So I have done a decent amount of smoking on my Brinkman smoker over the last few months. I have experimented with different charcoal briquette amounts and have determined that I can get about 4-5 hours of solid cooking at 225-250 before I start to quickly lose heat. From what I have gathered, this is due to the vents clogging with ash. I am planning on smoking a pork shoulder on Sunday (5-8 pounds) so this could be a problem. It will be non-modified, so I am wondering how I should handle. I have been adding fresh charcoal once the heat drops to about 200, but this only gets me about an hour of heat and I can't ever get steady heat back and have to babysit the rest of the time. I end up using an entire bag of charcoal for a brisket, etc. Here are my questions:
1. Once I begin to drop heat about about the 4-5 hour mark, should I dump all of the charcoal into my charcoal grill and replace with fresh burning charcoal?
2. Should I explore a new type of charcoal? I have read about another kind that is more chunky.
Any suggestions, ideas, etc. are greatly appreciated! Thanks.
1. Once I begin to drop heat about about the 4-5 hour mark, should I dump all of the charcoal into my charcoal grill and replace with fresh burning charcoal?
2. Should I explore a new type of charcoal? I have read about another kind that is more chunky.
Any suggestions, ideas, etc. are greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Last edited:
