Close the firebox and temp drops

[JordanWilliamson]

Hey, first post during my first cook.

I have a dyna-glo vertical offset smoker, did the recommended mods of a gasket on the doors and silicone on any joint.

Using charcoal briquettes I was having a hard time getting to temperature, was stuck at 150-160. Troubleshooted that with the conclusion that I wantwa giving it enough fuel.

Added a lot more charcoal and a few sticks of oak. Temperature shot up to 200 pretty quick and slowly climbed to 225.

Now to maintain 225 I'm leaving my firebox door open at least 3 inches. When I close it the cooker drops below 200. Saw it go to 190 and opened the door back up. This is with both vents wide open.

I'm assuming keeping this thing between 200-250 is the most important thing but I have a couple questions.

With the door open a lot of smoke is coming out the firebox, I'm assuming this isn't an issue of robbing smoke from the cooker area? If I close the door the chimney funnels better but temp drops.

There is an active flame going the whole time. Is this an issue? I assume not if the temp isn't going above 250?

 

[SmokinAl]

Is the exhaust stack open all the way, cause it sounds like an air flow problem. Do you have a photo of your smoker, specifically the intake vents, and the stack?
Al

 

[JordanWilliamson]

Is the exhaust stack open all the way, cause it sounds like an air flow problem. Do you have a photo of your smoker, specifically the intake vents, and the stack?
Al

Yes, the exhaust is fully open

 

[SmokinAl]

I'm not familiar with your smoker, but it looks to me like you are doing everything right.
So I guess if you have to crack the firebox door open a little to maintain your temp., then that is what I would do.
That's how Aaron Franklin controls his smokers, so it can't be all bad.
The only other thing I can think of is to get a small house fan & blow some air at the intake vents with the firebox door closed.
This may be enough extra air to get your temps up without leaving the firebox door open.
Al

 

[tropics]

Are you going my the gauge on the door?
Richie

 

[weedeater]

If you are going by the gauge on the unit to tell you the temp I bet that is the problem. They are almost never right. What is your temp in the middle of the rack where you cook food. Set a thermometer there that you can verify is correct by boiling water test. Smoker may be hotter than you think!

Weedeater

 

[JordanWilliamson]

I'm going by the gauge in the ford but also had one inside when I just opened it up to wrap. They read pretty much the same right at 225.

The meat came in between 166-174 when I wrapped it. That's just under 3 hours consistent at 225 and maybe another 45 to an hour when I was struggling to get it to 200 after adding the meat.

This is how we're looking all things considered on my first cook. Still leaving the firebox door open a couple inches

 

[JordanWilliamson]

I'll probably look into adding another temp gauge, didn't want to mod too much when I hadn't even cooked in it yet.

Also switched to lump charcoal and now the heat is much more consistent.

 

[JordanWilliamson]

Worked out in the end, thanks for the suggestions guys. Overall, happy with the first result. Nice deep bright pink layer of smoke

 

[weedeater]

Wow man those look great..
Must be doing something right.
Like!

Weedeater

 

[JordanWilliamson]

Wow man those look great..
Must be doing something right.
Like!

Weedeater

Thanks a lot. Went in fully prepared to screw up and order pizza lol. Worked out better than I could have expected for my first cook.

Really wanting to do a brisket but think I'll keep playing with some shorter cooks like rubs and chicken Bennie diving into that.

 

[Smoke23]

Glad it worked out fir you.
Those ribs look like they turned out great!!

 

[dcecil]

Looks like everything worked out because those look awesome. Good Job

 

[daveomak]

If that's a pan with water in it... get rid of the water... If the exhaust has a damper in it, see if you can remove the damper.....
Because of the burnt paint, you don't have enough air flow through the smoker.. Check the opening between the firebox and cook chamber.. see if it is obstructed...

 

[tropics]

You can take the gauge off the door an check it with boiling water
Richie

 

[JordanWilliamson]

If that's a pan with water in it... get rid of the water... If the exhaust has a damper in it, see if you can remove the damper.....
Because of the burnt paint, you don't have enough air flow through the smoker.. Check the opening between the firebox and cook chamber.. see if it is obstructed...

Thanks fit the tips. I added the water pan once I was able to maintain 225.

I'll check out modifying the exhaust. That would definitely help with the air flow

 

[wimpy69]

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/new-dyna-glo-vertical-offset-smoker.183136/page-19.
This along with many other dyna glo owners address design flaws and remedies in this dyna glo thread. For me #1 the biggest is chimney with a 1 7/8"dia. which I felt wasn't large enough on start up to get heat moving out of firebox into CC. #2- Firebox ceiling is above cc inlet causing a (dam/turbulence) on flow instead of a smooth transition. Main complaint is firebox roaring, high fuel consumption, low temps in cc. Dave immediately hit on it buy the overheated firebox. I proved draft problem by using a usb tower fan on exhaust opening/less chimney drawing air out of cc. On start up it helped move cool air out drawing heated air from fb raising cc temps alot faster. Once the cc temps got up there was strong enough air flow to keep the heat moving. My daughter did some calcs and my trade experience I opened up chimney to 3.5" and added two 1" upper air intakes. I run full chimney, full lower intake and single upper intake. My CC temps on start up hit +200* in about 30-40 mins then I start adjusting and likes to run around 235* with chimney baffled down ,lower vents cracked and uppers moving air thru and burning clean tbs if any. Alot of q&a's on dyna glo thread so check it out before jumping into mods.

 

[Scott "Stu" Stewart]

I'm not familiar with your smoker, but it looks to me like you are doing everything right.
So I guess if you have to crack the firebox door open a little to maintain your temp., then that is what I would do.
That's how Aaron Franklin controls his smokers, so it can't be all bad.
The only other thing I can think of is to get a small house fan & blow some air at the intake vents with the firebox door closed.
This may be enough extra air to get your temps up without leaving the firebox door open.
Al

I've actually had to do just that with my DG. I've also used bellows to get the fuel load going enough to continue to burn once the fire door is closed.

I think, I'm still working on this premise, that the DG- vertical offset is pretty much a fair weather friend. If the conditions are good, the cook will be good. If anything effects the variables, i.E. no breeze, rain, cold temperatures, you're going to have to use some critical thinking to get the most out of your smoker. I enjoy the challenge most of the time. Other times, I get hotter under the collar than the darn smoker does.