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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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02-22-2004, 08:16 AM | #1 |
Got rid of the matchlight.
Join Date: 02-11-04
Location: Brevard, NC
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Temperature Control-- HELP please
I am having a hard time controling the temperature on my Bandera. I can't seem to get it to stabilize.
Outside temp is 42 at 9:00 am, High is supposed to be 58, and there is no wind. All suggestions welcome. Kevan |
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02-22-2004, 09:29 AM | #2 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 12-24-03
Location: Kennesaw, GA
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Temp too high? Too Low? Wood fire? Charcoal Fire?
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"Whose chopper is this?" "It's Zed's." "Who's Zed?" "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead." |
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02-22-2004, 10:00 AM | #3 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 10-21-03
Location: Bandera Owner in Missouri
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What mods have you done? You got your smoke chamber vent wide open? If you don't then you should, and control the heat with the fire box damper. You gotta get the heat up off the floor of the fire box or you'll burn tons of fuel (learned that and fixed that here with the help of the Brethren).
Answer Saiko's and my questions and we got a good starting point of getting you to a better cooking experience. If you go back to one of my earlier posts, you'll see I was there too! http://www.bandera-brethren.com/inde...iewtopic&t=780
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Mr. Kick ------------------------------------------------ Belly Brothers BBQ Team "Sister Flame" Spicewine Trailer Smoker,Modified Bandera, Uni-Flame Chicken Cooker with a Spicewine Thermometer mod,Kingsford Barrel cooker and a super fast RED thermapen KC always said "fat cap up!! |
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02-22-2004, 01:01 PM | #4 |
Grand Poobah and Site Admin
Join Date: 08-11-03
Location: Long Island, NY
Name/Nickname : Phil
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are you using the door thermometer?? it can be way off +-50 degrees. . drop oven thermos or probes into the chamber by the food to get a more accurate temp reading. Leave both dampers wide open and DONT open that cook Chamber door!!!! Then if temps climb, cut the firebox damper to 1/2-3/4. If its still to high after 15 minutes, you have to much fuel burning. Give us more detail on what you got. Temps and fuel.
I'm moving this thread into Qtalk.. You'll get more responses.
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Site Administrator and Grand PooBah CBJ with a Fuzzy Blue Hat, 18 Foot Competition Trailer, Customized Klose BYC, Custom Built Shirley built to feed our Veterans(A.K.A "Abrams"), 1 Double Barreled Lang 84, 1 Heavily Modified Bionic Bandera, 1 Custom Super Medium Stickburning Spicewine w/stoker, 2 XL BGE, 1 Mini BGE, 2 Pit Barrel Cookers, 3 WSMs, 3 Weber Kettles, an NB Hondo, A Modified Brinkman Horizontal, DCS 48" Grill, a Broilmaster P3, a Blackstone 36 and 17, a covered, pellet pooping FEC100, and our duck died. :( News Flash: "A mans worth is judged by the weight of his integrity " You know your getting older when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy Smoke on KC. WWW.BBQ-BRETHREN.COM |
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02-22-2004, 01:39 PM | #5 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-11-03
Location: Chicago Southwestern Burbs, but always south of Madison Ave.
Name/Nickname : Professor Dickweed
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Read some of the mods in the file section. I use the heat shield to control temps in the box. I wrap an extra grate 3/4 in foil, use it to bring the size of the chamber down to a more manageble dimension when not packing it with meat.
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. Bill-Chicago The death of "willkat98" Me: If you aren't woke, that means you're still sleeping, right? Kid today: That's racist! Bandera, M-BGE, WSM, Gold Kettle, Kenmore Gasser, 36Qt Turkey Fryer, ECB, Dutch Oven, Black Iron BBQ Viper-M, Blackstone 36" Griddle |
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02-22-2004, 03:48 PM | #6 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 08-13-03
Location: Long Beach, CA
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Depending on how you bring up your fire, it can take as short as 30 minues to bring the chamber up to temp, but expect 45-60 minuts on average. Now then - you asked about control. Yoou do not need a large fire to maintain temp. Remember - it's easier to add to a weak fire than it is to reduce temp in a hot fire. If you keep your fire size consistent. you'll generally experiance consistent pit temps. We can keep Phil's piece of crap (needing to be given away) BYC going a stready 225 on a fire so small you wouldn't believe for the size cooker it is.
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tk PitBitch |
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02-22-2004, 07:08 PM | #7 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-11-03
Location: Chicago Southwestern Burbs, but always south of Madison Ave.
Name/Nickname : Professor Dickweed
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Oh yeah
And Welcome Kevan!!
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. Bill-Chicago The death of "willkat98" Me: If you aren't woke, that means you're still sleeping, right? Kid today: That's racist! Bandera, M-BGE, WSM, Gold Kettle, Kenmore Gasser, 36Qt Turkey Fryer, ECB, Dutch Oven, Black Iron BBQ Viper-M, Blackstone 36" Griddle |
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02-23-2004, 10:20 AM | #8 |
Got rid of the matchlight.
Join Date: 02-11-04
Location: Brevard, NC
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Help Temperature Control
Hi all and thanks for the tips. I ended up with some really good food yesterday but really had to watch the Bandera.
In response to some of the questions that were asked about my origional question: I am cooking with Kingsford briquettes which I light in a chimney. The temp is running low. When I open the cook chamber damper it climbs rapidly and then as soon as I partially close it, the temp starts dropping just as rapidly. I am using a door thermoter I bought seperately. I Finally got the temp to stabilize at 230 but it required constant attention. I got a better fire by raising the fire grate about 4 inches and I drilled a 3/8 inch hole in the bottom center of the cook chamber to add a grease cup. No other modifications have been done. I have gotten very good with my Hondo and I had both of them going yesterday. The Hondo was dead on 235 degrees and only used about 2 chimneys of charcoal for the whole 12 hours. I fed about a bag into the Bandera but I realize that it is because I don't know the smoker yet. The food turned out great but it required alot of attention. Thanks for all of the help. Kevan |
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02-23-2004, 10:24 AM | #9 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-13-03
Location: Clearwater, FL
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I may be jumping in where wise men fear to tread but:
I NEVER (almost!) adjust the chimney (chamber damper?) and use the firebox damper to control the fire. Now - I'm using a horizontal smoker but it seems we went through a lot of discussion last year about fire control and the general concensus was to leave the chimney damper alone because it will tend to smother the fire and result in nasty smoke. Anyway, that's my $.02 worth. :D
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Dave Southern Brethren BBQ Competition Team "It's all about getting paid!" - Myron Mixon "I love being hated in my hometown!" - David Hair KingFisher Gator Rotisserie cooker (RIP), WSM (RIP), Stainless 5 burner with IR gas grill (RIP), Turkey Fryer, Weber JD Commemorative grill (RIP), Masterbuilt 40" insulated ELECTRIC smoker (new heating element), Pit Boss Tailgater pellet pooper. |
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02-23-2004, 10:50 AM | #10 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-11-03
Location: Chicago Southwestern Burbs, but always south of Madison Ave.
Name/Nickname : Professor Dickweed
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Re: Help Temperature Control
Quote:
#1 modification is to buy/cut a piece of expanded steel and raise the fire grate up into the chamber. Cut the piece to fit the entire box, increasing your fire/coal bed size dramatically (20"and16") #2 modification is to fashion a baffle to more evenly distribute the heat into the cook chamber. Another mod, though not high on the list, is the use of the heat shield I mentioned earlier. Condense the chamber, to get more efficient. Download the Bandera 101 file from the file section and look ad the mod pictures and files in the files and photo section too. After these, and just a tiny bit of practice, you end up using half the amount of fuel and really increase your enjoyment. I'm no expert, but the above helped me from the get go. Good to have you aboard brother.
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. Bill-Chicago The death of "willkat98" Me: If you aren't woke, that means you're still sleeping, right? Kid today: That's racist! Bandera, M-BGE, WSM, Gold Kettle, Kenmore Gasser, 36Qt Turkey Fryer, ECB, Dutch Oven, Black Iron BBQ Viper-M, Blackstone 36" Griddle |
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02-23-2004, 10:54 AM | #11 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-11-03
Location: Chicago Southwestern Burbs, but always south of Madison Ave.
Name/Nickname : Professor Dickweed
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Oh yeah,
Get a couple oven thermometers and place in different locations inside the beast. It will let you know where the hotspots are and temps at different levels. Pyrex probe thermometer down the chimney to the meat level. They're about $13 or so. Door thermometers are not always accurate, and only measure the one level.
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. Bill-Chicago The death of "willkat98" Me: If you aren't woke, that means you're still sleeping, right? Kid today: That's racist! Bandera, M-BGE, WSM, Gold Kettle, Kenmore Gasser, 36Qt Turkey Fryer, ECB, Dutch Oven, Black Iron BBQ Viper-M, Blackstone 36" Griddle |
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02-23-2004, 11:30 AM | #12 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 08-11-03
Location: Castle Rock, CO
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Also, take a look at the For Sale Forum on our site, my baskets are there for the purpose of fire control.
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Big Al Castle Rock, CO :confused::idea: Fire Box Basket Designer, Heat Shield Inventor. You can whip our Cream but you can't beat our SPAM.:clap: [URL="http://www.AllenWilmer.com"] [/URL] |
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02-23-2004, 06:38 PM | #13 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 10-21-03
Location: Bandera Owner in Missouri
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Just about the same info Chi Bill gave me back in Nov.
Stay focused! It WILL come together!
__________________
Mr. Kick ------------------------------------------------ Belly Brothers BBQ Team "Sister Flame" Spicewine Trailer Smoker,Modified Bandera, Uni-Flame Chicken Cooker with a Spicewine Thermometer mod,Kingsford Barrel cooker and a super fast RED thermapen KC always said "fat cap up!! |
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02-24-2004, 11:45 AM | #14 | |
On the road to being a farker
Join Date: 02-05-04
Location: Conyers, GA
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Quote:
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02-24-2004, 12:24 PM | #15 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-13-03
Location: Clearwater, FL
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Oh bull crap. Look for the small display area that has threaded rods, slotted angle (like used for the sides of metal shelves), etc. The expanded metal is right there along with thin gauge sheet metal and aluminum -- usually the aluminum and steel displays are side-by-side.
__________________
Dave Southern Brethren BBQ Competition Team "It's all about getting paid!" - Myron Mixon "I love being hated in my hometown!" - David Hair KingFisher Gator Rotisserie cooker (RIP), WSM (RIP), Stainless 5 burner with IR gas grill (RIP), Turkey Fryer, Weber JD Commemorative grill (RIP), Masterbuilt 40" insulated ELECTRIC smoker (new heating element), Pit Boss Tailgater pellet pooper. |
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