CHAR-BROIL DOUBLE DOOR SMOKER. Anyone have one?

Bump, maybe someone will help. Not nice to leave A Q unanswered.

temps too high ? or just all-over the place

Don't have your particular smoker but read your other post about the temp problems. Been looking at the pdf for your smoker ............. looks like a real nice rig there.

I'm guessing that you're using too much charcoal. Start off with one chimney of lump and go from there. It is easier to add coals than take them out. On average i'll do 10 lbs of lump in 8 hours, maybe longer depending on weather and what i'm smoking.

I said this in the other post but going to repeat myself ...... always cook with the smokestack wide open otherwise heat has nowhere to escape. Control the heat with the firebox damper.

What thermometers are you using to check the temps with. If they are the stock ones are they accurate. The Chargriller ones are known to be way off.

To get more even temps across the smoker you may ned to add a baffle plate. One other mod people do is to extend the stck to just above grill height. If you're having too much heat that's prob not one you want to do just yet.

Hope this is all useful. Keep at it, once figured out the results are sooooo worth the effort. Even the not so good ones are still generally edible .

Oh yeah, if you haven't done yet, do Jeffs free 5 day course. Is a whole bunch of great info in there to get you going in the right direction. And also there is always everyone on here to help.

when you open the lid, you are: dumping heat, BUT you are adding oxygen= making more heat. Use less charcoal, and regulate heat but closing down the intake baffle a lil at a time. If it gets too hot, just prop open the smoke chamber door a lil with a piece of rooled up foil. Sometimes a 1/2 inch makes a 30 degree difference.

Make a couple dry runs with your smoker next time and get to know it before you put your investment into it. A couple phantom smokes after work some night may cost ya some charcoal, but save you some meat or headaches in the future!

Good advice from Dan.......

As Teeotee said good advice from Dan . . .actually, great advice. I found that when I was doing "phantom" smokes it was a lot less frustrating because you didn't have time pressure or have to worry about ruining some meat. Nothing helps the process like getting to know your smoker. You can also experiment with TBS generation techniques.

And you can always throw on a frozen burrito or corndog if you want a smoked snack.

Dave