Offset smoker help

[Brainbeer]

First off I want to thank everyone for always being so kind and helpful. It is really appreciated to us newbs. I recently bought an COS. Today is my first day to actually use it with food. I've done a few test smokes without meat and thought I did ok. I'm doing well to keep the temp between 225 and 250 (smoking ribs) although it has gotten up to 275 on occasion. My question is about my coal bed. I'm using lump coal and wood chunks for heat. It seems my coal bed burns up rather quickly and I'm having to add coals every hour to hour and a half. Is this normal? Should I do something specific to keep the coal bed going and just add wood?

 

[SmokinEdge]

What size of splits are you using?

 

[Brainbeer]

What size of splits are you using?

I'm finding splits get it too hot, so I use chunks like they sell at big box stores

 

[Brainbeer]

What size of splits are you using?

It's a smaller offset

 

[Hockeydudde]

Every hour to hour and a half sounds like a LONG time to me. I've always done wood only, but on my COS I generally added wood every 15 minutes.
Offsets are a labor of love for sure.

If you want to add just wood, you have to add small pieces often to keep the temperature spikes under control because they have so little thermal mass.

 

[SmokinEdge]

It's a smaller offset

Then I would say you are maintaining to large of a coal bed made from charcoal and not focusing on making that bed from splits.

You should add about a 2” split every 30-45 minutes. That will maintain the coal bed. I run a small offset as well and that’s how I do it, which is much the same as the larger offsets but they use slightly larger splits.

And at times, don’t be afraid to add 2 splits if you need to for heat/coal bed but make sure you separate the splits so they don’t really feed off each other making heat. It’s a slow burn, not a wood stove fire for heating the cabin.

 

[DougE]

Then I would say you are maintaining to large of a coal bed made from charcoal and not focusing on making that bed from splits.

You should add about a 2” split every 30-45 minutes. That will maintain the coal bed. I run a small offset as well and that’s how I do it, which is much the same as the larger offsets but they use slightly larger splits.

And at times, don’t be afraid to add 2 splits if you need to for heat/coal bed but make sure you separate the splits so they don’t really feed off each other making heat. It’s a slow burn, not a wood stove fire for heating the cabin.

I have a similar offset to him and do it about the same. I add a 2 inch split every hour or so ......... sometimes two depending how the fire is running.

 

[Hockeydudde]

I have a similar offset to him and do it about the same. I add a 2 inch split every hour or so ......... sometimes two depending how the fire is running.

Maybe I'm running my fire wrong... How open are your dampers. I'm usually running intake all the way open and stack about half closed. If I can close down dampers and still get clean fire, will the wood burn slower?

 

[DougE]

The stack should be wide open. Temp should be regulated by the intake vents.

 

[Brainbeer]

Thanks for all the input. I had my intake at 50% and the stack at about 20-25%. It was my first go at really smoking something with it. It actually turned out really good. There's none left. I was told they were the best ribs I've ever made

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I have a COS and a big custom smoker. On both, I run the exhaust damper wide open and control the cook chamber temp with the inlet damper as DougE said...

 

[JckDanls 07]

to large of a coal bed made from charcoal and not focusing on making that bed from splits.

This is the first thing that comes to my mind as well... Try cutting back your starting charcoal... Only need enough to get the splits (3-5 at start up) burning... This will be your coal bed when it burns down to coals... Then start adding a split (small) at a time ..

I'm having to add coals every hour to hour and a half. Is this normal?

This is why it's running so hot...

Then the next equation is control... Air leaks in the firebox (COS) also makes it a battle to control temps

The stack should be wide open. Temp should be regulated by the intake vents.

The reasoning behind this, they say, is for the smoke to exit quicker and not become stale smoke... I'm not really a firm beleiver in this ... I do it this way , but ....

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

People shut the stack damper on larger pits because they have a ton of draw. A COS usually has a small undersized stack so I'd open all the way, but it's more a matter of what works for you and what type of smoke you prefer. I like a clean smoke and the Franklin pit has no stack damper. I used to have Old Country pit and I ran it with lump charcoal and chunks for a long time. That works and for some really small offsets that's your only option. Ideally though, you run on splits only. I just use lump charcoal at the very beginning to jump start my coal bed. After that the coal be is replenished by the wood itself. As far as your temp control, you are doing fine.

For your pit, you may just have to run it the way you are. If you decide to use splits you'll definitely need some way to cut the splits down to a proper size.

 

[DougE]

The stack should be wide open. Temp should be regulated by the intake vents.

The reasoning behind this, they say, is for the smoke to exit quicker and not become stale smoke... I'm not really a firm beleiver in this ... I do it this way , but ....

I'm more of the mind that if you are maintaining a big enough fire in the first place, you should have to throttle down the air intake to make it burn at the lower temp you need, not throttle down the exhaust to bring the temp up by keeping more of the heat in.

 

[LazyK68]

I run a Lang offset. I've had much better luck controlling temps with the firebox dampers. Weather plays a part in your results. Time & experience helps with getting Temps no matter the weather. Wood condition also factors into Temps. [Moisture, size, species]

My suggestion is to run your chunks until you feel more confident/ comfortable, then move to splits. One challenge at a time. Take notes since fire management is the key to stick offset. I love the challenge.