Modified ECB Temperature Management Questions

[sware1]

Hey guys,

I am a big BBQ fan and am just now getting into smoking. I have modified my Brinkmann upright 'The ECB' with the following:

• New Temp gauge in lid
• Added rotating vent into lid
• Put legs on outside
• Vent holes in charcoal pan
• added charcoal rack to charcoal pan

I have a couple of questions about temperature management and want to make sure my understanding is right.

I gave it a dry run yesterday and found that I struggled to get the temperature down to 225-250, this is good as pre-mod I couldn't get it above 200.

Question 1: I assume that I put too much coal in (I put a whole charcoal starter load) that's why the temp wouldn't go down?

I found that when I opened the lower side access door the temp dropped and also if I opened my top vent the temp would drop faster.

Question 2: I understand heat escaping out of the door but I also thought it would increase airflow, why did the temp drop? Is purely heat loss out of the door?

Question 3: Is the heat loss the same for the vent on the top? because again I thought this would promote airflow and therefore increase temperature

Question 4: If I was in a low temp situation, would my only option, taking account of everything above, be to add more charcoal?

I understand temperature management is on a case by case basis and you have to do what works for your particular smoker, but I just wanted to confirm that there are no other tips or tricks that I could try to manage temperature up and down. It appears on my smoker my options are to manage temperature down by opening doors and vents and manage it up by adding more charcoal.

Thanks and apologies for all the question. We here in the UK don't have the same community for BBQ, let alone smoking.

Thanks,

Simon