Coal Bed Getting Too Large

[Its_Raw]

I thought I read somewhere in one of the threads about the negative effects of the coal bed getting too large, but I do not recall what the negative effects were. I smoked some ribs over last weekend and the coal bed grew quite a bit. I was able to keep the temperature within a reasonable range, but the fire struggled at times to keep going. I used thinner splits that would burn a bit faster, but I have never had much luck with shorter, fatter splits.

What say you?

Thank you!

 

[mike243]

As the ashes build up it smothers the fire, thats 1 of the reasons bins are made to let the ash drop away from the wood that’s burning

 

[Its_Raw]

Any suggestion on removing excess ash with any without the use of an elevated grate?

 

[Smokin Okie]

I don't put the splits down on the ash. I find a way to prop up one end. UNLESS .... I want to cool down the fire, then I will push the split(s) down in the ash.

I also create a " channel " down the middle of the coal bed. I pull back the coals and ash to both sides, then lay splits across the channel, so air can get under the split(s) .

I also move the coals around. I can push some to the back , or bring some to the front, or pile them up so when I put a split on, air can get under parts of the split.

 

[Chasdev]

Here's my take..coals produce mostly heat with lesser smoke flavoring aspects compared to burning wood.
Burning wood (flames) produce a lower level of heat than the coals but the smoke produced flavors the meat more.
Dry wood, say 14% moisture level, burns more completly which produces fewer coals but with lots of sweet smoke.
Wood with higher moisture content burns slower and leaves a larger and hotter coal bed.
The issue I encounter is that in an effort to get more smoke flavor I end up with a large and too hot coal bed which needs to be manipulated or reduced before I can add more wood to get the smoke I want.
So to me the issue comes down to wood moisture content, at least in a hard to drive cheap offset smoker.

 

[Texascat]

It's been a while since I had an offset but I used to keep a coal bucket and coal shovel on hand. Sometimes it would be necessary to remove some of the coals to prevent buildup and maintain a lower temperature.

Probably not the safest thing to do but it worked for me.

 

[Chasdev]

That’s exactly what’s needed, or at least what I’m going to do in future.

 

[Its_Raw]

Going to start a rather larger brisket a bit later. Will see about removing some ashes if necessary and moving the colas around as Okie suggested. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I've found the coal bed usually kind of regulates itself, but maybe that's my smoker. If you did have too many taking some out is the way to go. I've seen the Bar-A BBQ guy talk about having too big of a coal bed on some of his Youtube videos. That's probably the only place I've really seen that. More common for me is probably not having enough of a coal bed. I usually start my pit with some lump charcoal to jump start my coal bed. It's just easier to get started cooking much faster than building a large fire, and waiting for it to break down into coals.

 

[JckDanls 07]

So your building the fire right on the floor of the firebox ?? No grate at all ??

 

[Smokin Okie]

I've found the coal bed usually kind of regulates itself, but maybe that's my smoker. If you did have too many taking some out is the way to go. I've seen the Bar-A BBQ guy talk about having too big of a coal bed on some of his Youtube videos. That's probably the only place I've really seen that. More common for me is probably not having enough of a coal bed. I usually start my pit with some lump charcoal to jump start my coal bed. It's just easier to get started cooking much faster than building a large fire, and waiting for it to break down into coals.

Well, too large a coal bed has never been a problem for me either,

 

[Redicans]

I've found the coal bed usually kind of regulates itself, but maybe that's my smoker. If you did have too many taking some out is the way to go. I've seen the Bar-A BBQ guy talk about having too big of a coal bed on some of his Youtube videos. That's probably the only place I've really seen that. More common for me is probably not having enough of a coal bed. I usually start my pit with some lump charcoal to jump start my coal bed. It's just easier to get started cooking much faster than building a large fire, and waiting for it to break down into coals.

Same here for my smoker. I always start with a chimney of lump to get things going.

 

[forktender]

Any suggestion on removing excess ash with any without the use of an elevated grate?

Use a shovel and scoop some out, if need be. Personally, I would just shut the fire box damper down until the coals cool down a bit.

 

[Chasdev]

So your building the fire right on the floor of the firebox ?? No grate at all ??

That's how Franklin rolls too.

 

[Smokin Okie]

When I had a Brazos, here's how I had my firebox set up.

I was told on another forum, that the LSG fire basket was only meant for firebox with a flat bottom, but I used it to control the coal bed and also make up for the short length of the Brazos firebox. By keeping it near the door and away from the cook chamber it effectively made the firebox longer.

I still have the LSG basket, but don't use it in the Franklin. Haven't found the need.

 

[Its_Raw]

Smokin Okie - thank you for the tip on being more aggressive with pushing around the coal/ash pile. I smoked a brisket for 12-hours day before yesterday and realized the problem I was having was not the coal bed growing too large, it was how is was arranging the coals. I was raking the coals into more of a pile thinking it was somehow the best practice. However, I believed it caused the coals to not burn well and the temperature to drop. As a result, I would add more wood and more wood created a larger pile of inefficiently burning coals. This time, I kept the coal bed spread out more along the bottom of the firebox and didn't get to crazy with moving it other and to stir it around once in a while. That allowed the coals to burn well and reduce to ash without piling up as much.

Since the wood I buy is cut anywhere from 12" - 16" inches long, it spans the width of the firebox and usually starts burning with plenty of space for air to feed underneath it and above the coals. And to answer the above question, I tried to use the grate that came with the smoker once... What I did not like about it was it did not seem to make things any easier. It actually made things more difficult for me. I had to lean over to see what was going on with the fire and not as much ash made it to the bottom of the chamber as I thought. So, I haven't used it since.