Question on building a fire in an offset

[DirtyDirty00]

Ok so after 2 runs with the offset... i have a few questions for those of you with stick burners



i have a 48" from pits by jj. to get my fire going i load up a full chimney and i threw the coals into the firebox. then i loaded on about 3 logs.

i let this burn a while and when it was up to temp i threw in my food.

i control it with the damper. however i used to cook on my other cooker around 250. i wasnt getting it hot enough. it was about 225.


HERES MY PROBLEM...

once the charcoal burnt out, the wood was still ablaze. but after a bit it wasnt getting hot enough. it was about 210 on one side and 220 on the other. the only way to get it up was to throw like 3 more logs in. however with that BIG of a fire it wasnt getting enough oxygen through the dampers so i had to leave the door open a crack.

i ended up getting some nasty smoke each time i closed the door (with dampers wide open)

so i think im having trouble finding that "small hot fire"

any suggestions?

[Bikini BBQ]

I've got a CharBroil offset (its about 32") I placed a 12"x12" 1/4" thick metal plate in at the entrance to where the smoke enters the chamber, this helps distribute the heat better, not perfect but it works for me. I use the chimney also to start the fire and use lump charcoal and mix in wood chunks, etc. I just gotta kep an eye on it all the time. Hope this helps good luck. If you want to make more modifications to your smoker, check out http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ and search the site use smoker modifications in the search box.

[Lake Dogs]

It sounds to me like there's not a good draw. Was the top smoke stack closed at all? Perhaps that was the problem. You're certain about temp; cooking surface vs. external mounted thermometer temp?

I've never cooked on your specific smoker, but I have 2 different stick burners and never had problems getting temps up to 250 and hold there...

I do slightly different, but I cant think that in your example it would matter that much.
I first lay down a bed of unlit charcoal. On my larger offset I'll first line the box with 3 pieces of split wood and then lay in the unlit charcoal. Then on top goes 1 chimney of hot charcoal. I let it come up to temps without dampers closed, even let it rise a little higher, then dampen down to where I want it and then put the meat on. I'll mix in split logs and unlit charcoal as needed....

[crb478]

Sounds like you need bigger air intakes into the fire box. I have to crack my door open to keep the air intake at the proper level. Mine is an old wood stove so the openings had to be enlarged.

[DirtyDirty00]

Originally Posted by Lake Dogs

It sounds to me like there's not a good draw. Was the top smoke stack closed at all? Perhaps that was the problem. You're certain about temp; cooking surface vs. external mounted thermometer temp?

I've never cooked on your specific smoker, but I have 2 different stick burners and never had problems getting temps up to 250 and hold there...

I do slightly different, but I cant think that in your example it would matter that much.
I first lay down a bed of unlit charcoal. On my larger offset I'll first line the box with 3 pieces of split wood and then lay in the unlit charcoal. Then on top goes 1 chimney of hot charcoal. I let it come up to temps without dampers closed, even let it rise a little higher, then dampen down to where I want it and then put the meat on. I'll mix in split logs and unlit charcoal as needed....

yes maybe ill try to add some charcoal as i go as well. i closed the stack half way to try and get the back end to get a little hotter. its also under my deck and there is no breeze at all, maybe ill open the damper between the firebox and cook chamber a bit more as well.

[gtr]

You get higher heat with your stack all the way open. The more everything is open, the better draft you get and the higher your temps can be. My experience is that it's best to leave the stack open at all times. I leave the intakes open at all times as well - unless I'm doing charcoal/chunks in a basket (trying to get sleep mod) - then I'll use the intake to regulate temp - but when stickburning - everything open.

Preheating splits helps, make sure they're well seasoned and dry and able to catch fire quickly - like almost immediately.

I will definitely augment a fire with lump sometimes if I don't want more smoke but need more heat.

[Lake Dogs]

There's a damper between the fire box and the smoke chamber? Very cool. I'm thinking at first keep the stack damper and the fire box / smoke chamber dampers wide open. Matter of fact, by closing (even partially) your stack damper you're actually making the fire cooler, not hotter. Air flow makes it hotter. The more flow, the hotter it all becomes. On initial light I'd have everything wide open (let the big dog eat). Then, when the chamber is about 270 degrees, begin to close (little by little) the damper(s) on the fire box itself (limit air intake first). This should get you to 250 and holding...

[chomper's bbq]

THE AIR INTAKES NEED TO EQUAL THE SURFACE AREA OF THE OPENING TO THE GRILL AS WELL AS THE SURFACE AREA OF THE STACK. I learned this from a set of plans I purchased from the net. I added an additional intake tube that I can hook a dryer hose with a fan on the other end (fan from O'Reilly auto store $9) this plugs into a portable car jumper. It helps me.

[Dave Russell]

Good comments already made about getting sufficient draft, but since you're up north, what kind of wood are you burning? Oak and hickory are gonna provide more btu's and longer lasting coals than softer woods like fruitwoods, maple, and such.

[DirtyDirty00]

This time I was burning hickory actually.

[stephan]

As far as I heard and read you have a well made and well designed smoker. I think you have to find your way around the controls. I have a klose smoker all I use is wood to smoke with. It took me some time to figure the combination of fire size and intake and exhaust settings. For me I hardly close the exhaust and regulate the intake to control the fire but the biggest thing was my fire size.

[PimpSmoke]

I build a nice coal bed, hot. After that every time I load, I put a split in like a snake, separating the hot from the cook chamber. I then load the area away from the chamber with charcoal.

The coal ignites and get hot and keeps the log from smoldering. The log burns slow and keeps the hot coal away from the cook chamber, negating spikes.

[HBMTN]

What is the length and diameter of your food chamber and firebox? Also how many square inches of intake and exhaust do you have with dampers wide open?

Try getting a good coal base and feeding it smaller stickes of wood more often.

[Wampus]

I was gonna say pretty much exactly what gtr and Lake Dogs already said.....so I won't now.

My other thought was the wood. Is it well seasoned? Dry? Preheated? Preheating wood makes a big difference for me.

[captndan]

Insulate the firebox. I did one and it cut fuel consumption by 1/2 and much easier to control heat.