FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

wrote:

> I've actually come to like the extra heat around the firebox
> opening/cooking chamber. I have a hard time getting my temp at the
> gauge (built in one near the right side) to get over 250. So I use the
> extra heat from the firebox side to help reduce the fat for ribs etc.

I typically will place the meat as far as possible from the firebox,
though the baffle seems to have largely solved the issue of
uneven temperature in the cook chamber.

Before I added the baffle, and tried to manage the temperature by
adding and removing fuel, I had trouble maintaining a decent
cook temperature.

So then I added a baffle, which made the fire a lot more controllable,
and then I started adding more fuel initially, leaving a hole in the
center for a chimney-load of lit fuel. The fuel load burns out
from the center.

> So by doing this mod do you then need even more fuel I assume?

Well, not really. I put about 3 chimney-loads of fuel in the
firebox and run a grate-level temperature of 250-275 for as long
6 hours. That's less total fuel and a lot less messing around than
when I didn't have the baffle in place.

The other thing I did was turn the bottom grates (the grates on
which the fuel sits) 90 degrees so the fuel is held a couple of
inches higher in the firebox. This seems to have improved the
airflow from the damper opening quite a bit, and it probably
the key to being able to get long, controllable 250F+ cook chamber
temperatures.

I don't know what standard you're using to decide whether
your cooker is using too much fuel; I just focused on getting
a healthy, controllable fire and it seems to have increased
the efficiency.

Cheers,
Dana