OK Joe Highland-Cannot get temp up

[bbq kenny]

So my wife purchased me a OK Joe highland offset last year for Father’s Day. I have researched and added every mod I can think of (extended 90 degree smoke stack, coal basket, I have sealed it best i can, added another thermometer, raised the basket to get enough air flow...blah blah blah. I cannot get the temp up over 200 degrees to save my life. I use a basket of charcoal and usually a few sticks. I don’t know what else to do! What am i doing wrong?!

Does anyone use one of those blowers that help regulate temp? Does it blow ash all over the food?

 

[dcecil]

can you walk me through your start up process, what fuel source do you start out with and what do you cook with. I have cooked on the Oklahoma for the past few years and have a lang now but I use the same start up method. I start out with lump coal in a pile in the center of the fire box and surround it with small cuts of wood that Im using. I criss cross the wood over the top of the lump coal and torch start. When I do this everything is open. You want as much air flow as possible. After wood has caught fire I will add more to start my base of coals. Coals are whats going to help keep you consistent with temp. You have to build up your coal bed before you even consider putting Meat on the grill. I usually start my fire an hr before I begin cooking so I can stabilize temp before I start cooking. This will help get the temp well above your cooking temp and once you see coals established and the wood has a nice fire going you start shutting the oxygen by closing off the grill. Close the cooking chamber door. Close the fire box door but keeping your vents in the firebox wide open. Let the temp stabilize and make small adjustments from there. Hope this helps.

 

[SonnyE]

Have you tried draping a welding blanket over it? ;)

 

[bbq kenny]

can you walk me through your start up process, what fuel source do you start out with and what do you cook with. I have cooked on the Oklahoma for the past few years and have a lang now but I use the same start up method. I start out with lump coal in a pile in the center of the fire box and surround it with small cuts of wood that Im using. I criss cross the wood over the top of the lump coal and torch start. When I do this everything is open. You want as much air flow as possible. After wood has caught fire I will add more to start my base of coals. Coals are whats going to help keep you consistent with temp. You have to build up your coal bed before you even consider putting Meat on the grill. I usually start my fire an hr before I begin cooking so I can stabilize temp before I start cooking. This will help get the temp well above your cooking temp and once you see coals established and the wood has a nice fire going you start shutting the oxygen by closing off the grill. Close the cooking chamber door. Close the fire box door but keeping your vents in the firebox wide open. Let the temp stabilize and make small adjustments from there. Hope this helps.

So I fill up the basket with charcoal briquettes, let them burn for a while and then add wood. I can see part of my mistake may be that I don’t use enough wood. Most of my heat source is coming from the charcoal. I will try and be more patient with the fire and use more wood. I was always just afraid of getting too much smoke on the meat. Thank you for your advice, it’s much appreciated!

 

[bbq kenny]

Have you tried draping a welding blanket over it? ;)

I have not, may try that too, lol

 

[dcecil]

So here’s a pic of my fire box before I start the fire. You are totally correct about not wanting to over smoke something that’s why it’s important to build the bed of Hot wood coals before your cook starts. Once the coals are there you will be adding small amounts of wood so the smoke will not be over powering. Make sure your wood is dry (seasoned) and it will catch immediately instead of smoldering which causes white smoke.

 

[SonnyE]

I have not, may try that too, lol

A welding blanket can withstand up to 1000 degrees F.
Draped over your main chamber, it can help hold more heat in. ;)
It's a Po Boyz way to thicken the steel. :)

 

[Heart of Dixie]

What dcecil said +1 ...Sounds like you might not have enough draw. When you did the mods, did you put in a heat diffuser in the CC side then add tuning plates? If so, is the any part of the diffuser angled below the top of the hole from the FB blocking air flow? Are there too many tuning plates in? Is your stack the proper length and width? You can check it here:http://www.feldoncentral.com/bbqcalculator.html . Have you tried cracking the FB door open a bit? I have a 15 year old Oklahoma Joe and found that my pit works much better with a 4" stack based off the above calculator. My 2 cents worth.

 

[Mark Adams]

I have a highland as well with similar mods. I start it with about 12-15 briquets along with wood kindling and 2 8ish inch long sticks about 4 inches in diameter. Once the charcoal has heated up I run with the door cracked about 3 inches and the stack wide open. Depending on the size sticks I add I get anywhere between 265 and 325 (that stick was way too big and I had to close both ends to get temp back down. This is without any meat so I’m not sure if that will all change.
Hope that helps!