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maintaining fire box temps

by Rik
(Concord, Ca)

Recently i purchased a old smoker from a friends uncle, as i have been learning the wonderful world of smoking i have discovered a issue that seems to hinder some of the cooking. mostly it has to do with maintaining the amount of heat from the fire box. When i first light it the temp soars to over 300 degrees so i cut back the air and the vent , with in a short amount of time it is all i can do to keep the heat at 200 degrees. it appears that the air for the fire box becomes restricted due to the ash build up. i am not sure whether to convert it to electric or drill holes for more air. the smoker is a three stage design, vertical fire box attached to vertical cooking area connected to a horizontal smoke chamber

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maintaining fire box temps

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starstarstarstarstar 		Type of fuel
by: Anonymous

I started using oak, then charcoal, then with the charcoal I used wood chips, I get the flavor but just not enough heat.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		contolling the fire on the smoker
by: Anonymous



RIK,

Weber has a cookbook on how to use a water smoker, or the chimney style that you have.
It's full of good info and Ideas on smoking...SteveO
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starstarstarstarstar 		Propane?
by: Anonymous

A South Carolinian using anything but hickory logs for fuel? That's sacrilege.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Cut loose with a few bucks, you tightwad
by: The Great Modeenee

Rik,

Sounds to me like you need to quit blowing all your cash on SeaDoos and cut loose with a few bucks. A propane burner in the puppy will give you the heat control you need while still maintaining the flavor, smoke and experience essential to a good smoking experience.

Yawl come out hea' to South Carolina. We'll show you how to do it.

Regards & Good luck!

Modeenee
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Fuel?
by: Anonymous

You didn't mention what you're using for fuel. Different fuels have different burning characteristics, but essentially you can expect a spike at start-up. Temperatures can be raised or lowered in a lot of different ways. Are you using a water pan? If so, you can start with hot water to help keep temps from dipping, or add ice to cool it off. Adding more fuel (a bigger fire will obviously burn hotter) and experimenting with adjusting the dampers. Not soaking your smoking wood will give you a hotter fire, but you'll use more fuel and generate less smoke. But the FIRST thing I would do is ask the guy you bought it from what he did. The last thing I would do is electrify it.

Good luck. Sounds like a nice rig.

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