On 22-Apr-2008, "Big Jim" wrote:

"skeeter" wrote in message
...
On Apr 22, 8:17 am, skeeter wrote:
All,
I fired up my duo this weekend and was surprised that with just a
chimney starter full of royal oak lump, I got up to 300 degrees with
the vent 1/2 open on the side firebox. That was a bit high for what I
wanted to smoke (beef ribs). How much luck have others had with
maintaining 200-225 on that rig, which I thought was the ideal temp
for low and slow.

Other than that - it's been a honey of a smoker. the split chicken
breasts turned out juicy and flavorful.

So call me stupid, but when you close the vent it is in theory to
reduce the temperature, correct?
Do you have to reduce the incoming vent or also the vent of the
exhaust stack?

I have always left the exhaust vent wide open and closed the intake down
to
maintain heat settings.
--
James A. "Big Jim" Whitten

www.lazyq.com

What Jim said. I leave the exhaust stack wide open and damp down
the intake as required. My pit runs with the intake open about 1 (one)
inch. The only variations are for extremely hot and calm weather,
(stopped down even further) and for cool, windy weather when I
have to open up another 1/4 inch or so. On weird occasions, I just
have to let it run hotter or cooler then normal. It ain't rocket science.
I won't fail to make it into orbit if I'm off by ten degrees or so.
--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)