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Barbecue (alt.food.barbecue) Discuss barbecue and grilling--southern style "low and slow" smoking of ribs, shoulders and briskets, as well as direct heat grilling of everything from burgers to salmon to vegetables. |
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when to add more fuel
I have a Charbroil sidebox smoker/grill and have only grilled with it
I want to try smoking a butt or a couple racks of ribs. I have made some mods to it, lowered smoke stack inlet, added thermometers, I need to build a barrier between the sidebox and grill body yet, I have a basket for putting charcoal in the sidebox When using the grill part, I find using a Weber charcoal starter full of briquettes will last an hour + with good heat, and then begin to die down, so it gives me time to cook baking potatoes and then add burgers, etc and just be able to get them finished cooked together, I can gauge that ok if I will need to add more briquettes if I need a longer cooking time, Now. using the side firebox, I will use briquettes and seasoned oak split to about 3" x12" long or so, Can anyone give me some tips on managing the fire to be able to cook several hours and not have it go out. Do I pull the sidebox door out and recharge it with another load of burned down charcoal, or add some as it goes along, along with the wood Thanks for any tips advise. |
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when to add more fuel
CC wrote:
> I have a Charbroil sidebox smoker/grill and have only grilled with it > I want to try smoking a butt or a couple racks of ribs. > I have made some mods to it, lowered smoke stack inlet, > added thermometers, I need to build a barrier between > the sidebox and grill body yet, I have a basket for putting > charcoal in the sidebox > When using the grill part, I find using a Weber charcoal starter > full of briquettes will last an hour + with good heat, and then begin to > die down, so it gives me time to cook baking potatoes and then add > burgers, etc and just be able to get them finished cooked together, > I can gauge that ok if I will need to add more briquettes if I need a > longer > cooking time, > Now. using the side firebox, I will use briquettes and seasoned oak > split to > about 3" x12" long or so, Can anyone give me some tips on managing the > fire to be able to cook several hours and not have it go out. Do I pull the > sidebox door out and recharge it with another load of burned down charcoal, > or add some as it goes along, along with the wood > Thanks for any tips advise. Use 10 pounds of briquttes, out of that remove enough to fill a starter can 3/4 full. Pile in the remaining unlit briquettes in the fire box, lit the 3/4 full starter can, and when flame are shooting up and most coals, not all are lit, dump on top of unlit briquettes you've already placed into the firebox. See how that works, dampen down the air to as little as possible are completely if you haven't sealed the firebox as it will pull air through the gap in the side door and top door. These cookers are fuel hogs,IMHO. If you practice enough you can get a large bed of coals going and then lay two split logs side by side for better fire. As the logs burn down you add two more, until your done cooking. But these cookers need the shit sealed out of them! piedmont |
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when to add more fuel
"piedmont" > wrote in message ... > CC wrote: >> I have a Charbroil sidebox smoker/grill and have only grilled with it >> I want to try smoking a butt or a couple racks of ribs. >> I have made some mods to it, lowered smoke stack inlet, >> added thermometers, I need to build a barrier between >> the sidebox and grill body yet, I have a basket for putting >> charcoal in the sidebox >> When using the grill part, I find using a Weber charcoal starter >> full of briquettes will last an hour + with good heat, and then begin to >> die down, so it gives me time to cook baking potatoes and then add >> burgers, etc and just be able to get them finished cooked together, >> I can gauge that ok if I will need to add more briquettes if I need a >> longer >> cooking time, >> Now. using the side firebox, I will use briquettes and seasoned oak >> split to >> about 3" x12" long or so, Can anyone give me some tips on managing the >> fire to be able to cook several hours and not have it go out. Do I pull >> the >> sidebox door out and recharge it with another load of burned down >> charcoal, >> or add some as it goes along, along with the wood >> Thanks for any tips advise. > > Use 10 pounds of briquttes, out of that remove enough to fill a starter > can 3/4 full. Pile in the remaining unlit briquettes in the fire box, lit > the 3/4 full starter can, and when flame are shooting up and most coals, > not all are lit, dump on top of unlit briquettes you've already placed > into the firebox. See how that works, dampen down the air to as little as > possible are completely if you haven't sealed the firebox as it will pull > air through the gap in the side door and top door. These cookers are fuel > hogs,IMHO. > > If you practice enough you can get a large bed of coals going and then > lay two split logs side by side for better fire. As the logs burn down > you add two more, until your done cooking. But these cookers need the > shit sealed out of them! > piedmont Is sealing the firebox enough? or the grill lid also? With the draft going from the end of the firebox through the cooker, is it going to pull extra air back to feed the fire through the top lid Do adding baffles between the firebox and the cooking chamber help reduce fuel usage, or is that just to help regulate the heat side to side Thanks for the help CC |
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when to add more fuel
On Jul 7, 10:27*am, "CC" > wrote:
> I have a Charbroil sidebox smoker/grill and have only grilled with it Sounds good. You want to actually smoke something, you'll really want to look at smokers. There are offsets on the market that actually work, but they're not under $1000 or so. Hint: you can't seal-up/control airflow on your cooker, so it's a fancy-looking grill. Dana P.S. Anyone want my old Silver Smoker? Free to whomever hauls it away first. |
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when to add more fuel
On Jul 8, 12:54*am, Dana K6JQ > wrote:
> On Jul 7, 10:27*am, "CC" > wrote: > > Dana > P.S. *Anyone want my old Silver Smoker? *Free to whomever > hauls it away first. Heh, my neighbor gave me his when he moved away, I ended up stealing the grates from it and giving it to a contractor who used it as an outdoor space heater. |
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when to add more fuel
"Nunya Bidnits" > wrote in message ... > In , > CC > typed: >> "piedmont" > wrote in message >> ... >>> CC wrote: >>>> I have a Charbroil sidebox smoker/grill and have only grilled with >>>> it >>>> I want to try smoking a butt or a couple racks of ribs. >>>> I have made some mods to it, lowered smoke stack inlet, >>>> added thermometers, I need to build a barrier between >>>> the sidebox and grill body yet, I have a basket for putting >>>> charcoal in the sidebox >>>> When using the grill part, I find using a Weber charcoal starter >>>> full of briquettes will last an hour + with good heat, and then >>>> begin to die down, so it gives me time to cook baking potatoes and >>>> then add burgers, etc and just be able to get them finished cooked >>>> together, >>>> I can gauge that ok if I will need to add more briquettes if I need >>>> a longer >>>> cooking time, >>>> Now. using the side firebox, I will use briquettes and seasoned oak >>>> split to >>>> about 3" x12" long or so, Can anyone give me some tips on managing >>>> the fire to be able to cook several hours and not have it go out. >>>> Do I pull the >>>> sidebox door out and recharge it with another load of burned down >>>> charcoal, >>>> or add some as it goes along, along with the wood >>>> Thanks for any tips advise. >>> >>> Use 10 pounds of briquttes, out of that remove enough to fill a >>> starter can 3/4 full. Pile in the remaining unlit briquettes in the >>> fire box, lit the 3/4 full starter can, and when flame are shooting >>> up and most coals, not all are lit, dump on top of unlit briquettes >>> you've already placed into the firebox. See how that works, dampen >>> down the air to as little as possible are completely if you haven't >>> sealed the firebox as it will pull air through the gap in the side >>> door and top door. These cookers are fuel hogs,IMHO. >>> >>> If you practice enough you can get a large bed of coals going and >>> then lay two split logs side by side for better fire. As the logs >>> burn down you add two more, until your done cooking. But these >>> cookers need the shit sealed out of them! >>> piedmont >> >> Is sealing the firebox enough? or the grill lid also? >> With the draft going from the end of the firebox through the cooker, >> is it going to pull extra air back to feed the fire through the top >> lid Do adding baffles between the firebox and the cooking chamber help >> reduce fuel usage, or is that just to help regulate the heat side to >> side Thanks for the help >> CC > > The draft depends in part on a good hot cookchamber and stack... once the > stack heats up it facilitates airflow. I've seen people put those little > battery operated fans on the stacks to get things flowing. > > It ocurred to me reading your post that one drawback of extending the > stack > downwards inside the smoker, which I have done in the past, might be to > make > this draw through the stack more difficult, if the extension is *too* > low. > If I understand your question you were concerned about reverse air flow, > or > maybe just lack of air flow from the firebox to the cook chamber, and > recalling my experience with extending the stack there was a happy > medium. > Since I just used rolled up flashing stuff in the stack it was easy to > adjust. If there's a vent control at the top of the stack you want to > make > sure it's fully open while the draft control on the firebox is as close > to > fully closed as you can get it while still maintaining temp. However when > you first start up the offset try to get it up to temp, meaning the > entire > body of the cooker hot, not just the thermometer inside, and get the > draft > flowing the way you want it before you actually put in the food. > > MartyB in KC > I've put charcoal in the firebox and hickory chunks then cooked/ smoked chicken in the grill body, The temperature stayed in the 300 to 350 degree range and it was like cooking over indirect heat. The unit drew good as the smoke all went out the stack and very little out around any of the doors. So I think my location of the pickup is at a good point. It drew as well anywhere I opened the vent. The damper in the stack was full open. I think it took about 1 3/4 hrs. to cook 2 large chicken breasts. But not knowing much at all about it then and wife getting hungry with it taking so long, The temperature would not get to 400, so I thought I was doing something wrong, but no, in looking at it, If I'd have lowered the temperature a little more and allowed more time, I would have had it smoked instead of indirectly grilled. LOL She did love the taste of it though she waited a lot longer than she wanted. sometimes what you are looking for is staring at you and you miss it. Thanks for the thoughts on the vent location Marty CC |
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when to add more fuel
CC wrote:
> PROPERLY SNIPPED (AS I WISH MORE FOLKS HERE WOULD DO) > > Is sealing the firebox enough? or the grill lid also? > With the draft going from the end of the firebox through the cooker, > is it going to pull extra air back to feed the fire through the top lid > Do adding baffles between the firebox and the cooking chamber help > reduce fuel usage, or is that just to help regulate the heat side to side > Thanks for the help > CC The better it is sealed the better control you will have over temperature fluctuation but more so,the better sealed, the less fuel you'll use, IMHO. Offset cookers ideally are designed for a coal base, (either briquette coals or wood coals)plus split fire wood on top. IMHO But for beginners and temperature control, it is easier to just use coals. If you do go to a coal/wood heat source, I don't recommend dropping the chimney. Why? Because when you burn wood you have lots of tiny ash and creosote and you want that to stay high up in the top of the cooker body as it escapes out the chimney and not saturating the meat. You want good flow through when cooking with wood fire. Baffle set at the hole between fire box and cooking chamber will help even the cooking chamber temperature out so that you don't have to rotate and turn meat near the hole, and that is a good thing. In this type of cooker you keep the meat out of line of sight with the fire and or coals which is direct infrared cooking the meat near the hole, you want convection through out entire cooking chamber. piedmont |
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when to add more fuel
"Nunya Bidnits" > wrote:
> [ . . . ] > The draft depends in part on a good hot cookchamber and stack... once the > stack heats up it facilitates airflow. I've seen people put those little > battery operated fans on the stacks to get things flowing. The fans don't melt or get smoke clogged? > It ocurred to me reading your post that one drawback of extending the > stack downwards inside the smoker, which I have done in the past, might > be to make this draw through the stack more difficult, if the extension > is *too* low. [ . . . ] The higher the top of the stack (chimney) compared to the air inlet in the firebox, the greater the draft. -- Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ Thank a Veteran! Support Our Troops: http://anymarine.com/ You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~ USMC 1365061 |
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when to add more fuel
"piedmont" > wrote in message ... > CC wrote: >> PROPERLY SNIPPED (AS I WISH MORE FOLKS HERE WOULD DO) >> >> Is sealing the firebox enough? or the grill lid also? > > The better it is sealed the better control you will have over temperature > fluctuation but more so,the better sealed, the less fuel you'll use, > IMHO. > > Offset cookers ideally are designed for a coal base, (either briquette > coals or wood coals)plus split fire wood on top. IMHO > > But for beginners and temperature control, it is easier to just use > coals. > > If you do go to a coal/wood heat source, I don't recommend dropping the > chimney. Why? Because when you burn wood you have lots of tiny ash and > creosote and you want that to stay high up in the top of the cooker body > as it escapes out the chimney and not saturating the meat. You want good > flow through when cooking with wood fire. > > Baffle set at the hole between fire box and cooking chamber will help > even the cooking chamber temperature out so that you don't have to rotate > and turn meat near the hole, and that is a good thing. In this type of > cooker you keep the meat out of line of sight with the fire and or coals > which is direct infrared cooking the meat near the hole, you want > convection through out entire cooking chamber. > piedmont Lots of good information and things to watch out for. My chimney pick-up was lowered with gas range vent and will be easy to adjust, thanks for the help CC |
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