First time using my offset and fuel consumption questions

Hello.  Welcome.  I see this is your first post.  Please take some time and swing over to Roll Call and introduce yourself so that we may give you a proper "Hello".  All info you can provide us with such as smoker type, location and so on will help us answer any questions you may have, and pictures help a bunch.  As for your question: 

I do not have one now but I used an offset for MANY years.  Some I built from 1/4" pipe and a couple cheap Chargill.  I did not even bother to seal the Chargrills.  I have RARELY used more than a 5 lb. bag on a 12 hour smoke.  I used lump wood charcoal and never used briquettes but the process is the same.  You may have an air flow problem but from reading your post I think you are using the smoker in the wrong way.  You mentioned adding fuel to the smoker.  Lighting a chimney and when the coals were white adding the to the fire.  That is the correct way to GRILL.  In a smoker what you want to do is light a chimney, get it white hot and then add unlit charcoal on top.  You then use air flow to control how fast the unlit charcoal ignites.  That way you control temp.  If the temp starts to drop open the vent and more charcoal will ignite, raising the temp..

Also don't get too stuck on 225f..  225 is the "ultimate" but not totally necessary.  I actually let mine float between 225-300 without worry.  I do try not to go above 300 for a long period or below 225 for a long period (30-45 minutes ).  Have fun.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

In my offset, I start with about 2/3 basket of Royal Oak lump and start it with about 2/3 chimney of Royal Oak briqs. When the lump is fully involved, I add a couple of splits. The lump gives a much better bed of coals than briqs and doesn't leave nearly as much ash. When the CC gets to cooking temp, I add another split and my flavor chunks and put my meat in. My smoker likes to run at 260-275*. When it gets down to around 250*, I add a couple of pre-heated splits, always keeping a good bed of coals. The coal bed is the trick to good heat retention. Pre-heating splits allows them to ignite very quickly and helps to keep the heat up faster.

I hope this helps you with your heat and fuel management. It works good for me. Joe :grilling_smilie: