The Minion Method Explained w/ Tutorial

[neumsky1]

You know this minion method came way before minion claimed it. Ask any kamado style cooker owner how they start their cooker. Put the charcoal in there...throw a fire starter in there with vents wide open. When it gets to temp...put the vents where you need it for the desired temp.:yahoo:

 

[neumsky1]

What do you guys do if you are doing a really long smoke I have a 10lb pork shoulder that I am anticipating taking 15 hours. Let's say I get really good lump charcoal and do everything perfect and get ideal temps for 10 hours, how should I go about getting the other few hours I need? Just light chimneys as needed?

Throw unlit lump on top...leave door open till lit...close door.

 

[wxmanmac]

Very well explained and seeing pictures helps me a lot as I was having difficulty visualizing it. I noticed regular charcoal left lots of ash also and hesitant in using lump coal but after reading several posts I will need to give it a try this weekend. One question when you mention charcoal in the firebox towards the end of the article, are you talking about lump or regular charcoal? I am thinking lump because of ash content. :grilling_smilie:

 

[neumsky1]

Lump leaves the least amount of ash.

 

[jburn244]

Does anyone have problems with draft when using the Minion Method in an offset cooker? Using KBB, when I close the damper way down to keep the burn slow, I end up with a hot spot on the stack side. I found the sweet spot on the damper that gets me even temps side to side, but then I get too much air because basket then burns up within 2-3 hours unless I'm using a LOT of charcoal. I was only able to get about 2.5-3 hours of temp using about 10 pounds of charcoal. I may just need to adjust my tuning plates to create the most even temps I can get with the damper closed down. Although even then you still have a bit of a draft problem.

After owning a WSM and getting 12 hours+ burns easy with KBB, I was beginning to think KBB was king of the Minion Method. I'm intrigued now to try it with lump. I'm shocked to hear of an 8 hour burn with lump in an offset. 

The design of offset cookers doesn't really lend itself to the Minion Method like a vertical or WSM type does...much less efficient in general and with a little bit bigger/thicker cooker like mine you need more heat to start to get the cooker loaded with heat in under an hour (unless your stick burning).