Help with temp control

[Michael Ksmoker]

Hi all and thanks for reading. I used to have a large oklahoma joe vertical offset living in denver, and i never had trouble with heat control. Fill the firebox with well burning charcoal, throw some hardwood chunks on, close the damper on fire box and heat goes down, open it up heat goes up. Unfortunately i lost the smoker in a divorce, and now i have a small dyna glo vertical offset and i cant control the temp. Even with the firebox damper totally closed, heat spikes and keeps going. Its to the point i keep a set of coals burning in the chimney starter and add 1 piece at a time. Anybody else had this problem with a small smoker and any suggestios? Or is it a case of you get what you paid for and im screwed until i can get the better smoker again?

 

[JLeonard]

No real answers for you. But I mourn the loss of the OK Joe in the divorce. And welcome to the forum.
Jim

 

[Chasdev]

Fire management 101, class be seated....
I had one as my very first smoker and I did some of the best ribs and brisket I have EVER done with it.
Start a small fire, and let the temps slowly rise before placing the meat, then just add small chunks of wood or charcoal every 15 to 30 minutes to keep the temps in the sweet spot.
I started out doing hot and fast, 350/375 on briskets with the meat placed near the top.
Ribs I shot for 275 and had some runaway temp spikes but that's pretty normal for any type of low buck cooker.
I used to buy post oak splits, split them at least one more time and cut them into mini-splits with a table saw, say 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 6 to 10 inches long.
Keep in mind that burning wood produces the smoke that flavors the meat but coals provide most of the heat so you have to be wary about how large the coal base gets as too many coals will skyrocket the temps.

 

[Michael Ksmoker]

Fire management 101, class be seated....
I had one as my very first smoker and I did some of the best ribs and brisket I have EVER done with it.
Start a small fire, and let the temps slowly rise before placing the meat, then just add small chunks of wood or charcoal every 15 to 30 minutes to keep the temps in the sweet spot.
I started out doing hot and fast, 350/375 on briskets with the meat placed near the top.
Ribs I shot for 275 and had some runaway temp spikes but that's pretty normal for any type of low buck cooker.
I used to buy post oak splits, split them at least one more time and cut them into mini-splits with a table saw, say 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 6 to 10 inches long.
Keep in mind that burning wood produces the smoke that flavors the meat but coals provide most of the heat so you have to be wary about how large the coal base gets as too many coals will skyrocket the temps.

Thanks a ton for the replys, ' that's pretty normal for any type of low buck cooker. ' definitely makes me feel better. I'll keep plugging away while i save up. Thanks again

 

[JWFokker]

If it's the boxy offset Dyna Glo you absolutely need to seal it up with RTV and felt gaskets to have any ability to control the fire. And even then you'll want to run it like a kamado or IVC and close the exhaust and intake way down. Don't use too much wood because it's not going to burn clean, it's going to smolder, as it does in a kamado. Use very small chunks or sprinkle in wood chips. If you use chunks, fill your basket halfway with charcoal, add wood, then bury the wood under more charcoal. I'd also use the Minion method and start the fire on the cook chamber side, not the intake side so it burns slower.

 

[JWFokker]

You are kinda screwed though. Despite its popularity, that cooker is not very good. The larger Dyna Glo Heavy Duty Signature Series round body vertical offset is the one to get, which is pretty similar to the Bandera you owned.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

All great advice above.

 

[Michael Ksmoker]

And greatly greatly appreciated. Thanks again all