Hi All! Quick question...I've been cooking on my homebuilt offset (120 gallon air compressor tank) for a year now and I'm curious about other folks' experiences. My splits are usually 4 inches long and 1 to 2 inches thick...and I'm adding one around every 20 minutes or so. I always leave the stack wide open...and once I get up to temp I pretty much never touch the intake vents (usually set at 5/8") Once I see the grate temps (digital therms on the left and right side) drop to around 230, I add one or two splits (log cabin style)...the temp will usually climb up to around 270....and then ever so slowly drop back down. Once I see around 230...in go the next two warmed splits. Two things...A...I know to not try and chase digital therms since they're so accurate and fast. B...the end results let you know how your doing and I've been very pleased with what has come out of this beast.
I'm just curious if there is a better method of fire management that I can or should consider. One reason is coal bed management. In my last long smoke (12 pork shoulders) I had to fire a chimney of charcoal briquettes and basically rebuild the fire. It seems like my fire isn't creating enough of it's own coal bed to replenish itself. I don't think this is that big of a deal...but curious if that's normal for others.
Thanks!
Kevin
I'm just curious if there is a better method of fire management that I can or should consider. One reason is coal bed management. In my last long smoke (12 pork shoulders) I had to fire a chimney of charcoal briquettes and basically rebuild the fire. It seems like my fire isn't creating enough of it's own coal bed to replenish itself. I don't think this is that big of a deal...but curious if that's normal for others.
Thanks!
Kevin