Defying Physics To Smoke ???

[John3212]

Hi All, Can someone please explain to me how a pile of red hot coals is supposed to somehow be kept at 250 degrees? I bought a Dyna Glo upright , compact smoker for my first my venture into the smoking world. I was trying to smoke a whole balogna Chub for a party because I thought this would be an easy first thing to smoke. Even with all dampers closed, the internal temp was staying around 400 degrees. It started out up around 500 and I waited almost two hours for the temp to come down to 300....... you know , because coals are insanely hot. By the time it came down to 250, the coals were gone. Any help ? Thanks, J.

 

[TNJAKE]

Post a pic of your smoker because alot of us aren't familiar with that one. Also send pics of intake and exhaust. I'm sure we can help you dial it in. My initial advice is to start with less coals

 

[JckDanls 07]

Sounds like you started with to many lit coals and let them get to hot...
Need to know more specifics about your fire from start to finish ...

I've not used your style of smoker but I imagine it's not much different than other charcoal smokers...

 

[pineywoods]

As was said post up a couple pics of your smoker. It can be done but you can't dump a bunch of charcoal briquettes in it and have them all burning at the same time. These members will get you producing good food in no time if you heed their advice

 

[millerbuilds]

Welcome to SMF from North Texas.

I googled the Dyna Glo smokers. Their directions that I found online are very vague, not sure if better instructions come with the unit. I agree with everyone above:
1- Use the minion method (load with cold charcoal then add small amount of hot on top
2- Check for air leaks in both the intake and the exhaust, from the pictures online I could not tell if the intake vent could be adjusted.

Let us know which one and we would sure try and help.

- Jason

 

[SmokinEdge]

First off, welcome to the Forum John. It’s great to have you join us.

Your answer is learning to manage your pit. Hate to be straight up about it, but that’s truth. You have got good advice so far, but each pit master must first master his own pit. That pit is different than mine, or anyone else’s. Learn it, play with it, master it, spend time with it.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Even with all dampers closed,

Especially the intake vent AREA (including firebox door)... All this area has to be sealed well so that it is only getting air from the controllable intake vent ...

From the exit end of the firebox (FB) through the cookchamber(CC) and out the exhaust is not as critical as the intake as far as air leakage is concerned

 

[mcokevin]

Welcome to SMF!

So, you aren't keeping the pile of coals at 250. You're controlling conditions so there is the right amount of combustion to produce the right amount of heat to keep the cook chamber at 250.

In very simple terms you have too much combustion occurring and that is producing an amount of heat that's bringing your cook chamber above your desired temperatures.

You either need less lit fuel, less oxygen, or both.

You'll get there - lots of good advice around here.

 

[John3212]

First off, welcome to the Forum John. It’s great to have you join us.

Your answer is learning to manage your pit. Hate to be straight up about it, but that’s truth. You have got good advice so far, but each pit master must first master his own pit. That pit is different than mine, or anyone else’s. Learn it, play with it, master it, spend time with it.

Welcome to SMF!

So, you aren't keeping the pile of coals at 250. You're controlling conditions so there is the right amount of combustion to produce the right amount of heat to keep the cook chamber at 250.

In very simple terms you have too much combustion occurring and that is producing an amount of heat that's bringing your cook chamber above your desired temperatures.

You either need less lit fuel, less oxygen, or both.

You'll get there - lots of good advice around here.

Thanks to everyone for their help ! This YouTube clip shows my exact smoker and the exact method I used. If a pile of coals like the one in the video is lit the way he lights them….. this smoker shoots up to 500 degrees . LOL. I think I have to go with the minion or snake method and let the coals slowly light. I just don’t like the idea of coals lighting as they go. I’ve heard it can give a funky taste to food. Going to smoke wings soon in preparation of football season.

 

[mcokevin]

Thanks to everyone for their help ! This YouTube clip shows my exact smoker and the exact method I used. If a pile of coals like the one in the video is lit the way he lights them….. this smoker shoots up to 500 degrees . LOL. I think I have to go with the minion or snake method and let the coals slowly light. I just don’t like the idea of coals lighting as they go. I’ve heard it can give a funky taste to food. Going to smoke wings soon in preparation of football season.

Hey, if it’s happening to him too then you can take comfort that you’re not doing anything wrong. I don’t think you need to worry about the minion or snake method impacting flavor.

But if you are worried you can always do some cheap stuff like thighs, whole chickens, or pork butt until you are comfortable. Ruining a $6 bird is better than ruining $30-40 worth of wings.

 

[DougE]

I just don’t like the idea of coals lighting as they go. I’ve heard it can give a funky taste to food.

If you're dumping cold charcoal into the firebox, yea, but with the minion method, the charcoal ahead of the fire is pre-heated, and doesn't cause the same problem with off flavors.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Any smoker that has no intake vent adjustment and only exhaust adjustment is always suspect. Good luck.

Edit:
Heck I’m sorry, with that particular cooker you seem to have zero control of intake or exhaust venting. Not a good nor predictable end result.

 

[bill1]

SmokinEdge nailed it. The old MasterForge green bullet smokers in
https://grillasmoke.com/master-forge-smoker-review/
had flow control. The new ones:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Master-For...-Sq-in-Green-Charcoal-Vertical-Smoker/4459493
do not. Wow, incredibly hard to believe.

But as others have said, keep clear in your mind the difference between temperature and heat. One red hot coal and 10 red hot coals are the same temp but not the same heat. The temperature of the air around your meat (that's doing the cooking) is more a function of the heat of your fire than its temperature.

When temp is rising higher and faster than you want, the trick is to reduce the flow of air to slow down the rate you're burning the coals and hence the rate of heat generation. But if your cooker is really a green master forge without vent control you'll have to find another way, like maybe wedge a stubby screwdriver in the lid to increase flow and plugging leaks with steel wool to reduce it. Also a large cardboard box can be pretty effective control at reducing the rate of heat loss out your side walls, but of course that's in the direction of increasing falling temp not decreasing rising temp.

I personally find these bullet smokers too small to benefit much from minion style coal rings. I rather start with a modest amount of charcoal and add more throughout the cook through the side little door with a length of steel rain gutter as a chute to add the fuel quickly...you don't want to leave that door open for long!

And that's the way to add wood chips/chunks as you smoke too. The way he was taking apart the smoker to add wood chips at the 90 minute mark was almost laughable.