degree angle, competely blocking off the baffle opening from the fire box. I poked the foil down and the temp rose to over 275 in seconds.
A simple yet frustrating lesson in operator error. Food photos attached.
