I seriously suck at fire management. Someone please give me some tips

[Mcc_1972]

Thanks everyone. Really good advice. This is what I’m talking about. Have a nice bed of coals, added two splits, they burn for about 10 minutes and then just smolder

 

[Mcc_1972]

And now it’s just a smoldering mess

 

[banderson7474]

I dont see any room underneath? I think u need air flow under. Do u have a grate u can put in there that sits a cpl inches off the bottom?

 

[hardcookin]

That's a nice bed of coals. I would try some different wood.

 

[Mcc_1972]

That's a nice bed of coals. I would try some different wood.

I buy my wood from someone who sells it some of the bbq joints around town. Its perfectly seasoned

 

[pineywoods]

I think banderson has it right you need air under the fire and more important you need the ash to fall away from the burning wood or it will choke it down and make it smolder. Either find a grate for the firebox or make one maybe with angle iron and expanded metal for a grate or just rebar. Make sure it gives room under it for the ash to fall away from the fire

 

[Mcc_1972]

Thank you guys. I made a basket and raised it up off the bottom and it’s a night and day difference. Now if you guys can just teach me how to get more smoke flavor haha

 

[banderson7474]

Ive never heard of a stick burner not giving enough smoke. Thats amazing to me.

 

[bighoof]

So I just got done building my offset 250 gallon ...what could be a couple reasons I’m getting a lot of smoke back out of the firebox.

 

[phatbac]

So I just got done building my offset 250 gallon ...what could be a couple reasons I’m getting a lot of smoke back out of the firebox.

you may not have a good draft through the stack...how long is the smoke stack?(could be too long)...is it standard or reverse flow?...have any pictures? you need some airflow from the fb through the smoker out the stack so if you dont have airflow going in may be a problem as well...

with some pics and/or plans of the build would be helpful....there are several pit builders on here that can help with this as well...

Happy Smoking,
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[daveomak]

A very good design for air inlets on an offset is like in the picture.. Fire inlets close to the bottom of the Fire Box.... Upper inlets are to move heat to the Cook Chamber WITHOUT adding air to the fire...

 

[bighoof]

Wasn’t very good at posting my build but it’s a 30x30 piece of pipe for the firebox and it’s boxed to be semi insulated...stack is little over 6’ ...using the door to vent the door might be too big...my welder didn’t really listen to me.

 

[Hawging It]

drives me freaking insane. If you’re in DFW I will pay you to come to my house and teach me. I’m at my wits end.

I could write a long post but I feel it would be better if you saw how to get a good fire via video. Lots of videos on YouTube. TRoy Cooks has a good one. He also has tons of smoking videos.

 

[jbellard]

Sounds like you aren’t getting good air flow. Try taking some bricks and put a grate on top of them then build your fire on there.
as far as smoke flavor, you burn a good clean fire and get the thin blue to even clear smoke, and you’ll have the perfect smoke flavor.
that airflow issue got you spooked and now you just need to relearn how to use your smoker.
you’ll get it! By the way, I use myfirebox door as my vents and it works perfectly.

 

[bighoof]

First time stuck burning so lots to learn... things went well for the cook in definitely learned some things ...no vents either using the door....I learned that the cleaner the burn the less “smoke” was coming out of box.. burned a lot better when I made a little trough in coal beds to keep good air flow around the wood...there were times I put 3 pieces on in an hour and time I only put one... can’t wait till next cook. Think I’ll piece out my turkeys next time... didn’t get a lot of smoke in the meat the skin seem to take it all ribs turned out awesome ...thanks for all the timely feedback

 

[EdP]

I read another similar thread here recently, and a basket in the fire box to allow air flow under the wood/charcoal did the trick.

 

[jbellard]

You should take pics of your smoker including of the firebox, inside and out so the guys here can help you get this squared away ASAP. Nothing more annoying than a stickburner that don’t burn cleanly!

 

[bighoof]

You should take pics of your smoker including of the firebox, inside and out so the guys here can help you get this squared away ASAP. Nothing more annoying than a stickburner that don’t burn cleanly!

I tried will try again I tired 2 pics at a time maybe one? Got an error.

 

[jbellard]

Sometimes if they are too big it will give an error but sometimes it’s just the server. Either way try again because having pics will help out a ton.

 

[bighoof]