Fire management help pls

[Hookedonhunting]

Hey folks. I have this Kingsford Professional Ranchers Steer 41" smoker and so far it's doing good. But I need a little help with some fire management. My brother in law has an Oklahoma Joe and has the same issue.
Here's the scenario: build big fire to get cooker to temp. Have a good sized bed of coals but not enormous or anything. Start fire to develope a coal bed with about 6-7 fireplace sized logs. Way too big to smoke with but perfect for creating a coal bed. Once the fire is calmed down, coals are hot and temps are good I'll toss on the meat. As I go along I add small logs to keep my temps as steady as possible. But the issue is I end up (after some hours) loosing my coal bed. I can't add too much wood to the fire because my temps will get out of control. But that means I end up burning through my coals. Make sense? Surely I'm doing something wrong. Can someone help me out?

For reference: my wood size is 8-10" long. Some a tad smaller than and some a tad larger than a Coke can. It's not kiln dried. It's well seasoned not in rain but under my screened porch so it gets ambient moisture but not rain on it. I pre heat my wood on top of my firebox so it's warm when I toss it in. All my wood starts up immediately. I'm using hickory and cherry.

 

[sawhorseray]

When the coals start running low can you just add a few splits and leave the firebox door open a little more to let the heat out? Since reading Aaron Franklin's book when using my offset I've been using the firebox door a lot more for heat management, leaving it open anywhere from a tiny crack to a inch or two once I get my side vents set to where I like. I think I might go thru a bit more wood this way but I always see a flame and know I'm getting good smoke. I smoke with mostly hickory also and if your wood is catching immediately sounds like you're on the right track. Maybe throwing on a couple of good sized chunks of lump coal would be the way to go, or on long smokes a time comes when you just have to add small splits more often, stick burners require babysitting. RAY

 

[daveomak]

Tennis ball sized splits might do....

 

[kmmamm]

Please give us a little information about how you manage the combustion air at the firebox. Are you running with the door open or using the inlet vents?

 

[SmokinAl]

The biggest mistake I made with my Lang when I got it, was I built the fire too big. I have since learned to build a smaller fire and/or add smaller splits more often. You keep a nice coal bed going & if you want to run a little hotter then add some more bigger splits, or 2 or 3 small ones. Lately I have been running the Lang at about 270-280, so it’s pretty easy to do that. Just add larger splits, but the main thing is don’t loose the coal bed. And yes it has happened to me!! I just throw a bunch of small splits in to get it going again. It doesn’t take long and & it will be up to temp again. It usually happens to me when there are too many beers around.
Al

 

[raymo76]

I light my kindling and build my fire to a decent size so it will heat up my metal. Then I let it burn down to coals, maybe an hour long. After that I just maintain a small hot free burning fire. Constant replenishment of coals and easy ignition of wood. No need to place my splits in the fire box to pre heat like I’ve seen recently.

 

[1MoreFord]

Quit free burning and use the intake damper to regulate your fire.

Add new splits to the side of your coal bed. Don't put new splits on top of the coals. That smothers the coals.

 

[raymo76]

Quit free burning and use the intake damper to regulate your fire.

Add new splits to the side of your coal bed. Don't put new splits on top of the coals. That smothers the coals.

While using the air intake to regulate your fire you still want a free burning fire rather than a smoldering fire. I’m talking about the stages of fire.

In the 9 years of cooking on my Lang I haven’t had trouble following this method. I put new splits on my coal bed all the time without a hiccup. Just leave the fire box door open long enough for that new split to catch fire nice and good and then shut the door. No adjustments needed to my intake.

I try to maintain +/- 5 degrees from my target temperature when I cook.

 

[1MoreFord]

raymo, it's great you're having success on your Lang. The OP is not having success with your method.

I know others who have success with your method but it is an advanced method best used after a bunch of practice. I suspect your Lang is far better suited to that method than the Kingsford or OK Joe mentioned. I know my old New Braunfel's OK Joe didn't like my attempts at free burning. It responds well to pre-warming splits on top the firebox and adding splits to the sides of the coal bed without leaving the door open or adjusting the intake to chase temps once everything is up to temp and my coal bed is established. My method on my pit will result in blue smoke so thin you only see the heat shimmer most of the time so my method won't cause smoldering in and of itself.

 

[raymo76]

Solid words 1MoreFord, more than one way to get the task done . I just only know this method and have experience with this method in all my time doing this so that’s the method I offer. I’ve only just heard of the method you speak of recently. I have noticed the new standard practice appears to be to start with briquettes or lump charcoal, another method that I personally don’t enjoy. Not that I don’t see the reason behind it but I personally enjoy stick burning so I do it perhaps old traditional ways?

I just wish everyone happy and enjoyable cooking with whatever smoker and methods they choose to use and I offer my help when I think it may be useful.

My firebox is pretty small at 17” cubed. My neighbor just bought a nice LSG pipe smoker and dayum that firebox has lots of room.