Starting a Backwoods Smoker

ccarter · Jul 11, 2012

I'm within a couple of weeks of getting a BWS. I've been looking through these forums for as much info as I can get, and found a lot of great stuff.

As far as bringing the smoker up to temp, has anyone tried starting the charcoal and putting it in the bottom of the smoker with the diverter and water pan both removed until the smoker comes up to temp? With the insulation I'm thinking this method might be good to get the cooking chamber warmed up a little faster. Once it's come up to temp I'd add the diverter and water pan, then pour hot water in the pan and let the smoker settle on temp before adding the food.

Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Also, I'm trying to get a good idea of just how many back rib racks I could get into a unit. I'm looking at the Chubby and the Party. I'm hearing that trying to fit 3 rib racks on each cooking rack would clog up the airflow too much. It's pretty rare that I need to cook a LOT of food, but I do want to know just how much I can expect to get in there.

Thanks for the help!

Jason TQ · Jul 11, 2012

Here are a couple of threads I did recently testing out a party that gave pretty good detail. Great cooker. So easy to use. One thread shows ribs in there. 3 slabs would be tight on 1 rack. I cooked 3 slabs and used 2 racks. Not sure how it would affect airflow if you put all 3 on 1.

As for bringing the smoker up to temp it took about an hour to get to 225 with the water pan in which to me isn't long. I put the diverter in after it came to temp to help get the water steaming. I don't know if keeping both out would help. There are many other more experienced backwoods folks out there, but I bet it won't give you that much of a jump start if any. It gets going pretty quick as it is.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136824

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137006

hav · Jul 11, 2012

I don't own one, but at a comp a couple of years ago, one of the other teams used a Weed Burner to heat-up the inside of the smoker. I guess he was 'cleaning the grates', but it in-fact got him close to temp. He was up and running in no time.

Big George's BBQ · Jul 11, 2012

I do not own one but I would imagine that if you put those in after you reach your temp your temp will drop and have to restabilize again I would have it set up and bring it to Temp If looking at a Party look at the extended party. If looking at the chubby check out Guru's Onyx Cookers which is essentially a Backwoods

pmbasile06 · Mar 7, 2017

I have the chubby and can get it up to temp usually in 45-an hour. I usually use hot water and wait until the temp comes up a little bit to add it but I usually let the meat warm up from being out of the refrigerator while the smoker comes up to temp.

Also 3 slabs on 1 shelf would definitely restrict air flow in the chubby. 2 per shelf works great though. I'm not a big fan of rib racks but there's room for a couple of racks in there if you needed more space.

toymaster · Mar 7, 2017

My Party does not have a heat diverter but I start with no pan until it hits 150, then I put the pan in with no water. I wait until it's at 200 before I add 2 quarts of boiling water. I add more water later after it's been up to temp for a while. Usually takes me about 45 minutes. YMMV.

As for ribs, I have cooked 12 racks of BB ribs at one time but 8 is far easier.

DanQuixote · Mar 9, 2017

I have the G2 Chubby with water pan and diverter. I fill the water pan with tap water and insert the diverter before lighting up. I am always up to cook temp in about an hour ( normal temps for me are 225 - 275 ) I use this hour to take the meat out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temp, adding a bit more rub if necessary. I have cooked 3 trimmed slabs of BB and SL ribs on one rack. It was necessary to do some judicious trimming but the finished product was delish. Only did this once due to a request for a whole smoked chicken not leaving much room to play with.

Starting a Backwoods Smoker

ccarter

Full Fledged Farker

Jason TQ

somebody shut me the fark up.

hav

is one Smokin' Farker

Big George's BBQ

somebody shut me the fark up.

pmbasile06

Found some matches.

toymaster

is Blowin Smoke!

DanQuixote

Knows what a fatty is.

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