Went to Academy and looked at the pecos and the wrangler. I did my research and read reviews for both. Even though the pecos seemed like it had more space inside, i just didnt want to sacrifice the thickness of the steel so i went with the Wrangler. I am seasoning it tonight. I put one full chimney of charcoal in and added one split of oak on it. the oak is Western Brand mini log from Academy. Ran the exhaust wide open and the SFB vent wide open. The 3 inch dial i got at academy read over 400 degrees. I also ran a accu rite cheap digital until my maverick gets here.
Everything seems good with it. However the SFB side door has a small gap between the SFB and the door. I closed the vent on the SFB all the way and got the temps down. It did not create a big white smoke from putting the fire out. it kept the thin blue smoke. I feel like when i close the vent on the SFB all the way there is enough air coming through the gap on the SFB and the vent door that it feeds the fire just enough.
The temp went to 298 near the firebox and 268 near the exhaust. The top grate got around 255. I can work with these numbers. I am still new to smoking and will probably use 3/4 chimney of charcoal next time instead of the full chimney to get a lower temp. Any suggestions? It is running really hot just for one chimney and one oak mini log. i will post pics when i figure out how.
Everything seems good with it. However the SFB side door has a small gap between the SFB and the door. I closed the vent on the SFB all the way and got the temps down. It did not create a big white smoke from putting the fire out. it kept the thin blue smoke. I feel like when i close the vent on the SFB all the way there is enough air coming through the gap on the SFB and the vent door that it feeds the fire just enough.
The temp went to 298 near the firebox and 268 near the exhaust. The top grate got around 255. I can work with these numbers. I am still new to smoking and will probably use 3/4 chimney of charcoal next time instead of the full chimney to get a lower temp. Any suggestions? It is running really hot just for one chimney and one oak mini log. i will post pics when i figure out how.
