Santa Maria Pit Fire - Page 3

Mark Warren · 04-22-2013, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landarc

I think the Grillery cookers are the best thought out cooker on the market, for that style of grill. But, they are not cheap, or even close to reasonable.

I agree 100% I was just pointing out he may consider cutting an open front in the firebox of his to more immolate it.

jonmhenderson · 04-22-2013, 07:45 PM

Raising the fire up to a few inches under the front lip basically accomplished the same thing. I was able to get all the oxygen to the fire I needed to get it roaring.

Wesman61 · 04-22-2013, 08:53 PM

I was curious so I measured the depth on mine. It's 15 1/2" with the front being about 10".

jonmhenderson · 04-23-2013, 04:41 AM

The front on mine is 14". It seems that as the surface area of the fire box gets smaller, the the depth should proportionally become more shallow.

Wesman61 · 04-23-2013, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmhenderson

The front on mine is 14". It seems that as the surface area of the fire box gets smaller, the the depth should proportionally become more shallow.

Yeah I would think so too. My Brother has a smaller one and it has more trouble than mine with maintaining a good fire.

jonmhenderson · 04-24-2013, 04:54 AM

I think the deeper firebox with smaller surface area (like mine) would benefit greatly from some draft holes at the bottom. I may consider doing that at some point. But, since my cooks aren't lasting longer than 20 minutes, because I'm just cooking California style BBQ steaks, I don't really see the need. I used to do ribs on my old Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters pit, and I'd get a big fire going in it, but it was hard to keep it going without starting with 30 pounds or so of charcoal. What I did this weekend on the elevated fire grate was start with a 20 lb bag of Royal Oak lump, then add 3 oak splits when the charcoal got going good. After the wood caught real good and I had a 5-6 second fire, I put the steaks on.

04-22-2013, 07:45 PM	#32
jonmhenderson Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 04-15-13 Location: Tennessee	Raising the fire up to a few inches under the front lip basically accomplished the same thing. I was able to get all the oxygen to the fire I needed to get it roaring.

04-22-2013, 08:53 PM	#33
Wesman61 is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-06-08 Location: Caldwell, Idaho	I was curious so I measured the depth on mine. It's 15 1/2" with the front being about 10".

04-23-2013, 04:41 AM	#34
jonmhenderson Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 04-15-13 Location: Tennessee	The front on mine is 14". It seems that as the surface area of the fire box gets smaller, the the depth should proportionally become more shallow.

04-24-2013, 04:54 AM	#36
jonmhenderson Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 04-15-13 Location: Tennessee	I think the deeper firebox with smaller surface area (like mine) would benefit greatly from some draft holes at the bottom. I may consider doing that at some point. But, since my cooks aren't lasting longer than 20 minutes, because I'm just cooking California style BBQ steaks, I don't really see the need. I used to do ribs on my old Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters pit, and I'd get a big fire going in it, but it was hard to keep it going without starting with 30 pounds or so of charcoal. What I did this weekend on the elevated fire grate was start with a 20 lb bag of Royal Oak lump, then add 3 oak splits when the charcoal got going good. After the wood caught real good and I had a 5-6 second fire, I put the steaks on.