Minion method on a large offset?
 

Hey guys, I had a charcoal basket built for my 24 x 72 offset. The firebox is 24 x 24 and the basket is 19 x 19 x 6. I will be firing it up this saturday for the first time with the basket. My question is, do you think the minion method would work in this application? I would just try it to see, but I will have to light the coals and then leave for work. My wife will be the pit master for about 2-3 hours until my buddy comes over to help. My wife is pretty good with fire controls, but I just don't want to have 20lbs of rancher light up too quick and then her not be able to keep the temps down. I have a comp coming up next weekend so I kind of want to try to get this working before then so I can get some sleep. So, have any of you tried this or think it will work. Thanks in advance.

Jason

It might work.
I use the Minion on my Cimarron, but it's smaller that yours.
I guess if you have enough lit to start, it'll get it up to temp.

I've had mixed results. When I put the lit charcoal in the center, it likes to light into a towering inferno pretty quickly. I had better results placing lit charcoal on one side of the pile, and having it light in a more linear fashion.

Minon
 

I also do this in my log burner,but once its lit I just feed a log now and again and done!!

You will need to light it early and then find out where it settles in at before you know if it will spike or not. I know with the drum smokers, there will be a spot where the temp holds real nice. Then again, that depends on where you set your vents, perhaps halfway open or open just a bit. It will definitely be wise to find that spot before you begin to cook. Let us know how it goes.

I use the minion like Ushi said. I have the much smaller brinkman smoke n pit. It works for about 5 hours.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna try it Saturday or not yet. I guess I could try it on Sunday if I'm in the mood to mess around with it again on Sunday. If I do try it I think I'll fill the basket up with unlit charcoal and add about 1/2 a chimney full of lit charcoal on top near the chamber sideof the firebox. Does this make sense? My theory is that the draft going towards the chamber will prevent it from lighting the rest of the charcoal too quick. I'll keep you guys posted.

Jason

I've gotten decent burn times with minion in the SKD, only having to add fuel every 60-90 minutes instead of every 30-45. This was with lump in a decent basket, not on the crap "tray" they include in the box. At least there's much less ash with lump!

One thing I have definitely noticed is that Rancher does not burn as hot as the bigger name brand briquettes. That is a plus for the long low and slow cooks. There is a lot more ash though. I have been using it in my Stumps and have definitely been satisfied.

Your problem may be getting that monsta up to temp in the first place. I have tried in the lang and just gave up and now I just start blasting right from the start.

Which in turn leads me to the never ending refuel every hour....:twisted:

But if you figure it out...please share

Mine seems to come up to temp quick. I have been using the propane log lighter to light about a half of a bag of rancher. I flame it until the charcoal is about half grayed over and turn the propane off. I'm not sure if the flames from the propane are kind of preheating the chamber or what. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes with the log lighter going to get the charcoal going. Another 5-10 minutes and the chamber is at 225* or so. The half a bag of charcoal only last about 2 hours until I need to start feeding the pig which is about every 30 minutes to an hour.

Jason

depends on your airflow. i wouldnt walk away until u were sure that your wernt going to ignite the whole basket. when u dump the lit stuff on top, shut down your dampers and see if temps continue to rise, if not, open them up a little at a time until u get control of the rate of drop/climb. It will take some tweakig the first few times.

Yup, you gotta experiment, shouldn't take but a few hours to figure it out.