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Coal Set up In offset smoker

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T

Tbuff

Fire Starter
Original poster
Sep 6, 2018
40
22
Augusta, GA
I have an OJ Longhorn 3-1 grill/smoker.

My biggest problem so far is keeping the temp steady. I used permetex copper to seal all the seams and the doors and that helped a ton.

while doing more research, and after watching a youtube video, I have a feeling I've been doing the charcoal all wrong.

I light a chimney full, dump it in the fire box to get it going, wait until the temp drops down, cook, then add more as needed.

I watched a video and saw a guy dump a ton of coal into a box, put a fire starter on top, then go from there.

I read on the different techniques from laying a ling of charcoal and lighting on end, dumping it all in a pile and lighting and letting in burn from top down.

Any recommendations on what you guys like, and why? I'm thinking this is probably why I've had the biggest problem keeping a consistent temp.

Also, is there any way to calibrate the thermometers on these grills?

I'll drop a thermometer in the smoke stack, and sometimes the grill thermometer will be 10 degrees higher than my digital, and other times it will be 30 degrees higher. There is no real consistency to it.


Thanks for the help. I tried searching, but unfortunately doing a search for "charcoal, offset, temperature" basically brings up every thread ever made. haha
 
If it's summer I light one chimney and wait about 25 mins and then pour it in the firebox. If it's winter, I light up two chimney's worth. Once I dump it in, I put a smoke split on and wait for the joe to get to temp then put on meat. I usually put one split/log on every 40-45 mins. If I find that I'm losing temp faster than normal, I will put two splits on.

I've noticed that my last batch of mesquite are full logs and they don't burn as quick compared to actual split wood so I think I will split them before putting them on.

I also put the next log or two on top of the firebox to warm it up. It seems to light up faster when doing that.

How do you keep all your openings when you are running it? I keep my firebox side door completely open and the damper on the other end all the way open. If my temp get's real high, I will adjust my damper but I normally don't need to.

My other question is why do you wait for the temp to go down when you pour the charcoal in? To me it seems that you are waiting too long b/c once the temp starts dropping, you are on the other end of the charcoal life.
 
I keep the firebox side closed pretty far, but not all the way. The way I've been doing it is lighting another chimney of charcoal to add in to the firebox once the temp gets to the low end of my desired temp, but then that makes the temp spike, and I'm adding new charcoal every hour and a half, vs what I seem to be seeing online is only needing to do it every few hours.
 
Okay now I see. So you are adding charcoal each time instead of wood. I think most people only use coal to start things off and then throws wood on to keep it going. For one, there is going to be a dip in time between the new coals lighting up and putting off heat and the other is it would take a lot of cooks to get the amount down.

With adding a split, you have more control. Once you learn your smoker, you will know how many splits to put on but I can't really see you adding more than two at a time unless it's really cold.
 
that is very cool, but I don't have the material or skill to build something like that at the moment.
 
I don't have one of those boxes yet for the charcoal, so I built a pyramid and lit the top couple coals. Kept the smoke box vent mostly closed and temp got up to 300. Finally got down to 275 but took an hour.

Maybe I put too much coal in to begin with?
 
The thermometer that comes with the smoker is junk. You can replace it, or ignore it and get a decent set of probes for a few bucks more than a good thermometer.

Also, cheap offset smokers tend to run poorly on charcoal. Charcoal produces less heat than wood and the offset firebox loses quite a bit of heat, so you're going to burn through more charcoal and need to tend it fairly frequently. Offset smokers are really meant for stick burning unless you have an insulated firebox.
 
JWFokker said:
The thermometer that comes with the smoker is junk. You can replace it, or ignore it and get a decent set of probes for a few bucks more than a good thermometer.

Also, cheap offset smokers tend to run poorly on charcoal. Charcoal produces less heat than wood and the offset firebox loses quite a bit of heat, so you're going to burn through more charcoal and need to tend it fairly frequently. Offset smokers are really meant for stick burning unless you have an insulated firebox.
Click to expand...


I haven't had any issues with not getting enough heat. This last go around, if anything, it stayed too hot for the first hour and a half.

I was able to keep the temp more steady this lat time, but I was adding unlit coals about every 1.5 - 2 hours to stay ahead of it.

How often do you add coals to your smoker?
 
Sounds like you need to choke down airflow to keep your temps low and steady. That's how you get longer burns. Also light from the firebox side, away from the intake. Should be able to get 4 hours out of a smoker like yours with a load of charcoal, but keep in mind that offset smokers are better at stick burning and running charcoal is not going to be economical.

Another factor is that it has a fairly small cook chamber so you're going to have a hotspot. A baffle over the firebox opening is a good idea.
 
Last edited:
JWFokker said:
Sounds like you need to choke down airflow to keep your temps low and steady. That's how you get longer burns. Also light from the firebox side, away from the intake. Should be able to get 4 hours out of a smoker like yours with a load of charcoal, but keep in mind that offset smokers are better at stick burning and running charcoal is not going to be economical.

Another factor is that it has a fairly small cook chamber so you're going to have a hotspot. A baffle over the firebox opening is a good idea.
Click to expand...


could you elaborate on the baffle over the firebox opening?
 
Don't have a OJ.
Next step down with a Brinkmann. I have struggled with this unit.
Welded a fuel basket which changed the fuel add from every 30 minutes to 2 hours.
I check and when the coal is not burned out but still good, I toss a load of unlit briquettes on top and give it a quick stir with my poker to knock down the ash.

Next mod will be a diverter plate in the main chamber and heat shields in the side box.
Luckily for me, I get these mods for free less my time to fabricate.

Thermometers that come with these units are actually pretty good but located in the wrong place.
They should be around 6 inches above the grate not in the top of the chamber.
 
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