Lang Fire Dawg Basket Suggestions for Fire Management

[tnbbq]

With the new Lang smokers they are including the new fire basket called the "fire dawg" (See image) which is a V shaped basket as opposed to the raised grate from before (and is a solid beast for sure and looks "real nice").

It is supposed to be a bit more efficient and does a really good job and split light quickly, expect I have experienced an issue. When cooking for several hours, the ash seems to begin blocking the drop "slits" and so a new split pushed the ask to begin creating some restriction on the air flow.

I have compensated by using an ash rake do ensure I knock down the bed a bit before dropping the new log to push the ask out and distribute the coals a little. Is there a better method for this? I also have an SHB v grate coming for the Lang as I wanted to try a comparison as it is rolled bar and looks like it has wider gaps to see if that makes a difference.

Not complaining at all as the basket works great, just trying to figure out the best way to leverage it and not have too much ash build up. I may be leveraging too much charcoal to build my initial fire to get her up to temp and that could the culprit as well. Just been a minute since going back to chucking wood so just seeing what other folks might do in terms of managing a fire in this basket on a Lang.

 

[chp]

Do you have enough vertical room to put in an ash tray below the basket that can be slid out? Then you could remove ash during your smoke and transfer it to an ash bucket.
Similar idea to this picture

 

[tnbbq]

Do you have enough vertical room to put in an ash tray below the basket that can be slid out? Then you could remove ash during your smoke and transfer it to an ash bucket.
Similar idea to this picture
View attachment 670938

Good thought but unfortunately the design of the fire grate only has open clearance on the sides.

 

[tnbbq]

Do you have enough vertical room to put in an ash tray below the basket that can be slid out? Then you could remove ash during your smoke and transfer it to an ash bucket.
Similar idea to this picture
View attachment 670938

I suspect my culprit is too much charcoal on startup. With the old Lang stand grate I could add about a chimmney as a coal base as it was expanded grate and dropped easily. Think with this grate I need less of a coal bed as a starter likely before adding the wood to build the bulk of the coal bed. Gonna have to cook more and find out!

 

[bill1]

The triangular wedge helps equilibrate heat above the fire, like a fan sprayer vs a nozzle. If your firebox was directly below your food (like a traditional rectangular charcoal grill) it makes sense. I don't see the point in an offset firebox and unless you have room to spare in the firebox, could make fire-tending more difficult, which you seem to be finding.
But I agree with the last point, that if you have plenty of splits, you shouldn't use any more charcoal than is necessary to start up the first couple splits.
Every smoker change requires fine-tuning our technique. When you have this mastered, comment back on if the fire-dawg is an improvement or not.

 

[pineywoods]

You need to buy a decent "weed burner" and skip the charcoal that way you know it's not an issue.
Something like this hooked to a 20 lb cylinder will last a long time
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFDNPXG...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

 

[tnbbq]

Started with a small amount of charcoal in the dawg, less than 10 with a starter. Once it got going dropped small logs until I got her up and been smooth sailing at 250 on some plate ribs. Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[jcam222]

You need to buy a decent "weed burner" and skip the charcoal that way you know it's not an issue.
Something like this hooked to a 20 lb cylinder will last a long time
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFDNPXG...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

I still use some charcoal for startup in my Lang but I do use a weed burner to fire it up. Couldn't believe how much easier a weed burner makes things.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Is the basket made with flat expanded metal ?? (Maybe a pic of it empty) ...

I would think if you hit the basket with the end of split your putting in, giving the basket a good shake/jolt... This should knock ash through... And then move coals around with the split before laying it on top them... I don't move them around much as the good hot coals end up getting pushed down through the grate...