Fire control

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Tyler Anthony

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2018
14
2
Hi, I’m new to the offset smoker. I have been using an electric and a vertical charcoal for about a year, but I just got an Oklahoma Joe Highland. I am really struggling to maintain keep temps where I want them. Any tricks or tips? Do you maintain based on amount of fuel? Is it based on vents?
Thank you
 
There are plenty of guys on here with your smoker and I'm sure one of them will chime in soon. But the basics are starting a good fire & controlling the temp with the vents. The main thing is to not loose the coal bed & I always put the next split on top of the firebox to warm it up so it lights up right away when you put it in the smoker. I start mine with a chimney of charcoal & then put a couple of splits on top. After that I just keep adding splits as needed, about every 45 minutes.
Al
Al
 
+ 1 on what Al said. I have an 15 year old Oklahoma Joe Longhorn and run with the firebox door wide open and no baffle on the stack. Are you burning wood or charcoal? I only burn wood. I tried charcoal but it was too much of a pain and the flavor was not what I prefer. What I find helps is keeping the splits around 10” long and 2 or 3 inches wide. A Kindling Cracker produces exactly the right size for me. Aaron Franklins book has great information on fires, wood, and smoke. It won’t take long and learning your pit is enjoyable .
I fly fish and after many struggles trying to learn, one day I “felt” the line and everything fell into place. The same applies to fire management.
 
There are plenty of guys on here with your smoker and I'm sure one of them will chime in soon. But the basics are starting a good fire & controlling the temp with the vents. The main thing is to not loose the coal bed & I always put the next split on top of the firebox to warm it up so it lights up right away when you put it in the smoker. I start mine with a chimney of charcoal & then put a couple of splits on top. After that I just keep adding splits as needed, about every 45 minutes.
Al
Al
Perfect advice Al
 
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