Brick wrote:
> On 15-Feb-2005, "Dana H. Myers" > wrote:

>>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.

> I haven't added the pie plate yet and I've never achieved a burn on
> 3 chimneys of fuel longer then two hours.

That sounds like the old days for me ;-). I'm much closer to
6 hours than 2 hours with 3 chimney loads. A couple of times
I've done baby-backs, taken them off around 3:30-4 hours, and
noticed I still had cooking heat (225+) after 5:30 or so.

It occurs to me that we ought to be a little more objective
about how big a "chimney load" is. I have a Weber chimney,
http://tinyurl.com/6m4q3, and I wouldn't be surprised if a
heaping chimney-full is close to a gallon.

>>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.
>
>
> Before I turned my fire grate(s) (I bought an extra fire grate to take
> up the extra space created by turning the grate 90°), I had way too
> much trouble controlling the fire. There just wasn't enough airflow
> through the fuel after a short burn time.

Precisely - a little ash would build up below the grate and the
fire would just be cantankerous as hell.

>>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.

> I use about 3 gallons of lump ( I use a 5 gallon bucket to transport
> lump from a 40 lb bag to the pit ) to cook ribs and butts and 5 gallons
> or even more to cook brisket

Well, I'll measure my chimney better this week and report back,
but we might be using similar amounts of fuel if my idea of a
"chimney load" is close to 1 gallon.

Cheers,
Dana