question on charcoal basket

I've been cookin on that same pit for 5 years Forget about keeping paint on the firebox it aint gonna happen. Give it a good wire brushing when you finish the next cook spray it with PAM and wipe off the excess. Just a head up a charcoal basket in a small Firebox blocks the air flow. Off set smokers are all about good flow. You wold be better off constructing a small log rack and burning splits. To even out the temps take the CI rates that came in the firebox and put one at each end of the pit turn the Charcoal pan over on top of them and push it up to the fire box opening. Drill 3 lines of holes down the length starting at 4" away from the fire box with a 1/4" bit space the holes 5" apart down the length increase the bit size by two until you end up at 1/2' on the last set of holes. the first line should be on top the other 2 lines should be 4" either side of center. after doing this on mine I have a 3-5 deg difference end to end & front to back.

To build a log rack get 7' of 1" steel angle iron and cut it into 12 1/2" long pieces. This length will put the base of your fire just above the center of the intake where it belongs and still allow removal of the ash pan you will also need a 12X24 piece of expanded metal measure 4" from one end and bend it 90 deg measure 2" on the opposite end and bed at 90 deg put this on top of the angle iron with the 4" side toward the cook box.
When I start my pit I use 3 lb of lump to get a coal bed and I add 2 splits. 1 split about every 45 min there after to maintain temp.

Log rack


Baffle set up( holes not drilled in this pic)


If you look close you can see the holes that behemoth 15 lb brisket is blocking the view a little:biggrin1:

Seems like me and Blu remind folks of this a lot..

The charcoal basket isn't really going to help. Yeah, it seems like a good idea because you can get a real long burn time BUT you will be fighting to keep temps up any higher than 225. Ditch the charcoal basket and build a fire using charcoal on the charcoal grate (thats why it comes with one) and then place small splits or chunks on top of the coal bed. Offsets, regardless of price or quality take work and babysitting, some are just worse than others. That's the nature of the beast my friend..

That said though, offsets are a blast to cook on IMHO because they take work. The more work you put into the Q makes it taste better!

smokinsteve2013 said:

Yeah I reckon I was just not wanting to hear that but I reckon it's not the paint thats important but the food that comes out of it. The char coal basket I had in mind was something similar to what you have going on there I try burning logs when I can my issue is I don't know if I can get up to temp considering the firebox on the Char Griller is smaller. But after the mods it should be able to distribute what heat is in there better so I will definately give that a run when the mods are finished. I planned to take steel and run it across the bottom of the C.C. like i've seen many times. Using a baffle from the opening then tuning plates after that. Also extend the smoke stack down to the grate and install two thermometers. One on each side. Do you have any tips on sealing the lid I lose ALOT of smoke and heat from there as well

Thanks again

Click to expand...

I made a frame out of 1" angle to fit the inside of the top and attached it with machine screws along the sides. Sit it on top of the grates close the lid and drill the mounting holes. The angle makes contact with the bottom forming a seal and stiffens the top. it can be sen in the last picture.

Steve, I take it you do have a rack for your coal in your fire box? If you are having ash problems to the point you have to pull everything out then your rack is not high enough off the bottom of the fire box. Raise the rack and you will not only get better airflow under your coals you can easily pull out ash with your fire still going. Keep in mind I have a large fire box and my coal rack is 3-4" above the bottom of the firebox. Those standard coal racks they provide with your smoker just don't cut it.
Perhaps someone can chime in on how high your coal rack needs to be in your size fire box.