Any Jambo Owners?

[Wneill20]

After looking for a year i finely found a used Backyard or Jr in California and will be picking it up on Saturday. i have sent an email to Jaime and he has not respond what i need to know is fire management. What is the process for starting the smoker ? Where do you set the vents and at what temp do you cook? More or less walk me through the whole procedure.

Thanks

[TalonBrew]

I have a backyard, and I start with about 2/3 chimney of Kingsford to get it going. When the coals are white, I dump them in the firebox and toss one split on. For my wood, I use splits a little bigger than wrist size, but cut down to 10-12" in length. The reason is that with the size of the backyard, you'll have a smaller fire and when I get the coals going, I do not want to have wood hanging over either side of the pile, as it'll create un-burned, white smoke. The trade off is that with smaller wood, you'll need to toss one on about every 45 minutes or so.

I let my pit run at the temp it likes, which is right between 250-260. I can run it hotter, it just takes more management. At the 250~ish, without looking I can tell it's time to add a split when it drops to 240. I toss one on and it goes up to 280 for a few minutes as it catches fire, then right back down. To get it hotter, I add fuel a little more frequently.

Enjoy. I've been amazed at how good my food has been coming out, and I'm a noob.

[ButtBurner]

pop a cold one

go to the roadmap for some excellent reading on the subject

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7818

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7112

[Wneill20]

Thanks when you start it do you leave all the doors open for awhile, what position do you have the stack and fire box at?

[TalonBrew]

I open everything at first. Get the coals and split on and let 'er start heating up. Then I close the door closest to the firebox and I close the firebox door almost all the way, just leaving it cracked. As it heats up and starts drawing, then I close the other door up top and the firebox door, leaving the damper on the stack full open. I let it roll like that until it's up to temp and I have sweet blue smoke. It's usually 45 min to an hour. Last time, I tossed two splits on initially, since they were small, but they were very dry and I had the pit at 325 for awhile before it started trending down. So I let it get closer to 275 before I tossed the food on, and that was almost 1.5 hours since I started the coals.

The intake on my firebox door is a channel with two bolts controlling how "open" it is. On mine, it's pretty far open, you can stick your pinky finger in up to the fingernail, but I"m at 6000 feet, and that's where it seems "happiest" (based on how light the smoke is.). I don't use the damper much. I set a temp and use it a little to fine tune the temp. It's usually 3/4 open. If I close it too much, I start getting nasty smoke, so I try to control the temp with the wood I put on.

Remember, I'm new. This is my first summer with it. One thing I learned is to get a good, clean fire and find out what temp the pit likes. It's been FAR easier to cook at 250-260 than to try to push it to a different temperature. If I have to do something in the kitchen or just get distracted, it's much more forgiving and I'm less likely to come back to a strange temp.

[TalonBrew]

ButtBurner,

Thanks for the roadmap. Good resource, and I've bookmarked it.

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by TalonBrew

ButtBurner,

Thanks for the roadmap. Good resource, and I've bookmarked it.

thanks

you have some real good tips. I start mine the exact same way as you

[TalonBrew]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

thanks

you have some real good tips. I start mine the exact same way as you

I'm not very smart, but I am trainable.

[Wneill20]

Thanks everyone. But i always heard with a Jambo you control the temp with the smoke stack you only open it a inch or so is this not so?

[TalonBrew]

I don't have a butterfly valve, like the higher end Jambos, rather it's a plate that slides over the stack. To me, it's not effective for large temp changes, it's more like "tweaking" (ten~ish degrees). But that could either be me, or the design of the plate vs. a butterfly valve.


Honestly, the best thing to do it fire 'er up and go get some chicken or ribs and toss a split on and see what it cruises at. Then toss another on. Watch when they burn down to coals what happens to the temp. The thing is... try to keep clean smoke and frankly, you get good food even if the temps go up and down a bit, and you'll learn the pit. Plus you'll get to eat. I have not made bad food yet with this smoker. I've made OK, better and holy ****! But while I was learning, I still made pretty darn good food.

[Wneill20]

Thanks, had already planed to coook ribs and chicken and what ever else i can get my hands on i will let you know how it turns out.

[Pappy Q]

I'm on my third Jambo all different models so I consider myself an amateur expert on them. The temp and smoke control are indeed controlled though the stack. Feel free to ask me any questions.

[smokeisgood]

Originally Posted by Pappy Q

I'm on my third Jambo all different models so I consider myself an amateur expert on them. The temp and smoke control are indeed controlled though the stack. Feel free to ask me any questions.

What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow????

[lastmajordude]

To me Jambo's BEST way to control temp is with a small hot fire. I rarely touch the exaust.

[Pappy Q]

Originally Posted by smokeisgood

what's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow????

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