OK, stickburners... let's see those small and hot fires.

[cpw]

What is the reason to pre-heat the wood before throwing it on the fire? Also, since I'm new to stick burning, it seems the general consensus is that a small, compact fire is better than a big one?

The way we've been doing it recently (using a Lang 84, with an added charcoal basket) Is to dump half a bag of charcoal and a few larger splits, start the fire, let it get up to temp, and then add an occasional split or two once an hour. It ends up being a pretty big fire though. What should we be doing differently?

I know we're not pre heating any of the wood, and the splits we've been using are generally pretty large (18" long, 4"-6" wide).

thanks for all the help!

[stephan]

Pre heating seems to help in combustion [cleaner burning fire faster]. The size of the fire really depends on your smoker, if I have to big a fire it becomes difficult to keep the temp down.

[cpw]

Cool...Thanks for the info!

[Phrasty]

Another small hot fire. Thought I'd take another pic the other night to show the previous split beside a newly added piece to see at what stage I add new wood.



Cheers

[Terry The Toad]

Instead of a charcoal basket, I saved two of the cast iron grates out of my CharGriller before I got rid of it. They fit (almost) perfectly on the firebox rack that came with my Lang. They really help keep the coals where they should be.

[JS-TX]

Originally Posted by Boshizzle

275F in my Jambo with this one.

Geez, that's like hardly anything!

[backyardchef]

A quick easy and cheap alternative to the extra expanded steel to help keep the coals from falling through the grate-- I threw a firegrate from a Weber Kettle into my BYC and Meadowcreek fireboxes and that made a huge diference right there.....

[BIG ALAN]

Originally Posted by backyardchef

A quick easy and cheap alternative to the extra expanded steel to help keep the coals from falling through the grate-- I threw a firegrate from a Weber Kettle into my BYC and Meadowcreek fireboxes and that made a huge diference right there.....

That's exactly what I did. Works perfectly for keeping the coals up top.
I had Klose send me another piece of expanded, cut to fit the fire grate, but the diamond pattern 90 degrees opposing the original. I've been too lazy to get it to a welding shop to tack it all the way around. If I can ever perfect using the SS charcoal basket, I don't think I want a permanent double expanded, as I believe the ash won't fall to the bottom, choking the fire.

My coal bed kept falling through into the SS ash pan, and warped the thing.

[LT72884]

dang it. im wanting some real Q now. all i have is a UDS and a gas smoker.. oh and a weber otg 22.5. I may have to cut a door in my UDS and make it a stick burner. haha

[slow-smoker]

[posey's_pork_pit]

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[trufunk]

Best thread Ever!

[lastmajordude]

Great thread Bandit!!

[Meat & Heat]

I will usually run a small to meduim fire, partly because I have a large pit, it's 6' long and 30" around so it takes a little more to keep going.
I have found that if I use about 5lbs of lump to start then trhow on some split, get it all up to temp, then with everyting running smooth I will add one large log of apple wood around 6-8" in diameter and 12" long let it run and then I will add smaller splits as needed until it's gone and repeat.
Woks well for me even on the coldest days.

[davefan360]

thanks for all the info, My buddy and I are building a 120gallon RF smoker and are working on the fire box now. I will tell him about the 2 layers of expanded metal.