Reverse Flow Questions

[flexstar]

I just read a thread from Allen BBQ in the Smokring and he makes a statement i I have experience with my reverse flow cooker and find it troublesome. His statement is: "While reverse flow cookers may seem to be the best, they are notorious for eating large amounts of wood to maintain temperatures." Can anyone out there in this forum tell me why this is true and what can one do to correct it? I find myself adding sticks every 30 to 45 minutes which I think should be unnecessary. I can see one of two sticks per hour. My cooker works well and it maintains temperature but loves sticks. Thanks and I look forward to your comments.

 

[bschoen]

Just because someone makes a declarative statement does not make it necessarily true. Stick burners burn sticks, it's what they do. I have a cos and need to toss a new small split every 40-50 minutes, I think that is fairly efficient. Plenty of people here with reverse flows, look forward to their comments.

 

[woody1949]

Wood usage............

I have a reverse flow and that is consistent with what i have seen on my smoker. I am using well cured pecan wood splits, 3 to 4 inches in size, and adding one or two splits about every 30 minutes after I get a bed of coals established. Temps run in the 200 to 250 range.

 

[Inthewoods]

First rule of internet...never believe anything ya read on the internet. Unless it's from a validated source...like this one.

-D

 

[Swine Spectator]

@flexstar I had a Klose traditional offset and currently have a Shirley RF. The Shirley is bigger (24x60 vs 20x48 ) and uses about 2/3 of the wood the Klose did. That said, the point of a stick burner is to have a clean fire with good draw. You're going to burn wood.
I attribute the Shirley's efficiency to the insulated firebox and the gasket-sealed doors.

 

[pjtexas1]

I would not say my reverse flow uses more wood. I just have to add smaller amounts of wood more often.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[onemanlan]

Not reversed flow related, but I did wanna say, "War Eagle!" since you're posting from Auburn.

 

[shares]

A stick every 30-45 minutes is average for direct flow too.

 

[Callahan-que]

I have a small reverse flow smoker (lang 36) and I add 2 small splits every 30 minutes or so. To give you an idea of the size splits I use I split a regular size splits into about 3" diameter pieces then I cut them in half length wise.

There's nothing to correct, your smoker is working just fine.