I own a new braunfels smoker that has an offset firebox. It looks similar
to the grill he
http://www.epinions.com/pr-New_Braun...moker_99204800
though I'm not sure that's my exact model - it does have the flat top on the
firebox though.

After 3 years, I'm ready to admit I don't know how to work the damn thing.
I'm never able to keep a temp above 300 for long, though the coals in the
firebox are all nice and ashed over. So I'm at square one (I'm tired for
the wife nagging me to just grill over the fire box, that ain't right!).

I've been skimming the FAQ, though it's hard to find info when your not
clear what your looking for =).

I need to know first how to control the heat in the thing, namely get it
going. How much/what kind of charcoal should I be using and how? How
should I use the stack's vent and the firebox vent (both are adjustable)?

I've also ready about fire bricks in the cooker side, and I think I want to
do this, either with fire bricks or I might be able to get some cermic
stones like the baking stone in an oven. When you need to open it, you
loose alot of the heat - so this sounds like a good idea.

I don't know about fire bricks in the firebox though, one thing I have
notived is if the under side of the bottem rack gets blocked, no heat gets
though. There isn't much room i see to add anything in the box.

Lastly, we grill chicken, burgers, and steak (I figure until I can grill
those I don't need to mess up anything big =p). What heat/times should I be
going for on each?

Thanks,
Mike

Michael C. Neel wrote:
I own a new braunfels smoker that has an offset firebox. It looks
similar to the grill he

http://www.epinions.com/pr-New_Braun...moker_99204800
though I'm not sure that's my exact model - it does have the flat
top
on the firebox though.

After 3 years, I'm ready to admit I don't know how to work the damn
thing. I'm never able to keep a temp above 300 for long, though the
coals in the firebox are all nice and ashed over. So I'm at square
one (I'm tired for the wife nagging me to just grill over the fire
box, that ain't right!).

I hate to say it, but your wife seems to be correct. You're trying to
grill
in a hot smoker. Slow cooking is done at much lower temps which are
easy to maintain in that rig.

I've been skimming the FAQ, though it's hard to find info when your
not clear what your looking for =).

I need to know first how to control the heat in the thing, namely
get
it going. How much/what kind of charcoal should I be using and how?
How should I use the stack's vent and the firebox vent (both are
adjustable)?

I just posted the how-to for this in the last couple of days. Put a
chimney
and a half of cold lump (not briquettes) in the firebox and dump a lit
chimney full on top of that. Leave the chimny damper damper wide open
and crack the firebox draft just about one inch. That's for low and
slow
BBQ. Don't expect to grill with it.


I've also ready about fire bricks in the cooker side, and I think I
want to do this, either with fire bricks or I might be able to get
some cermic stones like the baking stone in an oven. When you need
to open it, you loose alot of the heat - so this sounds like a good
idea.

I don't know about fire bricks in the firebox though, one thing I
have
notived is if the under side of the bottem rack gets blocked, no
heat
gets though. There isn't much room i see to add anything in the
box.

Lastly, we grill chicken, burgers, and steak (I figure until I can
grill those I don't need to mess up anything big =p). What
heat/times should I be going for on each?

Thanks,
Mike

Aha. You have no intention of BBQ'ing anything. You want to grill.
Voila, Build your fire in the cook chamber and grill away. You can
get any temp you want right on up to incinerate. Or do like the wife
says and grill in the firebox if there is enough room. Grilling wants
lots of heat. Take it off when it's done. It's done when it's done and
not before. You try to cook over a fire by the clock and the guys in
white coats are going to come and get you pretty soon. Just make
sure you have enough beer on hand to get the job done.

M&M(When you're over the hill you pick up speed)

"Michael C. Neel" wrote in message After 3 years, I'm
ready to admit I don't know how to work the damn thing.
I'm never able to keep a temp above 300 for long, though the coals in the
firebox are all nice and ashed over.

I own a NB like your's and have no probs what-so-ever. I have a few ideas
that might help.

1. Toss the charcoal. You can use charcoal to get some real wood started,
but don't need more than 10 or 12 chunks. I use oak & mesquite primarily
because that is what is most available in this area for free cutting. I
keep at least one year supply so it is seasoned before I use it.

2. Control your temp in 2 ways.
A. By the amount of wood (fuel) you use.
B. By opening or closing the vent on the firebox.

3. Always leave the chimney vent wide open.

By adding more wood, I can easily get the temp above 500, but seldom need or
want this kind of temp. I almost always cook around 250 and for a long
time for things like pork butt, ribs, brisket, etc. Remember that the
temp you see on the thermometer on the lid is not necessarily the temp of
the meat down lower. The meat is generally about 40 degrees cooler in my
unit because heat rises.

Hope this helps. Bob

"Brick" wrote in message ...

snip the sage advice
Yep, Brick is right. As a fellow NB owner I agree with this advice.
I've done similar cooks with a mix of cold and lit lump with good success.
When, the wind gets kickin' it's tough.

Brick wrote:


Aha. You have no intention of BBQ'ing anything. You want to grill.
Voila, Build your fire in the cook chamber and grill away. You can
get any temp you want right on up to incinerate. Or do like the wife
says and grill in the firebox if there is enough room.

Bingo. As another NB Silver owner, I grill in the firebox when
I want to grill. No problem with heat then. The closest thing
to an exception to this rule is when I do chicken breasts, I
usually cook them in the cook chamber right at the firebox
outlet, which is really still grilling IMHO, though I'll move
the breasts away from the firebox as they get done.

You can grill in the cook chamber, sure. When I do this, which
isn't often, I always thoroughly clean the cooking chamber out
with water and then re-season the bottom of the chamber. This
explains why I don't do it often. You *really* don't want to
leave an ash accumulation in either the firebox or chamber but
especially not the cooking chamber.

Dana

"Dana Myers" wrote in message news:40ae273d$1@wobble...
Bingo. As another NB Silver owner, I grill in the firebox when
I want to grill. No problem with heat then. The closest thing
to an exception to this rule is when I do chicken breasts, I
usually cook them in the cook chamber right at the firebox
outlet, which is really still grilling IMHO, though I'll move
the breasts away from the firebox as they get done.

As per Alton Brown cooking in the chamber to the side of the firebox is not
grilling, it is roasting. This is because you don't have the convection
cooking of being above the heat source. A slight but significant
distinction. He has an excellent discussion of the difefrent methods of
cooking.

Jason in Dallas wrote:

"Dana Myers" wrote in message news:40ae273d$1@wobble...
The closest thing
to an exception to this rule is when I do chicken breasts, I
usually cook them in the cook chamber right at the firebox
outlet, which is really still grilling IMHO, though I'll move
the breasts away from the firebox as they get done.


As per Alton Brown cooking in the chamber to the side of the firebox is not
grilling, it is roasting. This is because you don't have the convection
cooking of being above the heat source.

Interesting distinction. While I generally agree
that grilling means cooking directly above the fire,
I think I *do* have the convection cooking, it's just
further away and slightly sideways. The top is down
on the cooking chamber, so the exhaust from the fire
is certainly coming directly out the firebox opening
before pooling in the cooking chamber and going out
the chimney. The food is in a direct heat path.

The only difference IMHO is that drippings from the chicken
don't fall onto the charcoals and burn, but I normally avoid
that anyway. Cooking *right at* the opening for me performs
much like grilling at a greater distance above the charcoal.

Granted, moving the breasts away from the opening is indeed
roasting because then the chicken is in a cooler pool of
exhaust and not in the hot exhaust stream, but by the time
I do that, it's mostly for keep-warm. The chicken is already
quite grilled-looking and tasting at that point.

Dana

You'll get a lot of advice on this, so here's mine:
I have a Black Diamond, so this is from someone who's got some
experience.
First, it sounds lik eyou're using brickettes; stop that, and use lump
charcoal. It's so much better in so many ways that you'll learn.
It also sounds like you're not really BBQ'ing, but trying to grill.
Grilling in the firebox can be done, but you're better off getting a
charcoal gill for that, IMO. The New Braunfels is for slow BBQ.

Controlling temps in your cooker can be hard; best to not be too
concerned with exact temps; the meat is pretty forgiving.
Always leave the vent stack (the one from the cooking chamber) open
all the way.
The vent on the firebox is used to control temps.
The amount of charcoal in the firebox will determine how long the fire
will last; the vent will control the heat amount; The more you open
that vent, the hotter the fire will be (of course, the more open it
is, the faster the fuel will burn, and the shorter the burn will be;
it's connected).

Good luck!


n Thu, 20 May 2004 21:28:18 -0400, "Michael C. Neel"
wrote:

I own a new braunfels smoker that has an offset firebox. It looks similar
to the grill he
http://www.epinions.com/pr-New_Braun...moker_99204800
though I'm not sure that's my exact model - it does have the flat top on the
firebox though.

After 3 years, I'm ready to admit I don't know how to work the damn thing.
I'm never able to keep a temp above 300 for long, though the coals in the
firebox are all nice and ashed over. So I'm at square one (I'm tired for
the wife nagging me to just grill over the fire box, that ain't right!).

I've been skimming the FAQ, though it's hard to find info when your not
clear what your looking for =).

I need to know first how to control the heat in the thing, namely get it
going. How much/what kind of charcoal should I be using and how? How
should I use the stack's vent and the firebox vent (both are adjustable)?

I've also ready about fire bricks in the cooker side, and I think I want to
do this, either with fire bricks or I might be able to get some cermic
stones like the baking stone in an oven. When you need to open it, you
loose alot of the heat - so this sounds like a good idea.

I don't know about fire bricks in the firebox though, one thing I have
notived is if the under side of the bottem rack gets blocked, no heat gets
though. There isn't much room i see to add anything in the box.

Lastly, we grill chicken, burgers, and steak (I figure until I can grill
those I don't need to mess up anything big =p). What heat/times should I be
going for on each?

Thanks,
Mike


--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"

"Bill Funk" wrote in message
...
You'll get a lot of advice on this, so here's mine:
I have a Black Diamond, so this is from someone who's got some
experience.
First, it sounds lik eyou're using brickettes; stop that, and use lump
charcoal. It's so much better in so many ways that you'll learn.
It also sounds like you're not really BBQ'ing, but trying to grill.
Grilling in the firebox can be done, but you're better off getting a
charcoal gill for that, IMO. The New Braunfels is for slow BBQ.

Controlling temps in your cooker can be hard; best to not be too
concerned with exact temps; the meat is pretty forgiving.
Always leave the vent stack (the one from the cooking chamber) open
all the way.
The vent on the firebox is used to control temps.
The amount of charcoal in the firebox will determine how long the fire
will last; the vent will control the heat amount; The more you open
that vent, the hotter the fire will be (of course, the more open it
is, the faster the fuel will burn, and the shorter the burn will be;
it's connected).

Good luck!


n Thu, 20 May 2004 21:28:18 -0400, "Michael C. Neel"
wrote:

I own a new braunfels smoker that has an offset firebox. It looks similar
to the grill he
http://www.epinions.com/pr-New_Braun...moker_99204800
though I'm not sure that's my exact model - it does have the flat top on
the
firebox though.

After 3 years, I'm ready to admit I don't know how to work the damn thing.
I'm never able to keep a temp above 300 for long, though the coals in the
firebox are all nice and ashed over. So I'm at square one (I'm tired for
the wife nagging me to just grill over the fire box, that ain't right!).

I've been skimming the FAQ, though it's hard to find info when your not
clear what your looking for =).

I need to know first how to control the heat in the thing, namely get it
going. How much/what kind of charcoal should I be using and how? How
should I use the stack's vent and the firebox vent (both are adjustable)?

I've also ready about fire bricks in the cooker side, and I think I want
to
do this, either with fire bricks or I might be able to get some cermic
stones like the baking stone in an oven. When you need to open it, you
loose alot of the heat - so this sounds like a good idea.

I don't know about fire bricks in the firebox though, one thing I have
notived is if the under side of the bottem rack gets blocked, no heat gets
though. There isn't much room i see to add anything in the box.

Lastly, we grill chicken, burgers, and steak (I figure until I can grill
those I don't need to mess up anything big =p). What heat/times should I
be
going for on each?

Thanks,
Mike


--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"

Two additional improvements to this smoker is to extent the vent for the
cooking chamber down to below the grill level. I have mine all the at the
bottom. I had to modify the grate with a angle grinder. The second is a
massive heat shield between the fire box and the cooking chamber. I used a
thick piece of fire brick that I cut with a wet saw to fit at an angle in
the cooking chamber. Some use metal here.

Chef

PS One more mod is a fire basket so you can clean out ash from under it. I
made mine from expanded metal. Gives you better air flow and easier clean
out.

Master Chef Richard Campbell wrote:
PS One more mod is a fire basket so you can clean out ash from under
it. I made mine from expanded metal. Gives you better air flow and
easier clean out.

Would you post a pic of it on ABF please? I'm making do with a flattened
stove shovel. I've imagined something along these lines, it would be helpful
to see a sucessful design.

TIA

Dale
--

"Duwop" wrote in message
...
Master Chef Richard Campbell wrote:
PS One more mod is a fire basket so you can clean out ash from under
it. I made mine from expanded metal. Gives you better air flow and
easier clean out.

Would you post a pic of it on ABF please? I'm making do with a flattened
stove shovel. I've imagined something along these lines, it would be
helpful
to see a sucessful design.

TIA

Dale
--




I will be glad to post pics of my mods but it might be a while do to ankle
injury. I my be able to get the wife to take them though.

chef

Master Chef Richard Campbell wrote:



I will be glad to post pics of my mods but it might be a while do to
ankle injury. I my be able to get the wife to take them though.

chef

Understood, no rush. Our cookers arent going anywhere. Glad you doing
better.



--

On 21-May-2004, (Rob) wrote:

Yep, Brick is right. As a fellow NB owner I agree with this advice.
I've done similar cooks with a mix of cold and lit lump with good success.
When, the wind gets kickin' it's tough.

All bets are off when the weather S%^&'s on you. Wind is the biggy.

M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")

On 21-May-2004, Dana Myers wrote:

Bingo. As another NB Silver owner, I grill in the firebox when
I want to grill. No problem with heat then. The closest thing
to an exception to this rule is when I do chicken breasts, I
usually cook them in the cook chamber right at the firebox
outlet, which is really still grilling IMHO, though I'll move
the breasts away from the firebox as they get done.

You can grill in the cook chamber, sure. When I do this, which
isn't often, I always thoroughly clean the cooking chamber out
with water and then re-season the bottom of the chamber. This
explains why I don't do it often. You *really* don't want to
leave an ash accumulation in either the firebox or chamber but
especially not the cooking chamber.

Good thoughts there Dana. I grill in the cook chamber pretty
often. However, rather then do a clean out per se, I do a pre-
burn. I.e., I build a serious fire in the cook chamber and let it
sort itself out. It does get a little violent sometimes when all
that leftover grease fires up. Draft control holds it in check. I
love my NB Silver. But just like my truck, it can't pass a fuel
station. (8.5 mpg) But my truck will haul two yards of dirt with-
out waddling and my NB has some 450 Sq/in of cooking area.

That ash accumulation is not a problem for me. I acquired
additional cooking grates which I employ sideways, this gaining
some additional two inches of space below the grates for ashes.
--
M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")

snip
On 21-May-2004, Bill Funk wrote:

You'll get a lot of advice on this, so here's mine:
I have a Black Diamond, so this is from someone who's got some
experience.
First, it sounds lik eyou're using brickettes; stop that, and use lump
charcoal. It's so much better in so many ways that you'll learn.
It also sounds like you're not really BBQ'ing, but trying to grill.
Grilling in the firebox can be done, but you're better off getting a
charcoal gill for that, IMO. The New Braunfels is for slow BBQ.

I grill almost as often in my Nb Silver (Baby brother to the NBBD)
as I smoke in it. I find that grilling usually is completed on one
load of fuel, thus the inconvenience of refueling in the NB doesn't
apply. I grill in one side of my cook chamber. You may have to
purchase one or more additional fire grates to facilitate this. I did
just that.

Controlling temps in your cooker can be hard; best to not be too
concerned with exact temps; the meat is pretty forgiving.
Always leave the vent stack (the one from the cooking chamber) open
all the way.
The vent on the firebox is used to control temps.
The amount of charcoal in the firebox will determine how long the fire
will last; the vent will control the heat amount; The more you open
that vent, the hotter the fire will be (of course, the more open it
is, the faster the fuel will burn, and the shorter the burn will be;
it's connected).

Good advice for smoking/BBQ'ing. Not applicable to grilling which
your NB can readily do. If you're grilling, screw the firebox. Build your
fire in the cook chamber and use as much space as you need for the
gang you're planning to cook for. I do this regularly to grill spatchcocked
chickens and to grill veggies. Butts and ribs, I do the offset way, low and
slow. What I'm reading here is that you're trying to grill in the cook
chamber
with the fire in the firebox. Ain't gonna happen. Steaks, chops, chicken,
etc., the way you visualize them are seared and scored with nice grill
marks. If so, do like I said. Your NB can do the job without much fuss
at all. I do it all the time.

M&M(When you're over the hill, you pick up speed)