Best technique for an offset?

I had a Brinkmann offset before I got my WSM and had it running fairly well. Do you use a charcoal basket in the firebox? That really helped me keep from babysitting it all the time. I could get about 5-6hrs off a basket of charcoal using the minion method.

mykz26 said:

No basket. Do you have a homemade one or is it store bought?

Click to expand...

They do have ones you can buy that are kind of expensive, but you can get expanded metal at Home Depot/Lowes for pretty cheap and then bend it. I'm not very handy and made one similar to the first one in this thread. I used coatwire hanger to keep it together.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56577

So i have a nbbd that i just recently aquired from CL and am learning how to use it. I was told to check out Gary Wiviott's book Low & Slow:Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons. He does it for 3 types of smoker and the off set is one of them. I was having issues with the fire going and maitaining a steady temp. I really wish i had been told about this book before hand. I did exactly as it said in there minus a log(split wood) since i didn't have any yet and i had it going for 5 hours without doing much. i checked out from the library to see what I thought of it and found out that i learned so much from it and wanted to keep it to write notes in i ordered it from amazon.

Yep, sorry for the offshoot link, but this is the one I made for my offset: http://www.barbecuebible.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=17315 I didn't bother tying it down at all, just got a thick gauge on the expanded metal, snipped it down and bent it into shape. Been running with it for two and a half years now or so, still works fine.

Another thing is to definitely use lump over briquettes. Briquettes burn longer, but they make a ton of ash. It builds up in small offsets and chokes down the fire, causing you to have to use more fuel to get the temp back up.

Lump burns very clean. Just dump a chimney full unit coals into your firebox, then a chimney full of lit on top of that. This should get you a good while before you have to add fuel. Start with the air intake almost closed and gradually open it a little at a time, to reach your desired temp. Later when it drops, just open the intake some more to bring the temp back up. When you reach a point where opening the intake will no longer raise the temp, then its time to add more fuel. Just dump in another chimney of unit lump. Leave the intake open until the lump catches good and then close it as needed.

I know that sounds like a royal pain, but with a little practice you will have it mastered. I had a Silver Smoker too. You can make some fine Q with it, its just a little more work than say a UDS or WSM.

Good luck!

Another possibility is to cut your temperature. Fuel intake is not linear with temperature. If I run my offset at 275*, I can be adding fuel every 3 hours or so, but if I lower it to 200*, I can go a good 10 hours. If I'm doing butts on my offset, I'll put them in at night before bed, then I can get a good night's sleep, and add fuel and crank up the temp in the morning if necessary. Butts will be done early afternoon, wrap in foil for a couple hours and pull for dinner.

agree with both using basket and lump

For the fuel thing, I don't use lump in my offsets just because it's such a fuel hog. I'll go stick burner for its intended purposes, but then when I use charcoal it's briquettes, I do agree that the ash gets to be ridiculous fast, I just raised up my grate in the fire box, another piece of expanded metal, and I empty it out with a cookie tray I put underneath, just pull it out and dump it into my ash bucket. Gloved hands, of course. I empty it when I refuel, and I've still got more than enough airflow, just wouldn't before the next (possible) refuel.

Kingsford Competition has always burned hotter and faster when I used it. Try regular Kingsford blue and you should get a longer more manageable fire, Especially in the smaller offsets.