Major basic (stupid?) question

[capnamerca]

Ok - bandera smoker here, having great results in terms of meat. Already getting compliments and such, and tonight randomly turned into a cooking night (pork loin + 2 racks in foil right now ). So, good stuff out of the way, and not-so-good stuff in. I bought a charcoal basket from Spicewine, and tonight was it's first cook. I got about 4 sustained hours out of it, after I figured out that I had loaded too much charcoal into each section . My problem, and it's been my problem before, is what to do as that "first" coal bed begins to evaporate. On another thread, I read an implication that some folks would put another lit chimney of charcoal into the firebox at this point, to maintain the coal bed / temps.

I've really struggled with late-cook temps. I get wild spikes or a serious dip in temps (like, sub 200). I've not yet tried a 10+ hour cook, and I know that this inability to maintain temps would be a serious hindrance to those long cooks being successful. So, should I let most of the old coal bed burn out, and stick a new chimney of lit kingsford in to rebuild, rather than trying to maintain the current one eight briquettes at a time?

This is major eye-opening stuff, if true. I hadn't even considered this!

Thanks!.

 

[kcquer]

capn, I don't have the basket so I can't be a lot of help on that part of the question except to explain how I do a similar technique in my Cimarron. When my initial load dwindles down and temps begin to drop I push the remaining coals toward the cookbox, clean out the ash and embers underneath then load fresh unlit fuel behind the lit stuff and start the procedure over again.
Someone that actually uses the basket can better advise you on this I'm sure.

As for late cook temp dips, I would almost certainly blame this on ash buildup. See post #11 in this thread http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=266941#post266941

 

[cabo]

"As for late cook temp dips, I would almost certainly blame this on ash buildup. See post #11 in this thread http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...941#post266941"


Capn, your question is not stupid. If it is then, there were many before you, and there will be many after you.
I own a Bandera, and a basket, and KC is dead on with his advice.
Here’s why your question is not dumb. As basket users we feed fuel through the top. We open the lid to access the basket. From that view the buildup of ash is not as noticeable, but if you open the firebox door (where the vent is) and take a look under the basket, you will see a considerable buildup of ash. I also use a fireplace shovel to clear the ash, and I’m back in business.

 

[Solidkick]

I'm a basket owner, and here's what I do, it may work for you, it may not as the basket has a tendancy to perform differently at different altitudes above sea level (Example, Big Al in Colorado vs here in Missouri)

I set up my basket into 3 compartments, with the middle one being like a 2"-2.5" air gap. | 1 |2 | 3 | My largest compartment being closest to the smoke chamber. From the start, I'll dump a lit chimney in on about a half a chimney of unlit in the first compartment and get things up to temp and add my meat. I'll then put about a half of compartment full of unlit charcoal in the 3rd compartment. After about an hour, as the first compartment is starting to loose some of it's volume, I'll flick 3 or 4 pieces from the 3rd compartment over into the air gap, these light, then light the 3rd compartment. From this point on, it usually never takes more than half of a compartment full of charcoal in the 1st and third compartments to maintain a constant temp. by clearing the ash and working the same process backwards.
Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

 

[capnamerca]

Solidkick - thanks for the thoughts - I really like the idea of leaving an airgap, and working the chambers back and forth. How do you clean out the ashes? Those stupid bolts make it hard to get a good sweep. I'm thinking of having someone building me a bigger tray, and resting it on top of the bolts, large enough to cover all the floorspace. It'll reduce the airflow just a bit, but make it SO much easier to clean out ash.

As an aside, the ribs from last night were my best yet. They were basted in bbq sauce (cheap stuff, baby steps) before the smoke, and then smoked 3-2-1 (with a light re-basting every hour). They came out moist with a hella-good smoke ring, and the bbq sauce gave a tang that I really liked. Sadly, the pork loin was overdone - I foiled at 160, and took it to about 188 - I'm thinking I just need to foil a bit earlier. The meat temp was very steady - the 7lb loin took about 4 hours to 160 or so, then anoter 1.5 to go to 188 in the foil. It tastes hella-good, just a little dry (if I may say, it LOOKS fantastic - I've got pics, eventually.)

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Jorge]

I'm cheap and use a small fireplace shovel when needed.

 

[Solidkick]

I'm cheap and use a small fireplace shovel when needed.

That's the ticket....I think the fireplace shovel and a 10 gallon trash can has been mentioned in a few threads this weekend....

I'm thinking of having someone building me a bigger tray, and resting it on top of the bolts, large enough to cover all the floorspace.

Big "oops" on my part! As part of testing/getting the right measurements of the basket Spice makes, he made me a full size ash pan (hell of a guy that Spice). I don't know if he still has the measurements or not....if needed, you can PM me and I'll measure for you......a full size ash pan makes a very nice addition!

Sadly, the pork loin was overdone - I foiled at 160, and took it to about 188

I think most will agree that the loin was probably ready to come out of the cooker at 160*....not a lot of fat to break down like a butt, so you cooked it dry....a little bacon over the top will help that as well.....

Great job Grasshoppa! Anytime you can cook it's a good thing!