Can someone explain to me, exactly, how to use an offset charcoal smoker?

[remsr]

You are right, I am building to big a fire I fill my ring with unlit brackets I put maybe 4 good sized chunks of wood around the edges buried in the unlit brackets and thin get a dozen or so ready in my starter. But I spread them out thinking I can get up to temp faster. Maybe I need to get the idea of faster out of my head when it comes to smoking? I was thinking of putting some lava rock or even crumpled up foil in a small bowl then putting my wood on top of that reproducing the same thing as I did in my gas smoker. What do you think about that? I have read articles that say soaking   the wood does nothing more then drop the temp, but I have done this for years on my gas smoker and had good results. I am open to new ideas though and will try things that others have had good results with. We had a barbeque in our back yard last year which more the 50 people attended. I was told by a family from Texas and a couple from Kansas that my ribs were better then they can find where they lived. I think I have the ribs down pretty good but brisket and butts can be improved. I have smoke brisket that came out so tender, smoky and juicy that it was like slicing jello, and then the next time it was over done, I have a single probe digital thermometer and a Weber double probe as well. I will be using them from now on. I have a Texas recipe for brisket but I am not completely happy with it do you have one that I could try? and what do you think about brining the brisket instead of marinating?  Actually what I understand about braining I can add what ever to the brine and get the flavors to penetrate better. Thank you for the tips, I look forward to your response.        

 

[remsr]

I can not figure out how to use roll call, post threads or post anything about myself and my equipment?????

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

I can not figure out how to use roll call, post threads or post anything about myself and my equipment?????

Try this,

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/how-to-post-a-new-thread

Hope it helps....

 

[smoking boy]

@REMSR
Filling your fire ring with charcoal, is going to make for a mighty hot fire that you'll have to keep chasing. I assume you're seeing big temperature swings. The problem is with a fire this size you have to shut off your vents nearly all the way and then you get a smoldering fire that can cause a creosote build up which is likely leading to that over smoked flavor that was your original complaint.

Try a scant chimney of unlit charcoal. Start another chimney of lit charcoal and when ready drop this in your WSM. Place your wood chunks around but not directly in the fire. Let your WSM come to temperature, I generally shoot for 250-300 degrees or so. Obviously the temps are going to drop when you open her up. Once I'm going I cook between 235-220 degrees, depending on where she wants that day.

Watch your temp profiles, as always I highly recommend the Maverick FT-73, as the temperature at the grill starts to climb, shut one of the vents completely and rely on the remaining two to feed the fire. Generally, but not always I'm running wit two vents closed, using the remaining vent partially closed to throttle the fire.

Again I'm cooking on splits, not chunks and quit smoking at 140 degrees internal meat temperature.

As for a good Brisket recipe go on YouTube and search cooking with Franklin. He's one of the countries great PitMasters and offers a lot of advice about all things BBQ. There are also a world of experts on this forum that offer great advice. As for brining, I've never done it except for a Turkey, which I personally didn't like. I keep my brisket simple. Salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Just a simple rub.

As for the lava rock and foiling your chunks, I'll bet you won't need to do that. You're already having success so keep track of what works and what doesn't.

And don't get in a hurry with the WSM, she'll fight you all the way. Low and slow with plenty of beer. It's a Zen thing.

 

[s24smoove]

i have that same smoker, i modified it a bit, but what i do is, outside of the smoke i burn a thicket of wood/charcoal, when this is ready i shovel it into the firebox. also, start out small, start out w/ some chicken wings, chicken thighs, some store bought sausages, something w/ a small mass, work your way up to ribs, turkey breast, and actually turkey breast is easy, just brine it while u are building your fire, then smoke for 3hours@225 or thereabouts, good luck.y

 

[ahunt]

Hello everyone I am new here. I joined to get help with my charbroiler pro Offset smoker. I was reading through your responses and found some very helpful tips to try. Thank you.

 

[ahunt]

Another thing to be aware of... most of the starter horizontal offsets don't do well in wind, even if the outside temp. is warmish. If it is windy you need a realy good windbreak, or you will get frustrated on trying to controll temps. Start with something simple, like chicken leg quarters - they only need approx 3 hrs. or so to reach an internal temp. of 185°. Check your chamber temps via your thermometers regularly, but don't open the lid if you can help it. If you are peeking, you are not cooking - you can add 10-20 minutes per "peek" to your time if you aren't carefull.

This was me yesterday it got windy after I tried to smoke my ribs and my offset box would not Work well.

 

[ahunt]

your probably want to invest in at least 1 good digital thermometer with probe. 2 is handy, or one unit that can accomadate 2 probes, as your stock thermos probably are not accurate at the cooking grate level. Her is my routine:

1. Fill my charcoal basket with lump charcoal and some wood chunks. (Side firebox side)

2. open exhaust and open intake both all the way. exhause stays open fully through the whole cook.

3. Light chimney of charcoal (i only use a half full chimney)

4. when those are going and hot i dump them in the basket. I try to move some lump away from one side of my charcoal basket to make an open area to dump the hot coals. Then i put a couple chunks on top of the hot coals

5. watch your thermo that you put at grate level (yeah, forgot that step) when it starts getting to around 200 close your intake half way. keep watching temp

6. if still climbing when you hit 220 or so close half way again (1/4 open). You want to then continue to make SMALL adjustments to the intake to reach your desired cooking temp. Depending on what your cooking thats 225-250 usually. Again make small adjustments once you come close to your target temp and allow 10-15 mins for that adjustment to take effect.

Look around there is ALOT of info here.

Oh, and stop in at Roll Call and introduce yourself and tell us about your smoker. It will help with more detailed instructions!

Thank you for this. I will try my offset box again this weekend.

 

[fxsales1959]

I've never smoked a thing in my life. I have always used charcoal grills, though.

So, how exactly do I use this thing? What do I do w/ the chips? Where do I put them? Where do I put charcoal?

I really know nothing about how to smoke meat. I know how to grill on charcoal, and that's it. How do I use this contraption!? :)

Thanks,

-Dan

Welcome to the funny farm Dan,. Like others said, there's a plethora of information and advice here. A little more info on your rig might help. I just sold my old Oklahoma Joe reverse flow highland because I'm too old and impatient to sit in 90 degree weather chucking splits for 10 hours. The first thing I learned was to set the "fuel" basket aside. I bough two cheap small grates and made a "V" with them in the fire box. Makes it easier for the fire to breathe, plus after the charcoal got hot I could add splits from the side by opening the firebox door.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Thank you for this. I will try my offset box again this weekend.

Try giving this thread a look A ahunt

New to offset need advice please.

Totally new to offset smokers really need some advice here please. Yesterday was the first day using my new LSG 20x36 off set. I seasoned the grill and did fire management for 7 hours to learn the smoker and what it liked. I was able to maintain temps 225-250 for over 4 hours no problem using...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

A more recent one. The one you posted in hadn't had any response since 2014 and most of those guys aren't around anymore.

Ryan

 

[ahunt]

Welcome to the funny farm Dan,. Like others said, there's a plethora of information and advice here. A little more info on your rig might help. I just sold my old Oklahoma Joe reverse flow highland because I'm too old and impatient to sit in 90 degree weather chucking splits for 10 hours. The first thing I learned was to set the "fuel" basket aside. I bough two cheap small grates and made a "V" with them in the fire box. Makes it easier for the fire to breathe, plus after the charcoal got hot I could add splits from the side by opening the firebox door.

Thanks for the reply and nice to meet you. I just bought a Char-Griller Competition Pro Offset Charcoal Grill or Wood Smoker. I have never used an offset box before and it is real challenging. From the tips I learned here I am going to try again.

 

[ahunt]

Try giving this thread a look A ahunt

New to offset need advice please.

Totally new to offset smokers really need some advice here please. Yesterday was the first day using my new LSG 20x36 off set. I seasoned the grill and did fire management for 7 hours to learn the smoker and what it liked. I was able to maintain temps 225-250 for over 4 hours no problem using...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

A more recent one. The one you posted in hadn't had any response since 2014 and most of those guys aren't around anymore.

Ryan

Ok and thank you