Offset smoker tips and ideas

[Rollingrock]

I want to thank you guys ,long time lurker and I have got some great ideas over the years. I'm on my 2nd MES but smoking meat(or just about anything) has become an obsession over the years and recently I got a deal on a Smoke Hollow Offset smoker combo grill. I needed a new grill ,love to do some long charcoal cooks so it was the best of both worlds, get gas/charcoal combo grill with an offset fire box.

My dilemma is,although I have a ton of experience with my MES , I have no experience with real fire. I was just hoping there was some good threads that some of you could recommend that would talk about the basics on wood selection, logs over chunk,or lump charcoal or bot h. I'm targeting Memorial Day weekend as my first smoke so I'd like the chance to read up.

My first search of the site brought back some threads but I was hoping for specific or ideal threads to start with. Image of the grill/smoker I picked up.

 

[BKING!]

That’s a tiny smoke chamber for an offset smoker. If you wanted to burn wood use VERY small splits or chunks and keep a VERY small fire. Otherwise lump or charcoal would definitely work and probably would be best option.

 

[SmokinAl]

That smoker is definitely made for charcoal as the heat source. With a few wood chunks added to give you the smoke flavor.
Al

 

[Rollingrock]

Thanks for the replies. A little discouraged as it sounds like my expectations for the smoking part of this grill may not be as ideal as I'd hoped.

Given the thought that Charcoal would be my main heat source I will likely go with chunk charcoal based on what I have read here.

I guess I may have to get some sausage or make a fatty and do a trial run with charcoal and wood to see how it works. I'm at a loss to how much charcoal vs how often I need to add wood to maintain or achieve optimal heat vs smoke ratios.

 

[gmc2003]

I agree with the above comments. That's similar to my char griller duo. I only used charcoal and wood chunks in it.

Chris

 

[Jonathan Carlson]

I got a Oklahoma joe duo and cant seem to get a grip on 225-250 range.. When I add the wood, it skyrockets up to 280-ish.. and stays up..

 

[Rollingrock]

I got a Oklahoma joe duo and cant seem to get a grip on 225-250 range.. When I add the wood, it skyrockets up to 280-ish.. and stays up..

Even with trying to mess with your air flow?

I know my 2 smokes so far, seemed like I could raise and lower the eat by opening and closing the damper and the stack. It wasn't quick but I had good results with the temp falling in line.

 

[Jonathan Carlson]

Even with trying to mess with your air flow?

I know my 2 smokes so far, seemed like I could raise and lower the eat by opening and closing the damper and the stack. It wasn't quick but I had good results with the temp falling in line.

I did but I never closed either damper all the way. Maybe I'll work on that this week.

 

[bluewhisper]

You'll just need to run it a few times and get the hang of it. The rig should be fine, you just need experience with it to learn its traits.

 

[Rollingrock]

Flavor is amazing using charcoal and wood on an offset but geez is there a learning curve compared to using the MES.