Adjust Air Flow or coal bed?

[ov10fac]

As a newbie I have watched a lot of videos about temp control and other things "smoking". When it comes to temp control, there seems to be two schools of thought, run with dampers wide open, or use dampers to control temp. So what is the consensus here. Should the temp be controlled just with wood, or with the dampers. Several have told me to let the smoker run where it wants to run, but that may be too hot to get a good smoke, so should I experiments with dampers open and adjust coal bed to get temp then use damper for fine adjustment or what. To me temp control is the most confusing part of this whole adventure. But I will say this, the result is really worth the effort so far.

 

[gmc2003]

What type of smoker are we talking about here, and what are you looking to smoke?

Chris

 

[SmokinEdge]

Coal bed first, then intake vent. Never close or squeeze down the exhaust. Really you want the right sized coal bed then just enough intake to maintain the desired temp.

 

[DougE]

Coal bed first, then intake vent. Never close or squeeze down the exhaust. Really you want the right sized coal bed then just enough intake to maintain the desired temp.

Yep, control the temp with the coal bed and intake vents. The stack vent should always remain fully open.

Several have told me to let the smoker run where it wants to run, but that may be too hot to get a good smoke,

Anything from 225° to 300° is fine and you will get a good smoke. That 225° thing wasn't even a thing back when BBQ was born, but it seems to have become some sort of rule that is often repeated. I rarely smoke anything below 275° aside from bacon and sausages.

I will run below 200° for an hour or two on the pellet grill to get maximum smoke, but then crank it up to near 300° for the rest of the cook.

 

[ov10fac]

A Brinkman Offset. Not the highest quality and lots of leaks, but for the time being it will have to do. I found a used Oklahoma Joe on Market Place that will need a lot of cleaning before its ready to smoke. Also in the same purchase comes a "Smoke Hollow" wood smoker that I want to modify for a cold smoker and maybe use a "mailbox mod".

 

[TNJAKE]

A Brinkman Offset. Not the highest quality and lots of leaks, but for the time being it will have to do. I found a used Oklahoma Joe on Market Place that will need a lot of cleaning before its ready to smoke. Also in the same purchase comes a "Smoke Hollow" wood smoker that I want to modify for a cold smoker and maybe use a "mailbox mod".

A lot of us including myself started out on a similar smoker as you. Mine was a char griller offset but same as yours basically. It’s going to use a lot of fuel compared to the 1000lb 3/8in steel smoker I have now. On yours, keep that top vent open 100% all the time, start a bed in firebox with a chimney of charcoal. Add very skinny wood splits or chunks. Leave the firebox door open until they catch fire then close. Keep the butterfly open. Those pits don’t have adequate airflow, if wood smolders crack the firebox lid open some and leave it. Do that and don’t chase temps. On those smokers it’s either too hot or too cold. You will kill yourself trying the low and slow game. Let it run around 300 doing what I suggest and you will have fun with that smoker

 

[TNJAKE]

Also read your post again and saw you were worried about too hot giving you less smoke. In an offset that’s untrue and not something you should worry about. When I smoke meat between 275-300 the smoke coming from my stack is basically non existent. That’s because I’m burning a clean fire just like I suggested to you. Make sure the wood itself is lit and stays lit and then temps don’t matter much you will get a nice smoke!

 

[TNJAKE]

Couple Butts

Evening fellas and non fellas. Got up this morning round 3. Rubbed up a couple 8lb butts with killer hogs. Left them on the counter while I got the stickburner up to 250. We had freezing rain last night so took about an hour. Used hickory and cherry wood Butts on the smoker Sun finally came up...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[TNJAKE]

You don’t want a fire as big as the one in my thread but you definitely want your wood on fire constantly

 

[ov10fac]

Thank you all. I really appreciate everyone's help on temp control. It really helps me and I look forward to my next smoke