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Old 02-03-2020, 11:59 PM   #63
dummy que
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Join Date: 04-02-13
Location: stoutsville ohio 43154
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Originally Posted by 93_confirmed View Post
Here's my final, long winded update and after this I will let this thread drift into the abyss.

I added the grate and Lavalock basket back into the firebox.
I lit one packed chimney of Weber briqs (last few attempts were top shelf lump)
I put the Smoke therm in and I picked up some cheap oven thermometers so had a couple strategically placed just to see what temps I'm getting throughout.
I dumped the lit chimney in. Exhaust and firebox door (NOT LID) wide open.
I pulled up a chair and waited with much anticipation.
Within 20 minutes she was at 250 and not long after I cracked 300.
Very mixed feelings here because still so many unanswered questions.
I threw a butt and some thighs on and all is well again. Hooray end of story right?? Not quite...

After a few hours of adding cherry splits, my coal bed was getting weak so I fired up a full chimney of lump this time. Nice chunks with some small pieces. Solid brand imo.
As soon as it was mostly lit I dumped it in and wandered off.
I checked the temp a while later to make sure I'm not too high and it's at 200F.
Open up the firebox and the basket is about 3/4 full and it's an inferno in there.
Hmm, WTF is going on here? I gave the basket a couple of shakes, ash was very minimal underneath, weather hadn't changed, setup didn't change, amount of meat didn't change. I was even more bewildered than in previous attempts.
I f'd around with it for a while by adding small splits and rearranging the fire and the best I could do was barely hitting 225. At that point, the butt was pretty far along so I bailed to the oven and shut it down.

So, the conclusion here is actually two takeaways.
1) How could lump charcoal perform worse than briqs when it is confirmed to burn hotter and faster? I would expect temps to spike faster and drop faster than the briqs but I actually saw the reverse. Weber briqs are amazing by the way and worth every cent.
2) One of the things I forgot to mention in this entire saga that I feel really stupid about is after the last successful cook on New Years, I replaced the stock chamber grates with the 2-tier setup from BBQMods in the link below and now realize that I added 23 extra pounds of steel inside that wasn't there before these temp problems started. I'm sure this isn't helping my situation BUT, the briqs still got me to 250-300F on this day with relative ease so maybe it's not an issue and just the lump not cooperating.

Thanks for listening and following and for all the words of advice and troubleshooting.

https://bbqsmokermods.com/oem-smoker...trolr-bbq.html (2 tier mod; wasn't worth the extra space for the $ if anyone is considering it. Adds about 300+ sq inches of cooking space but not much clearance for that space because of the lid).

https://rockwoodcharcoal.com/ (lump brand I was using)
NONONO!!!!!!!!!!!! Lump dose not burn hotter than brickets (amzing ribs .com) they halve proven carbon is carbon it burns at the temp it burns as for raising the end of your smoker heat & smoke rise yhats why drum smokers are so efficient
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