Offset Smoker ..... Beautiful bead of coals .... what is your next move?

[offset1945]

I know there are many approach styles and opinions, and would love to hear them all.

I personally do not like to be in this situation:
You have been cooking for hours, managing your temperatures nicely and you end up at a point where every split has burned nicely and when you take a shovel to them, you end up very nice bed of big coals.

No splits left, they all burned through to coals.
No running fire.

With my cooker, this will quickly result in a cooking chamber of 220 degrees.

What I've been doing is a 'two on the floor', two evenly sized splits laid across the coal beds.
They immediately catch but still what I don't like about this option is that I'm not going to get enough immediate heat, especially if I'm cooking at 270 for example.
They also tend to smoke too much and while yes they are burning, it is not a running burn.

I've been experimenting with propping up the two on the floor with a heavier split laid perpendicular to the two splits.
This can work well or potentially lead to a situation of too much fuel that will take 10 minutes to show itself in a runaway spike.
This does give me the heavier split to nurse through as well which sometimes is no problem and sometimes is just a pain.

I've also done a mini log cabin with skinny splits (4 in total), this is quick to respond and gives me needed temperature support but will not last long at all.

What is your style and approach, what is your next move?

 

[JLeonard]

As seenred is building me a stick burner I'm looking for info and tips also....Bring on the answers

Jim

 

[culpepersmoke]

I usually do what you refer to 2 on the floor. My fire box is pretty big so I can lay two extra splits on the side. Those on the side are my next ones to go on the coils. This pre heats the splits, makes sure they are nice and dry so I usually don’t get any “bad” smoke introducing new splits.
I keep my splits about the size of a soda can and 16” long.

 

[seenred]

Hello offset1945 !

Learning the art of fire management in a stick burner is something that, IMHO, takes time, practice and patience. And to add to the challenge, seems to me that every stick burner is different and has it's own unique characteristics. So what works in my pit might not help much in yours. However, there are definitely some generally accepted techniques to use in all stick burning pits. But practice and and experience are the only ways I've ever learned how to properly run the stick burners I've owned.

I'm with culpepersmoke on preheating your splits. If your fire box is big enough, lay a split or 2 in the FB - away from the coals and flames - and let them get hot and dry before you need them on the fire. This will eliminate a lot of the "dirty" smoke that comes from a new split igniting and burning. If your FB is not big enough to accommodate this, you can accomplish the same thing by laying a couple splits on top of your hot FB (unless your FB is insulated, of course).

I've had the most success using this general system of starting and maintaining a fire:

I start with a chimney full of lump charcoal, and get it red hot. In bigger stick burners, or if I want a bigger, hotter fire, I'll also dump a 2nd chimney of unlit lump in the dry FB. IMO, this works best if you have some kind of coal basket or coal rack in your FB. My experience is, that allows better air flow and more consistent burn. I'm not sure how well this technique works by building your fire on the floor of the FB. Once my chimney of hot coals is ready, dump them in the coal rack (on top of the unlit coal, if you added that first). Then I start adding pre-heated splits that are roughly fist sized in diameter - usually 2 or 3 at a time - somewhere between every 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the rig and the size of your fire.

And I've always just tossed the splits on the coals, usually I'll put one or two directly on top of the coal bed, then a second (or third) crossing over the top of those.

The most important key - in my humble opinion - is to add the splits as often as it takes to keep a consistently sized, and consistently hot, coal bed. If your coal bed begins to shrink, or if your temps are dropping, you're losing your fire and need to add splits more often. This is easier to do if you start with a very hot coal bed right from the beginning.

Which brings up the second part of fire management: maintaining a desired cooking temp in your cook chamber. I've found that - to some degree - I can maintain a temp range by adjusting the intake dampers on the FB. More air means a hotter, bigger fire that also burns faster. But the easiest way for me to hit and maintain a target cooking temp is with the size of the fire you build. The bigger the pit, and the higher you want your cooking temps to be, the bigger your coal bed and your fire should be to start...and vice versa for smaller pits or lower cooking temps. You learn from trial and error to gauge how big or small your fire needs to be for a target cooking temp range. Again, the key is to maintain a hot, consistently sized coal bed.

So much of these tips and techniques will depend on your specific pit. How big are the CC and the FB? How thick is the steel? How air tight is it? What kind of air intake dampers does it have, and how big are they? I cooked on a cheap offset (COS) once many years ago, and fought the darn thing constantly. The problem was, I couldn't control the air flow because it leaked air like a sieve. Even with the intake dampers completely closed, the fire would get way more air than I wanted. And to make matters worse, it was made of thin steel that didn't hold heat well and was poor insulation against wind and cold weather. The point being, it's a lot easier to maintain cooking temps in a pit made of 1/4 inch steel with good fit and finish. Much easier to control air flow, and the thicker steel tends to stay at a target temp much longer, reducing large temperate swings.

Sorry for getting so long winded! I don't know if any of that helps, but I hope there are a few tips there that you can use.

Happy Smoking!
Red

 

[HalfSmoked]

Good question and as I'm building a reverse flow, I too am looking for info. I do open pit fire and have a wood stove for years I can see some comparison.
Thanks, seenred for some excellent information.

Warren

 

[Brokenhandle]

I'd better take good notes... the number of beers or drinks might impede my memory on long cooks in my new offset!

Ryan

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I tend to just repeatedly build log cabins. Usually two parallel to the firebox and on top two across. Ideally the the two parallel are partially burned down and don't smoke two much. They burn slower because they are sitting in the ash somewhat. My splits are pretty small, though in the Franklin pit. It has a ton of airflow and I have to screw up pretty bad for the new splits not to immediately light. Any dirty smoke usually has little effect. The fire I build can depend a lot on the ambient temp. If it's really hot, a log cabin is too much. I'll go with one on the side and one split leaning on it.

 

[JLeonard]

I'd better take good notes... the number of beers or drinks might impede my memory on long cooks in my new offset!

Ryan

I'm doing the same thing!!

jim

 

[seenred]

I'd better take good notes... the number of beers or drinks might impede my memory on long cooks in my new offset!

Ryan

If you've had too many beers...how do you know you can trust your notes???

Red

 

[pineywoods]

I highly suggest getting a coal basket or putting a grate in the firebox for the wood to sit on. The ashes can fall away from your fire using this method and not smother your fire. The other thing I'd ask is what size is your firebox and about what size splits are you using? Are you getting nice light smoke like barely seeing it? I think most people starting out with a stick burner tend to use either too much or too big of splits.

 

[Danblacksher]

I highly suggest getting a coal basket or putting a grate in the firebox for the wood to sit on. The ashes can fall away from your fire using this method and not smother your fire. The other thing I'd ask is what size is your firebox and about what size splits are you using? Are you getting nice light smoke like barely seeing it? I think most people starting out with a stick burner tend to use either too much or too big of splits.

Right here. I have a grate in my firebox and if I let the fire go to long the coals fall thru the grate and I just put the logs back on top and they will catch. My smoker is all 3/8 inch steel so I have to go with no fire for a really long time before a log wont catch pretty quick.

 

[Hockeydudde]

I wouldn't say I have anything to add wood placement or quantity wise. All good discussion so far.
But if I come out to only coals, I'm putting whatever wood in going to put then hitting it with the propane torch for 15 seconds. It speeds right through that catching and too much smoke phase.

 

[Newglide]

I wouldn't say I have anything to add wood placement or quantity wise. All good discussion so far.
But if I come out to only coals, I'm putting whatever wood in going to put then hitting it with the propane torch for 15 seconds. It speeds right through that catching and too much smoke phase.

Had to do the same thing. If I wait till it's all coals I'm running a little behind on feeding the fire

 

[jcam222]

I've lost my fire more than a time or two when getting side tracked working on other things. My temp usually doesn't drop that dramatically as all that Lang steel holds heat well. That said I'll take 5 or 6 splits and using my cracker knock them down to half the diameter of a coke can roughly. (most splits I use are coke can diameter, I find that best for temp control). I don't get too concerned with the pattern, I just get them in there with some air between them so they catch fast. If your coal bed dwindled too you can do this a couple times. I don't sweat the short period of heavier smoke. Heck ok bigger items they can take that extra for a bit. If things have really cooled off I'm the firebox I'll take my weedburner to fire it all up too. This can get you past the white smoke too.

 

[itsmedude]

I start with a basket of coals in a charcoal starter. Once that gets going, dump in firebox basket that's just off the bottom. Add 2 small splits. Then usually 1 split every 30-40 minutes.

If fire ever goes out to just a bed of hot coals, I will put 2 splits in and it usually catches fire right away. As it smokes while igniting, I'll control the smoke with the door opening. I notice temp doesn't fluctuate too much during that time. Splits stay warm on top of firebox.

 

[philpom]

I'll be doing a 20 lb whole packer this weekend. For a cook like this I'll fire up the open pit with about 6 good sized splits and feed shovels of already well burning hunks of log in to the offset. I just feed the open pit as the day goes so I have a constant selection of coals and logs to choose from for the smoker. A wheel barrel can be handy for transport of the coals. If I need to adjust the fire down then I do the inverse and remove a shovel full of flame from the firebox and back to the open pit.

Beyond that I will also toss a couple of small splits in the firebox away from the coal bed to pre-heat them. This has been mentioned several times and that's probably because it makes a good difference.

If I screw up and let things go too long and I don't have the open pit going I always have lump on hand to add to the firebox to get the bed of coals back to a nice size so it will accept a small split easily. I do not like doing this with charcoal, it gives an off odor at first in my opinion.

 

[Chasdev]

Recently I watched a YouTube video where Goldies pittmaster was talking about clean and less than clear blue smoke and when to use each.
He places cold meat in the cook chamber and then starts the fire, which burns "dirty" for a while and then cleans up as temps rise and the coal bed gets established.
They did tests on dirty vs clean smoke and the meat tasted better when the cold meat was exposed to dirty smoke for the first hour or two of cooking, as it absorbed more smoke when cold.
Meat cooked in the same cooker did not taste as good when clear smoke was used from the start.
I advise starting with charcoal and placing splits or mini splits so that they are not laying on top of each other any more than necessary for them to catch fire.
A teepee sort of arangement or splits that lean against the side of the firebox so that as much of the surface area as possible is exposed to air would be ideal.
As the cook goes along sometimes I have to drop one or two briquetts into the coal base to keep it hot when the splits burn down and the coal base also burns down.
As to grates I'm not convinced using one is a good thing.
Many of the top cooks run without them and manipulate the coal base forward and backward to alter the heat reaching the cook chamber.
Ash acts as an insulator and will keep coals from burning down too quickly.
Franklin must think so too as his rigs run without grates.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Clean vs. dirty smoke is so subjective. I'd err on the side of clean. You'll always wind up with something edible. I've gotten food that was oversmoked and it's terrible. Goldees does some things I wouldn't suggest using lighter fluid while there's food on the pit. That's probably fine on a 1000 gallon pit but probably not a great idea in a backyard offset. Those Goldees kids have probably smoked so much pot they can't taste the dirty smoke ;). I run my fire on the bottom of my firebox, but there's nothing wrong with running with a grate, though. It probably depends on the pit. I needed a fire grate on my Old Country pit that had less airflow.

 

[culpepersmoke]

I wouldn't suggest like using lighter fluid while there's food on the pit

I go so far as to say I NEVER allow lighter fluid to be used in my pit. Not to start a fire and certainly not while food is in it.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I agree 100%. I had a bottle of lighter fluid in my garage that sat there for probably 10 years unused. I have no idea how it even got there. It was probably there when we moved in. I finally decided to toss it and as my hands closed on the plastic bottle, the whole thing just collapsed it was so old spraying lighter fluid all over me and the garage. Pretty nasty stuff.