Uh, am I the only one that's getting confused? Maybe it's just my meds. Got some new ones to play with the old ones....
The following is given:
1. There is the Lump only and forever camp
2. There is the Briquette only and forever camp
3. There is those of us who are trying to wade through all the propaganda and favoritism to find a happy medium.
I think I've just gotten a successful run of a modified minion method (ring around the outside)(Stubbs hardwood Briquettes) with a fair temp hold (about 245, top grid, 215, bottom grid, 205, above charcoal grate), although certainly not any 10 hours like some I hear about on this site, but still 6 is a good start. Remember, this isn't a
WSM but a Smoke EZ on a Weber 22.5 OTG. I've got lump available (I don't know why but some people, SWMBO for one, call me a hoarder
) so my next training run will be with lump exclusive and subsequent runs will probably be mixed. Hey, I'm expanding my horizons, what can I say? When you're newly retired, you get to do things like this.........Gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it?
So, where were we? Oh yeah, adding additional fuel. If I prefire the briq or lump, aren't I going to get a temp jump? (sorry for the poor english, I hear Mary Bond Lash (High School English Comp, centuries ago) coming after me right now with ruler) Or is this just a temporary thing that will even out in the long run, over the hours of the smoke, averaging in the temp drop you'll experience while adding the fuel to the chamber?
See my quandry? So far I figure I'm good for the 6 hours (knock on wood) but if I'm looking at, oh let's say, a briskie........ in a stall...... now that might be the time to add the additional fuel, right?
Or...........