Maintaining temp!!

I have owned a Mixon 36" H2O stick burner for a little over a month, so I am an expert! My firebox has the same massive expanded metal grate that does not hold coals. I ended up putting a grill vegetable basket like this one in my smoker.

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-HomEco-Professional-Quesadilla-Accessories/dp/B01MFEYF8K

I light an entire chimney of lump which nicely fully fills the basket. I then start placing sticks on top of the coal bed to start the smoking process. I can easily maintain a 50 degree swing even in the freezing temps we have in the Northeast. I keep my dampers always fully opened and control the temp through the amount of wood I add to the fire.

I would try a basket to hold the coal bed.

Chris
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Tonight went better for sure.. I started with a big chimney and 4 splits on top. After 45 minutes I was sitting at about 310 degrees. It was higher than I wanted but that was ok. I was shooting for 275 so I let it sit until it got to about 260 which took a while. Once at 260 I added a stick. It went up to about 280 but didn’t hold long. It was back to 260 in about 20 minutes I so I decided to add 2 splits which brought it up to about 305. I let it drop back to 260 which took about 40 minutes and added a little larger single split. Once again it went up to 280 or so and 20 minutes later I needed another split. Only this time after adding the split, temp really didn’t raise and actually started falling while the split was still burning. I opened the fire box and most of my coals had settled down through the grate. I think once I get another grate and non kiln dried wood I will be good to go. My wife has come home the past two days and got excited when she saw me with a beer in my hand. That usually means I am smoking something or it’s Friday. She was thoroughly disappointed when she found out I was just burning sticks.
 
Sounds like you've got it now. I don't have the second grate either. Every 2-3 cycles I throw on the next splits 10 min early. That also helps keep the coal bed going.

That temp range rise and fall is perfect. You'll learn that cooking at 275 is really 260-310. The food won't know the difference and neither will you when you eat.

Now let's see some meat pics!!
 
How is that good? The temp is swinging 50 degrees in less than 20 minutes through the whole chart. Looks like a mess to me.

el luchador said:
if you are coming from an egg with a guru - that can maintain temp better (far better) than an oven - your expectations of the stick burner might be unrealistic.

here is a graph of the temperature profile of an EXCELLENT stickburner(member sudsandswine- shirley 24x84 I think). something like this, ie +- 25 to 50 degrees is what you look for with a stick burner

attachment.php


ie with a stick burner you just gotta let it do its thing.
Click to expand...
 
what he said.......

This is exactly what I do....Preheat the split in the firebox and just push it to the fire and leave your next split at the front of the box. Works great and the splits catch fire immediately and sometimes even before you push it to the fire.

JohnH12 said:
Here's the way I like. It worked on my 36 and still works on the 60D.
Everything wide open and put in a bunch of wood splits. I use a weed burner to start the splits but don't use charcoal or chimney.
Let the fire get going really good with hardly any smoke and close the cook chamber and fire box doors to the partial open latch position as shown in Ben's video.
Once there's a good bed of coals and you see the chimney is drafting well you can add another one or two splits and close both doors.
Note: Add the splits crossways (opposite of your pic) and use them to shove the coals toward the front of the firebox closest to the cook chamber. This preheats the splits so there will be minimal smoke when you add more and shove the hot splits toward the coal bed.
Add enough wood to overshoot your desired temp and start closing the firebox pinwheels until you get down to what you want. I start by closing to half open and then slowly bump closed if needed only after the temp drop has slowed.
Some like to use the chimney damper to control temps but I leave it open and use the firebox pinwheels only.
Add splits as necessary but always add crossways and never directly to the coals. Always use the new splits to shove the preheated splits (some may have started to burn) towards the coals.
There's no set time to add more splits. It could be 30 minutes or maybe 45 or even an hour. Watch the temp gage and add as soon as you notice even a small temp drop. You'll learn the approximate time for given conditions as you run it more.
I also don't leave the firebox door open any longer than it takes to add the new splits. Excess or bad smoke has not been a problem since I started using this technique.
Good luck and don't give up. Soon you'll think back and wonder why you thought it was so hard.
One last note: Adequate brain cell lubrication and good fellowship are a tremendous help.
Click to expand...
 
lankster35 said:
How is that good? The temp is swinging 50 degrees in less than 20 minutes through the whole chart. Looks like a mess to me.
Click to expand...

this is the nature of stick burners. that graph is an example of an excellently managed, expensive, stick burner.

if you have any data on your burns I would be interested in seeing it.
 
Last edited:
lankster35 said:
This is exactly what I do....Preheat the split in the firebox and just push it to the fire and leave your next split at the front of the box. Works great and the splits catch fire immediately and sometimes even before you push it to the fire.
Click to expand...

Great Texas minds think alike!
 
After reading through this thread it got me thinking. Normally in the past I just regulated temp with fuel size and kept all vents and chimney wide open. If temp got away from so be it at least the fire is clean and on a long cook no big deal. A few questions...

1. Is it worth it to try to keep temps within a normal 50 deg range if it occasionally exceeds that?
2. If it is worth it... is it better to restrict the firebox vents, the chimney, or both. I've seen a few good suggestions in this thread. It seems restricting vents would give better temp control but more likely to get bad smoke.
 
WareZdaBeef said:
Get a bbq guru and set and forget it.

Cracks me up ppl will spend over a grand or 5 on a smoker, and not want to spend a few hunnit on a guru.
Click to expand...

You should be thoroughly comfortable with using your cooker without a Guru before you use one. When the day comes (and it WILL come) that the Guru craps out or the fan won't work and you have to manage the smoker without the Guru crutch you'll be happy you spent the time to learn it. Because Guru's don't mess up while they're sitting in the garage. They wait until you have a big dinner planned with a lot of guests that are very important to you.
 
What size opening expanded metal do you recommend? They have 1/2” opening and 3/4”. There is already 3/4 in it but it’s dropping coals like crazy!!! I know these will go 90 degrees and that will help.
 
Av8er said:
What size opening expanded metal do you recommend? They have 1/2” opening and 3/4”. There is already 3/4 in it but it’s dropping coals like crazy!!! I know these will go 90 degrees and that will help.
Click to expand...

i don't think the size matters as it is more important how you overlay. that will determine the size of the holes for ash and coals to fall thru.
 
BKING! said:
After reading through this thread it got me thinking. Normally in the past I just regulated temp with fuel size and kept all vents and chimney wide open. If temp got away from so be it at least the fire is clean and on a long cook no big deal. A few questions...

1. Is it worth it to try to keep temps within a normal 50 deg range if it occasionally exceeds that?
2. If it is worth it... is it better to restrict the firebox vents, the chimney, or both. I've seen a few good suggestions in this thread. It seems restricting vents would give better temp control but more likely to get bad smoke.
Click to expand...

I do use my intake pinwheels to drop the temp, but usually only when the temp rises more than 50 degrees over where i want it, or when trying to smoke at a very low temp.

When I do jerky and am trying to keep the temps between 150-190 I have both intake pinwheels closed about 80%. When I'm cooking between 250-325, I generally don't need to use the pinwheels...unless the temp really spikes.

I don't ever touch the exhaust damper.
 
JohnH12 said:
Here's the way I like. It worked on my 36 and still works on the 60D.

Note: Add the splits crossways (opposite of your pic) and use them to shove the coals toward the front of the firebox closest to the cook chamber. This preheats the splits so there will be minimal smoke when you add more and shove the hot splits toward the coal bed.

Add splits as necessary but always add crossways and never directly to the coals. Always use the new splits to shove the preheated splits (some may have started to burn) towards the coals.
There's no set time to add more splits. It could be 30 minutes or maybe 45 or even an hour. Watch the temp gage and add as soon as you notice even a small temp drop. You'll learn the approximate time for given conditions as you run it more.
Click to expand...

I remember reading about this method on the Lang forum years ago. How many splits are on this "conveyer" belt at a given time? There's the one that is touching the fire. Do you have a line of 1 or more splits that are preheating and immediately backing up that partially lit log? Or do you only add one split at a time once that lit log fully catches or is dying down? I'm curious to try this method as my current practice is labor intensive (coke can sized splits and feeding every 20-25 minutes...all vents fully open)
 
sthamm:
I normally run the 60D somewhere around 275 and 325. I usually add a couple of splits at a time but it could be more depending on the type wood I'm using since they all seem to burn different.
The 60D has 4 pinwheels on the sides of the firebox. After I get the fire going good and fully close the doors I close the two pinwheels closest to the cook chamber and start dialing down the ones nearest the firebox door. When running white oak the rear pinwheels are usually about half or a bit less open. Blackjack seems to burn hotter so the pinwheels are maybe 1/4 open. Wind direction also play a part in whats open and how far. You just have to learn your pit. Obviously colder days require bigger fires.
The chimney damper is always wide open. I tried the method of controlling temps using it but didn't care for it so I went back to pinwheels only.
As stated above, I also keep the drain closed unless Im cooking something really greasy.
 
Av8er said:
What size opening expanded metal do you recommend? They have 1/2” opening and 3/4”. There is already 3/4 in it but it’s dropping coals like crazy!!! I know these will go 90 degrees and that will help.
Click to expand...

Before you spend money on something you don't need how about you give running the cooker another shot? Tons of great advice in here and I can almost guarantee you don't need that expanded metal for the firebox grill grate. Langs have been around for a long time and if those grates needed to have smaller holes they would have made that modification years ago to keep customers happy.
 
Stlsportster said:
I do use my intake pinwheels to drop the temp, but usually only when the temp rises more than 50 degrees over where i want it, or when trying to smoke at a very low temp.

When I do jerky and am trying to keep the temps between 150-190 I have both intake pinwheels closed about 80%. When I'm cooking between 250-325, I generally don't need to use the pinwheels...unless the temp really spikes.

I don't ever touch the exhaust damper.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
lankster35 said:
How is that good? The temp is swinging 50 degrees in less than 20 minutes through the whole chart. Looks like a mess to me.
Click to expand...

Well, since that's my chart, I suppose I'll respond. That's the nature of a stick burner...not really sure what you expected to see, many people probably don't bother charting their stick burner temps but they'll never have a flatline like a charcoal cooker on a temp controller and will all generally look like this. The polling interval in that chart makes the temperatures look much more spikey than they were - in reality, the cooker's temp runs like a modest sine wave.

sine-plot.gif


In this example I was running a median temp of 275*, and as new logs are added and then burn down, the temperatures rises and falls. I run splits that are at their max thickness, about a beer can in diameter. I could run bigger logs, but I like the control and clean burn I get from splits of this size. Not a big deal to walk outside, add a log, and walk back inside every 20 to 30 minutes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
Highest Brisket Temp?
Replies
16
Views
560
SmokeOCD
S
B
Time and Temp small brisket
Replies
4
Views
312
Itsdone
I
L
It may be Spring, but today is Thanksgiving
Replies
17
Views
487
Smoke Dawg
Smoke Dawg
E
Easter Ribs
Replies
4
Views
312
creek bottom
creek bottom
snadamo
Chicken Shawarma, Toum, Tzatziki, and Flatbread! Oh, and GARLIC
Replies
10
Views
406
PitRow
PitRow
Back
Top