Help with Lang 60

[Keelue]

Alright guys, I've searched all over for answers, but I just can't figure this one out. I'm the 3rd owner of this Lang. I've never had a stick burner but have been smoking for 20 years or so on various other designs. I smoke mostly ribs and the problem is there's too much heat from the baffle plate below. I've probably got 15 cooks on the Lang with 2 of them having great results. The rest are dry (from the bottom), I gave up on spare ribs, back ribs offer a little more protection with the bones. What am I doing wrong? When the grate temp is 215, the plate temp is 300 and 340 towards the firebox side. I place the top rack on the bottom rack to lift the ribs off the heat source a bit and that helped. On the firebox side of things I usually start with a chimney of hardwood charcoal and a couple small splits or chunks. Once there's a bed of coals I throw an occasional chunk or two right by the firebox door. I have to keep temps between 200 - 215 otherwise it's just too hot and ruined. Most other smokers I ran between 225 - 250 with no worries. Help!

 

[912smoker]

Calling jcam222 . He rocks a Lang and hopefully others will also chime in to help!

Keith

 

[Rick in AZ]

Strange. I have a Lang 48" Deluxe Patio, and never had that problem. The primary cooking zone according to Lang is the left side bottom rack (although the top rack is preferred by most for brisket). I just did a rack of ribs last week (see my post "pigsickles") and they were on for a 5 hour cook on the bottom rack.
The only thing I can suggest is to put a probe with a clip on the grate and use that temperature reading to control your heat at 225°-250°. Hopefully you have a probe system like one of the units that Thermoworks sells. I use the Thermoworks "Smoke" unit. If you don't have a probe type unit, I would recommend getting one.
I've used a round Taylor thermometer (like in your picture) in a kitchen oven before and found it to be very inaccurate. The more I think about it, it seems to be a thermometer issue.
Once the smoker gets to temp, it takes very little wood to maintain the temperature, I often cut my splits in half to about 6" to maintain a steady temperature.
I don't bother with probes lately with ribs, and just go by the built in thermometer, visual, and probing with an instant read thermometer towards the end.
If all else fails call Lang, they are very nice and helpful, and may have a better answer for you. Ben Lang Sr or Jr often answer the phone directly.
I hope this helps, post an update when you figure it out.

 

[normanaj]

How well do you trust that Nubee IR therm?Not a fan of those at all and would love to see what the temps are with a multi probe therm with the probes set in various areas.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Grate temp is cooking temp. That’s where the meat sits.
So one picture shows a thermometer of about 225. Either that thermometer is wrong or it’s not. If you leave the upper rack in place and cook on that what is the result?

The lower rack will almost always have a higher temp on surface than the upper rack. Spare ribs are way more forgiving than baby backs. Try cooking on the upper rack, otherwise reduce your coal bed size. You have a lot of coal bed in my opinion, it’s a good bed just a bit to much.

This is the fun of driving a smoker, but remember that your driving and the smoker is riding.

 

[jcam222]

I know in my 84D the upper left area is the hottest. Top to bottom may vary 25F as it will end to end. I just have learned to use that to my advantage and/or plan around it with rotation. To me the temp on the reverse flow plate is irrelevant unless you place meat directly on it. I run an ambient temp probe (or 2 for a large cook) in a clip on the grate. I never have issues with dried out meat unless I mismanage temp or time.

 

[Keelue]

Thanks, and right on. I have probably 4 oven thermometers that I rotate and replace once they become too sooty to see, and run one at each end for each smoke. Have meater probes also. The Lang thermometer on the outside generally shows 10 degrees cooler. Lower left is where I try and cook. I have tried the top rack I found it to be about 20 degrees warmer. Have rotated between top and bottom also.

I used to cook spares, but that meat just dries out so fast on this smoker. I tried a butt on here and burnt the shit out of the bottom in a matter of hours even though thermometers showed 250. I really enjoy the process of a stick burner and like someone said once the coal bed is good I just use a baseball size chunk or two of hickory/cherry/pecan every 45 mins or so. The unit really retains the heat well, I even have it drop down to 180 - 200, it just turns into 8 hour cooks (which have turned out the best).

One thing I haven't played with is how level the smoker is. I'm assuming it should be quite level though I thought I saw in one of Lang's videos where they raise the far end up a tad using the trailer jack. Any thoughts on this?

I'll get some digital ambient temp probes and clips just to see. Maybe try and cook tomorrow. Been using costco ribs cause I got tired of burning the butcher shop ribs!

 

[Rick in AZ]

I agree with SmokinEdge, It looks like you had a huge fire in there judging by the coals and ash.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Don’t get to caught up in the thermometers. The meat is telling you the story. It tells me that you are running to big of a coal bed. Do this,, run a coal bed half the size you pictured. The meat will tell you the rest.

 

[jcam222]

Thanks, and right on. I have probably 4 oven thermometers that I rotate and replace once they become too sooty to see, and run one at each end for each smoke. Have meater probes also. The Lang thermometer on the outside generally shows 10 degrees cooler. Lower left is where I try and cook. I have tried the top rack I found it to be about 20 degrees warmer. Have rotated between top and bottom also.

I used to cook spares, but that meat just dries out so fast on this smoker. I tried a butt on here and burnt the shit out of the bottom in a matter of hours even though thermometers showed 250. I really enjoy the process of a stick burner and like someone said once the coal bed is good I just use a baseball size chunk or two of hickory/cherry/pecan every 45 mins or so. The unit really retains the heat well, I even have it drop down to 180 - 200, it just turns into 8 hour cooks (which have turned out the best).

One thing I haven't played with is how level the smoker is. I'm assuming it should be quite level though I thought I saw in one of Lang's videos where they raise the far end up a tad using the trailer jack. Any thoughts on this?

I'll get some digital ambient temp probes and clips just to see. Maybe try and cook tomorrow. Been using costco ribs cause I got tired of burning the butcher shop ribs!

I run my Lang with the nose up slightly which I believe Ben Lang recommends.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I run my Lang with the nose up slightly which I believe Ben Lang recommends.

Increased incline will increase draft or draw.

 

[jcam222]

Increased incline will increase draft or draw.

Yep which helps to even temp end to end as well

 

[Keelue]

Don’t get to caught up in the thermometers. The meat is telling you the story. It tells me that you are running to big of a coal bed. Do this,, run a coal bed half the size you pictured. The meat will tell you the rest.

The meat is getting cooked too fast from the bottom up. That's what it's saying. I'll work on a smaller coal bed but the one in the picture is probably 5 hours into a smoke. A lot of the smokes I started with a fairly big fire and got the smoker up to 250-275 then steam cleaned it (which I just started doing at the end of the cook), then let the smoker come down to temp. Maybe there's a lot of residual heat left.

I run my Lang with the nose up slightly which I believe Ben Lang recommends.

Right!

Increased incline will increase draft or draw.

So I haven't messed with this, I may try deflating the tires a bit on the firebox end. It seems like the heat would flow quicker and "roll" as Ben said as it enters the smoking chamber. It would seem like if there was zero incline or even negative incline that heat would build up beneath the cooking chamber.

 

[SmokinEdge]

The meat is getting cooked too fast from the bottom up. That's what it's saying. I'll work on a smaller coal bed but the one in the picture is probably 5 hours into a smoke. A lot of the smokes I started with a fairly big fire and got the smoker up to 250-275 then steam cleaned it (which I just started doing at the end of the cook), then let the smoker come down to temp. Maybe there's a lot of residual heat left.

Right. So this leads me to believe that your thermometer is off. Pretty hard to over cook ribs in a 4-5 hour time period at 225 grate temp. I would encourage you to test your therm in both boiling water and ice water just to verify accuracy. I think your grate temps are probably closer to 300 just guessing. Do you have any other tested and known thermometers?

 

[Keelue]

Right. So this leads me to believe that your thermometer is off. Pretty hard to over cook ribs in a 4-5 hour time period at 225 grate temp. I would encourage you to test your therm in both boiling water and ice water just to verify accuracy. I think your grate temps are probably closer to 300 just guessing. Do you have any other tested and known thermometers?

*currently scrubbing the thermometers and will test in some boiling water.

It can't be that simple!

 

[SmokinEdge]

*currently scrubbing the thermometers and will test in some boiling water.

It can't be that simple!

Not sure where you are elevation wise but boiling water is 212 at sea level and about 200 at 6000’ so there is a temperature guide.

 

[Keelue]

Not sure where you are elevation wise but boiling water is 212 at sea level and about 200 at 6000’ so there is a temperature guide.

So for the last 20 years or so I smoke ribs anywhere between 200 and 275, generally use the bend test for doneness. I got three cheapo therms, always have two on the smoker. Then the Lang therm on the outside which generally reads 10 degrees cooler. And I got two meaters.

Threw the three oven thermometers in the oven at 225 and one is low by ten degrees. Shouldn't make any difference. On the plus side it smells like BBQ now

 

[Keelue]

So I called and spoke with Mr. Lang yesterday. The dude spent 25 minutes going over every aspect of a normal cook. How's that for product support! Especially on a cooker I bought used. Checked for any obstructions in the stack or at the end of the baffle plate. Asked about cleaning the unit. As for fire management he said there should be nothing but embers and ash in there, and when you throw a split or chunk on to keep the door open so it combusts quickly. Said it's not unheard of to raise the lower grate with some angle iron or something. Also said that there is a decline from firebox to end in the baffle plate design. And if anything to check the rear tire pressure or raise it up a bit so it's "crouching". In the end he said it's a bit perplexing, but don't go chasing temps, start a small fire, let the cooker settle in, and cook some meat.

So with that, I'll check the tires. May raise the grate a bit, and get back to it this weekend.

 

[Rick in AZ]

I'm glad you took my advice to call Ben Lang.

So I called and spoke with Mr. Lang yesterday. The dude spent 25 minutes going over every aspect of a normal cook. How's that for product support! Especially on a cooker I bought used. Checked for any obstructions in the stack or at the end of the baffle plate. Asked about cleaning the unit. As for fire management he said there should be nothing but embers and ash in there, and when you throw a split or chunk on to keep the door open so it combusts quickly. Said it's not unheard of to raise the lower grate with some angle iron or something. Also said that there is a decline from firebox to end in the baffle plate design. And if anything to check the rear tire pressure or raise it up a bit so it's "crouching". In the end he said it's a bit perplexing, but don't go chasing temps, start a small fire, let the cooker settle in, and cook some meat.

So with that, I'll check the tires. May raise the grate a bit, and get back to it this weekend.

I'm glad you took my advice to call Ben Lang. It's rare to get to talk to the owner of a company, but that's how Ben is. He'll talk to you as long as you would like, to help a Lang owner. He may have mentioned it, but they do classes at their facility occasionally that you can attend.
I'm glad you are getting squared away. When you and that smoker get on the same wavelength your going to enjoy the heck out of that Lang.
Once you get it up to temp, it just takes a small split about every 45 minutes to keep a steady temp.
There are many videos either on the Lang website or on YouTube. I recommend that you watch as many as you can find to shorten the learning curve. Be sure to check out the video on cleaning it after each use. It just takes seconds, and you are all ready for your next cook.
Post an update with some cooks when you get it figured out.