Offset experts, coal basket or no coal basket, I gotsta know

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landshark530

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So my offset has a coal basket / tray for holding the fuel. The bottom is expanded steel so the smaller coals drop thru, so I don't get a big coal pile. I put another piece of expanded steel on it so the holes are a bit smaller.

With the coals dropping thru I have to keep a very close eye on my fire and temps.

Would it be better to not use the coal tray/basket and go with a bed of coals or keep it as is.

Thanks
 

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You should use it like in the picture but lay down a full chimney of burning charcoal then add splits on top. The wood should keep the coalbed supplied unless your wood is too dry it'll burn up to ash so you burn another Chimney full of charcoal toss it in there as needed
 
This is how I do it


[ame="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCH_sTO1hoY"]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCH_sTO1hoY[/ame]
 
That's a little different than my Smokemaster was. It only had a grate and I never had issues with a coal bed. I used lump to start and then splits the rest of the way. Never needed to add more lump. Smitty may have your answer with wood that is too dry. You could try mixing up the size of your splits and see which keep the coal bed better.
 
I don't think he's asking about how to start it up.... I like your setup, the smaller holes allow your coal bed to build up vs thinning out and dropping through
 
Let it fall through other wise you'll accumulate to much and fark up the draft remember heat rises so it's a non issue.
 
At the Bash last week I had to add a chimney of burning charcoal to BoomShuckaLucka after 4 hrs. My oak splits are right at 2 yrs seasoned.
 
I do the same thing, put a piece of expended metal with much smaller holes on the bottom but also use one chimney of charcoal as my base with a couple splits then all wood from there on out. Works well for me and better than a basket.
 
"With the coals dropping thru I have to keep a very close eye on my fire and temps. "

I am not sure we know what you mean by this. Do your temps spike up suddenly or drop?

The reason I ask is that the photo shows your door wide open so I can't tell what the draft is with the door closed. Your firebox setup looks quite normal-- very similar to mine which functions fine.

The fire in the photo looks like it will generate enough heat for a small- medium offset for 30-45 minutes without adding a stick. How often do you have to add a stick?
 
I've only had the smoker 2 months with about 6 cooks under my belt with it. At times I can hold temps for about an hour or more, and then it will drop fast. I check and the coals have all dropped, so I add another split and then it spikes to about 325 before calming down.

I think I need to go with smaller splits more often. With the coals falling through a big bed of coals is short lived.

I use oak and apple and it's very seasoned so that may also be my problem.

The door has a slider draft control covering (3) 2.5 inch holes. I don't think that draft is an issue.
 
Last edited:
landshark530 said:
I've only had the smoker 2 months with about 6 cooks under my belt with it. At times I can hold temps for about an hour or more, and then it will drop fast. I check and the coals have all dropped, so I add another split and then it spikes to about 325 before calming down.

I think I need to go with smaller splits more often. With the coals falling through a big bed of coals is short lived.

I use oak and apple and it's very seasoned so that may also be my problem.

The door has a slider draft control covering (3) 2.5 inch holes. I don't think that draft is an issue.
Click to expand...
You don't have enough cooks on that pit let alone any stick burner to make assumptions because you have not yet mastered fire management. If you had you would realize that as the embers drop through the grate they are still part of the coal bed giving off heat. Also you cook in a zone not a constant temp. I like to keep my zone +/- 25 deg of the cook temp add fuel at the bottom of the zone. If you keep all your splits approximately the same size you can set your watch by the time it takes from adding to the bottom of the zone because the interval is that regular. Draft isn't how much intake you have but how efficiently the air moves from intake through the fire and out the stack.the better the draft the cleaner the fire. Getting the coal bed to large requires more air to keep an efficient burn and the holes in the door will become to small to supply a large coal bed thus messing up the draft. Adding a split should replenish the bed not add to it. Spiking temps when adding a split is normal roll with it.
 
i start with a bed of lump. the pieces are big enought not to fall thru the holes. The Klose pits stock fire rack has really big holes, so i placed a piece of regular expanded steel with smaller holes from home depot on top.. between that and starting the inital coal bed with lump solved the problem.
 
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