Hopefully this post will help those with drafty smokers. Some of you may read and say duh! But, here is my story.
I have never used a charcoal basket. My experience has been with simple fireplace and charcoal grates. Also, I have used grill woks for charcoal. I can only control drafts through the smoker to an extent...so I decided
to focus on airflow through my charcoal container. The result, I went from a 2 hour burn to a 6 ~ 7 hour burn around 275 F. If I use a larger pan, I should get a longer burn.
Picture time...
Here is my verticle smoker:
This is a shot from the inside looking at the drafts through the front access and bottom air intake door. I have tried putting aluminum foil around the edges. That works some, but its a waste of foil.
Here is what I have used thus far...a Franklin fireplace grate. I bought it becuase the grate spacing is just right for charcoal.
Here is my $5 fireplace poker from Lowes for stirring the coals and ridding of ash.
Now, here is a simple $5 charcoal pan from Academy. I mounted 4 stainless steel bolts with washers for legs. I also drilled holes in the bottom for air intake. I didn't put holes in the side. I did not want to imitate a grill wok or charcoal basket. My smoker gets enough airflow...don't need to add anymore to the charcoal.
I can get 5 lbs of charcoal in the pan mixed with wood chips.
On a tangent, I wrapped a grate with foil as a deflector then put my cooking grate on the higher level.
Here is a shot through the front access door. I didn't use a charcoal chimney. I simply wadded a portion of paper sack and placed it in the top center of the pile for my starter. Although, I am not abandoning my
charcoal chimney.
So, I will use the pan for smoking, and the fireplace grate for grilling. I hope someone finds this post of value. Thank you for reading.
