How to adjust temps?

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russki1313

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 14, 2009
11
10
Hi Guys,
I am a nOOb and am wondering when im smoking and using charcoals. How do i adjust the temp up/down?
Meaning does opening or closing the vents heat it up or down?
Also when starting the fire/smoke should the vents be open or closed?
Do i use a water pan? Do i fill it with water/sand/other liquid?
Thanks ahead of time for your help
 
Try filling the pan with hot water.
Start with your exhaust fully open and the air intake about 3/4 of the way open.
Don't overdue it with coals and if adding wood don't lay the wood on top of the coals until it has heated up and burned down, otherwise you risk white billowing smoke and flames.
If temps are too low open your intake, if too high try closing it down to 1/4 and go from there till you find what position works the best.
On my sNp I can keep a steady 225 with my intake open almost 3/4 of the way.
 
Hey Russki, I'm still pretty new to all of this too, however I grew up using a wood stove and the concept is pretty much the same. The more air you have going through, the more heat your going to get. You didn't say what type of smoker you have however you must have vents on the bottom and some sort of flu on top so to start your fire, open both top and bottom all the way up. I use the minon method and fill my fire box up with unlit coal then put some hot coals in my fire pan close to the vent and watch my thermometer. When the temp gets within about 20 degrees of where I want it to be then I start closing the bottom vents trying to stablize the temps where I want to cook at. If I'm putting a lot of meat on I may take the temp about 20-30 degrees higher than where I want to cook at because putting all the cool meat in will bring down your temp some. You'll just have to play with the bottom vents until you can figure out about how far they should be open to get the temps that you want. Some say leave your flu (smokestack vent) all the way open but I have to close mine about half way to hold the temp where I want them. Hope this makes some sense and good smokin'.
 
What fired up said ...also leave your vents wide open..unless your are making your own sausage but that is a whole difirent subject.
 
Everything fire and beer said they know they stuff when it comes to charcoal. I'm a gasser.
 
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Leave your exhaust WIDE OPEN.

Learn to control the temp with the intake. If you close the exhaust to hold heat in you also hold the smoke in and choke the fire. Bad, bad, bad idea especially if you're just starting out using charcoal or wood. Bad yucky taste will result. TRUST me on that one.
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Dave
 
How much charcoal should i be using when im starting the fire?
Also correct me if i'm wrong but i was going to first fill my pan with some unlit charcoal mixed with wood chips and chunks. Then start about 15-20 briquettes let them ash and throw them untop of the pan witht he unlit stuff. Good idea?
 
I'm not a charcoal guy but it sounds pretty good. Hopefully somebody will be by real soon for a positiive answerafter looking at another place what your are saying is the same thing they say...I'm sure you are safe. One thing is how ever long you want the smoke to go should be how much fuel you have in your charcoal pan. Good luck
 
The amount of charcoal you start with depends mostly on your smoker. Every rig seems to have its own quirks and characteristics. There is really no right answer, you just have to experiment until you get a feel for your rig. You are are the right track though.

Filling your pan with unlit charcoal, you're talkin' about using the minion method, which I always use with my offset smoker. The advantage is you can hold a fairly consistent temp for a longer period of time without having to reload the firebox. I don't know about mixing wood chips with the unlit coal stack. I've never done that, although it might work just fine. I usually just throw one or two fist-sized chunks on top of the coal stack once I have the rig up to desired temp.
 
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