Burning time on a bag of charcoal

[mnmikew]

I was looking at my Char-Griller last night and think I have a plan on making a nice fire box upgrade. I want to be able to pull the ash drawer out without brining the coals with it. The way it is now I can't do that.

JBOMB- You are correct, whoever designed this should be slapped in the face. :crazy:

Keeping the ash tray seperate from the coal bed will vastly improve the burn time, heat buildup and overall efficiency.

Thanks everyone.

I need to do the same with my CharGriller. I did the mods you have, but I've yet to seal the lid. A must do mod for a CG. A coal basket is also a must and Im working on finding plans for that. I raised my grate up and that does help a lot. I can even pull the ash drawer out to empty it while its cookin. A coal basket would help alot I think. Going to try to make one from some expanded steel soon.

Dae06, what did you use to seal your CG lid?

 

[sbsg2005]

With my modified cg pro I get about 9 hours out of a 16 lb bag of briquets. I have done all the normal mods you find on the net plus put latches on the ash drawer to pull it tight against the firebox and cover mine when the outside temps get under 70, I put an adjustable damper on the opening between the cook chamber and the fire box, extended the stack to go all the way down to the grate, put a gasket on the lid to the cook chamber, put hi temp silicone on all seams, put a thin gasket between the damper for the fire box and the fire box, there are probably more mods that I have forgotten. Even when I upgrade to a new smoker I will continue to mod this one since my youngest boy loves to smoke to. Made him an addict and he's only 10, but the boy can make some mean spares and a wicked whole pork loin.

 

[Kathy's Smokin']

put latches on the ash drawer to pull it tight against the firebox

I put an adjustable damper on the opening between the cook chamber and the fire box

Made him an addict and he's only 10, but the boy can make some mean spares and a wicked whole pork loin.

This is new to me, getting better efficiency from the coal putting latches (etc.)...... and an adjustable damper (etc.)..... I'd like to consider doing some of these things and other mods mentioned in this thread to get more cooking/hours from a bag of coal. Can you expand a bit?

Also, congratulations on the conversion of your 10 yo, well done! :clap2:

 

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

If you figure the cost of charcoal, a new WSM saves enough money to pay for itself remarkably soon. Do the math.

 

[Kathy's Smokin']

The quick answer is we... as bbq cooks... are tinkerers... trying to find a better way, a more efficient method.

Regardless of the price we paid or the size of our smokers... always on the lookout to make it burn better and longer. :becky::becky::becky:

Hi!

I do have to agree with you, we are tinkerers and always on the lookout for better performance. I think some manufacturers should be ashamed, however, for designing openings (fire box to smoke box) and exhaust pipes that mostly bypass the meat like my Char Broil COS did -- it would cost pretty much the same to do it right I think -- as well as putting the thermometer port closer to grill height instead of in the rafters of the smoker. It makes a difference for food safety if nothing else, not everyone buying their smoker will join an online forum, buy an internal temperature probe to see if it's cooked evenly/thoroughly or be willing to bake it in the oven of their house for two hours after they went through a 16# bag of charcoal and 8 hours outside (2 hours to get assembled, get the smoker up to temp and 6 hours of constantly making chimneys of ashed over coal to feed it). I'm going to look up threads for gasketing and blanketing my smoker, thanks for the tip to use high temp caulk for the cracks. I live in Canada so unfortunately this COS will only do for a short season if I'm looking for any decent charcoal burn time per bag -- and no smoking at close to or during winter. I say I need a Primo Oval XL to get the best burn out of my bag of charcoal -- summer or winter. I need to start writing to Santa Clause.

Maybe an UDS for the good weather, though, I really like the UDS 16# bag burn times I'm seeing posted.

 

[qapla]

In my converted ECB, I can easily do a 12 hour cook with 1/2 bag (or a little less)- this usually takes an initial load and 1 or 2 refills of the bowl.

When I need to go longer then 12 hours, I find I must empty the ash to get all the briquettes to burn all the way.

I'm sure I could get 24-30 hours in my setup with a full bag.

I have yet to need any additional cooking time when I pull the meat from the grill. One of the "tricks" I have found is what that one TV gadget sales guy says - "Set it, and forget it!"

I put the meat on with the full load of charcoal and let her rip (or smoke). I don't check it again for at least 4 hours - in fact, I have been known to load it up in the morning and then leave. I go do the things I need to and let it cook. When I get home, I check the charcoal. I can check the load without opening the cooker. If I need more fuel, I ad some briquettes and maybe some chips.

I know from use that the water bowl will last for about 6-7 hours. I figure that is time enough to check the meat when I add water to the bowl.

Generally, when I fire up the cooker, I have a full load of eats in there, so it will be a long cook - unless I have decided to do chicken breast - and they come out tasty on a single charcoal load. :-D

 

[sbsg2005]

This is new to me, getting better efficiency from the coal putting latches (etc.)...... and an adjustable damper (etc.)..... I'd like to consider doing some of these things and other mods mentioned in this thread to get more cooking/hours from a bag of coal. Can you expand a bit?

Also, congratulations on the conversion of your 10 yo, well done! :clap2:

The ash draw on a CGP rather flimsy and and does not fit tight against the fire box. This cause an air leak, the air leak can lead the temp. control problems. So I used latchs like this one in the link(http://www.sourcingmap.com/compress...gle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=usfroogle) to pull it tight against the fire box. The adjustable damper between the cook chamber between the cook chamber and the fire box is just a hinged baffle plate with a rod running out the front of the cook chamber to raise and lower the baffle plate making the opening to the fire box bigger or smaller as needed. If my camera wasn't broke I would get some pics for ya

 

[The Pup]

16lbs of charcoal burning at 235f = 85 hours

 

[Kathy's Smokin']

16lbs of charcoal burning at 235f = 85 hours

I AM SO JEALOUS! :mad2: I'm jealous of Southern smokers who can smoke all winter, too. Gotta get me a ceramic smoker, it's cheaper than moving. I have two red angus briskets from a local farm to pick up, it's 45'F outside right now, close to freezing overnight and my COS is a charcoal hog on a sunny, beautiful 90'F day -- never mind the beginning of October.

 

[Dallas Dan]

I get about 4x the burn time in my L BGE than I do in my offset smoker. But when it comes to doing long smokes, I still prefer the offset. BTW, I use Royal Oak lump and used about 5 lbs for a 6 hour smoke in the offset today.

 

[dae06]

Ribs this weekend

I did ribs this weekend and had my best success yet. I used 3/4 of a 5 lbs. bag of Royal oak lump along with 5 chucks of hickory (3"x3"x4" each). I kept it at ~250 degree for the full 6 hours.

The difference in my opinion was the expanded metal fire box I made that morning and "Grapho Glas" fiberglass gasketing (rope) that I placed all around the smokers cover to illiminate 90% of the leaks.

Although the rope fell off the back side, I was able to push it back in place after each time I needed to open the lid. I will most likely rivet it in place to keep it there permenantly.

The PUP: That is unreal, 85 hours on a 16 lbs. bag of charcoal is unreal. I didn't realize how much the extra cost of fuel would be for smoking.

Sorry for being new to smoking, but what kind of smoker is that?

 

[mnmikew]

Dae06, could you describe your expanded metal firebox (or pics)? I need to make one of those as well. I too added the rope gasket to my CG yesterday. Will have to see if that glue holds up.

 

[dae06]

Dae06, could you describe your expanded metal firebox (or pics)? I need to make one of those as well. I too added the rope gasket to my CG yesterday. Will have to see if that glue holds up.

Sure, I'll take pics tonight and post it tomorrow.

 

[dae06]

First of all, I have a Char-Griller, I use expaneded steel and cut out a piece 12"x21". I bent the back side to make it 5" high and the front I made 4" high. So, 5"+12"+4"=21". From there I cut the sides to fit and welded them together. I had it pretty easy, my Son works at welding shop and we used their bender and cutting press.

Below: Cooking grates removed. The fire box will hang on the angle brakets.

Below: The front of the fire box. two 1/4" bolts used to hang it

Below: The back side. Two longer bolts used to keep the fire box as far forward as possible for easy loading of coal and/or wood.

Below: Hard to see, but the fire box is hanging with plenty of room for airflow and room for the ash tray to be removed at any time.

Below: Front bolts holding the fire box in place.

 

[Kathy's Smokin']

Thanks so much for the info and pics, dae06, I feel inspired. We have good weather this week, about 65'F-ish and sunny, I think I will try to get more mods done, maybe even try smoking a brisket before winter sets in. Thanks for posting the name of the gasket rope, I wasn't sure what to use.

 

[mnmikew]

Very nice Dae06!! Thanks again. I've always wanted to get a welder. :-D