Getting technical on baffles—SmokerBuilder / Frank Cox

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Very interesting and quick video discussing the benefits of different baffle designs, discussing thin-blue smoke vs clear smoke, flavor profiles, and draft: https://youtu.be/hsVwomuqOD4

I'm quite happy with the "Franklin baffle" I fabricated and I definitely noticed a better flavor on my cooks, especially when using air-dried wood with a good moisture content to stay right in the middle between clear smoke and thin-blue
 
Thanks for sharing this video. I learned a thing or two.
 
Cool video, and he seems like a good dude. I'm having trouble understanding his claim that the fire in a reverse flow pit runs too clean and results in less flavor in the food. Is there something about reverse flow that affects the combustion process that I'm missing?
 
Connor_Macleod said:
Cool video, and he seems like a good dude. I'm having trouble understanding his claim that the fire in a reverse flow pit runs too clean and results in less flavor in the food. Is there something about reverse flow that affects the combustion process that I'm missing?
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I believe he was specifically referring to the reverse flow pits he used to build in the past, where too much draw was happening and the fire burned too clean
 
Both John Lewis and Aaron Franklin believe air flow is important. They don't advocate closing off the stack. They both have had people lining up to eat their barbecue for years. Closing off the stack is a hard sell , for me. The only way I could be convinced otherwise, is to sit down to side-by-side tasting.

Even when my offset is running clear smoke, I can put my hand over the stack and smell smoke on my hand.

Does Jamie Geer advise to close the stack on his Jambos ?
 
Yeah, I think this was the first video I have seen where a pit builder guru advocates for restricting the air flow.

Re: reverse flow pits, I would think they would generally tend to have more difficulty with air flow vs. a direct flow pit due to the extra 180-degree turn the air/smoke has to make to get from under the baffle to head out toward the stack.
 
I've never had one or even seen one in person but my understanding is that on Jambo pits they use the exhaust primarily to control the pits. On the backyard units I think the intake is set. It can be adjusted but not easily during a cook.
 
I took Tuffy Stone's class a few years back, and he controls the temp by manipulating the damper within the exhaust stack on his Jambo. Something to note is those Jambo fireboxes are both enormous and fully insulated, so a super small fire will get that smoker to 300F and keep it there with minor damper adjustments. Tuffy uses very well cured wood, and you'll not see anything besides VERY CLEAR smoke coming out of his smoker. This being said his food is amazing, though the smoke flavor is lighter than I would have expected.
 
We have many many people that throttle the intake and exhaust to their liking on our cookers.... it's not a one size fits all deal to me... many factors come into play.... wood used... moisture content...size of wood splits... weather.... i have always said what works for one might not work for another..... the bottom line is this... if you like it.... your clan likes it... keep doing it!!!!!..... i like Frank Cox i talk to him occasionally.... stayed at his house for a few days several years back as we teamed up and built a cooker for a VA in Rolla Missouri.... in fact i'm planning a trip up to visit with him in the spring!!!!!
 
Jirby of Goldee's BBQ in Fortworth said on a recent video that warnings against closing off the smoke stack were overblown and that he actually recommends it.
 
Buddy, you have to be careful who you listen to. I still see Videos of "experts" advocating soaking your wood chunks "for a few minutes". I usually don't hang around for the rest of the show past that.
 
Nuco59 said:
Buddy, you have to be careful who you listen to. I still see Videos of "experts" advocating soaking your wood chunks "for a few minutes". I usually don't hang around for the rest of the show past that.
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That's always good advice, though I wouldn't say Frank is part of that group, the man is an expert pit builder
 
Interesting article..thanks for sharing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
No, no -sorry- Frank is a good dude. I was more commenting on the SonVolt post about some advocating that you can't regulate temp by exhaust and intake. I think if it works for you - do it. Heck, if you think it works for you - do it. But the broad, sweeping "you can't" s and "ought not"s can be no more than retold presuppositions passed off as wisdom.
 
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