First time smoking tomorrow (starting/maintaining temp question)

[tsx80]

Great site here ive been searching and learning some new stuff and some great recipes. Im about to smoke 2 slabs of ribs tomorrow, my question is about temp. Im suppose to use a small amount of coal to start a fire and then add logs, right? How many logs do i need to add for a proper fire? Any tips will be appreciated. Im using and offset smoker BTW.

 

[25mike87]

Welcome to the SMF. I would recommend filling out your profile and head over to the roll call section and introduce your self. as for your question I normally fill up with about a half a bag of charcoal and about 6 chunks of wood. then I remove about 15 charcoal bricks and start them off in the chimney once they are white coals I dump them in with the rest, try to keep them center. then close the doors and open all the vents letting the smoker get up to 250-300 F then I start regulating the intakes till I see the temp I am looking for. I hope this helps