wood starter

[mike g]

I am having trouble keeping my fire going have used just hickory chucks and a mix of charcoal and wood together. Seems that the fire stops after an hour or so was wondering if anyone has used the dura flame starter logs to help with the heat. I have a off set gourmet smoker. I am trying not to go through a bag a chunks just to smoke a piece of meat,

 

[ozark rt]

Mike I have been using the "Minion Method" of burning charcoal for some time now and have yet to have any issues. There are probably a few posts on here describing this but I am going to post a link below that shows some decent pics as it describes the Minion method. The main differences between what this guy does and what I do is I use a charcoal basket that measures 12"X12'X12" and I use lump charcoal. This one basket full alone usually lasts me around 4 to 5 hours. As for feeding the chunks of wood for creating smoke (hickory, mesquite, apple, etc) I will take 3 fist size chunks, wrap them in HD aluminum foil, poke a few holes, then lay on top of the coals.
Here is the link
http://http://www.bugeater.net/hobbies/minion.asp

Hope this helps ya.