Question about low n slow

[Jchoyos]

Hey all, I own something like a "pit barrel" or a peruvian smoking barrel to be more exact, it is a small one which has a very small charcoal basket... I wanna do some low n slow with it but i can't see how to manage the charcoal to do that as it only takes about half a chimney worth of charcoal... Any tips here would be greatly appreciated . Tia, pictures for you to see the damn thing

 

[TuckersBarbeque]

Half a chimney is more than sufficient in a barrel that size to get 250 degreesF, in fact I think your largest challenge would be to keep the temperature low enough when it's hot outside with a full load of charcoal.
It sounds like you might want to do a trial smoke with it, no meat, and see how long you can keep it at 250. I'd start with a 50% capacity, and full open all vents.
Once you hit your maximum temperature, which I'm sure will be greater than 250, begin closing the inlet vent little by little until the temperature levels off at 250. As the cook goes on, you'll want a little more air to get the remaining volume of charcoal hotter than it was, so begin opening the inlet vent to keep it at 250. Then practice adding new charcoal.
I generally don't mess with the exhaust vent, and keep it full to half open depending on the external temperature.
Make sure you have a reliable digital thermometer to monitor the temp.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

So I managed to find that barrel, the Parrilleros Volcano, and it appears to NOT have adjustable vents. That would diminish your ability to control the heat.

Barril Asador de Carbón Volcano Marte tamaño mediano

5 años de garantía. Hasta 11kg de carne. Compra en línea tu asador Volcano pagando seguro con tarjeta de débito, crédito o PayPal. Enviamos a todo el país totalmente gratis. Fabricado en México. Compra protegida.

volcano.com.mx

 

[TuckersBarbeque]

Well then... Sounds like some mods are going to need to take place. Looks like a diffuser on top of the charcoal basket for indirect diffused heat, with possibly a water basin on top of that.
I made a smoker out of an old oil barrel once, cut holes in the bottom similar to what is shown there (probably where they got the idea as is typical of oil barrel conversions). I balled up aluminum foil and would stuff it partially in the hole... I could squeeze the sides of the balls a bit to increase the airflow, or stick them in the hole a bit more to decrease it.
Wasn't the best system, but it was all I had.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

To Jchoyos, the aluminum foil idea above is a good one, but however you achieve it, you'll need to reduce/restrict the air coming in to achieve the low temps needed for "low and slow" cooking. I regularly use my Weber kettle grill for low and slow indirect cooking and have found that my inlet vent has to be almost completely closed in order to keep temps down. Outlet vent is wide open...

 

[Jchoyos]

Half a chimney is more than sufficient in a barrel that size to get 250 degreesF, in fact I think your largest challenge would be to keep the temperature low enough when it's hot outside with a full load of charcoal.
It sounds like you might want to do a trial smoke with it, no meat, and see how long you can keep it at 250. I'd start with a 50% capacity, and full open all vents.
Once you hit your maximum temperature, which I'm sure will be greater than 250, begin closing the inlet vent little by little until the temperature levels off at 250. As the cook goes on, you'll want a little more air to get the remaining volume of charcoal hotter than it was, so begin opening the inlet vent to keep it at 250. Then practice adding new charcoal.
I generally don't mess with the exhaust vent, and keep it full to half open depending on the external temperature.
Make sure you have a reliable digital thermometer to monitor the temp.

As a fellow user wrote, it doesn't have adjustable vents :( but thanks a lot for the info

 

[Jchoyos]

Well then... Sounds like some mods are going to need to take place. Looks like a diffuser on top of the charcoal basket for indirect diffused heat, with possibly a water basin on top of that.
I made a smoker out of an old oil barrel once, cut holes in the bottom similar to what is shown there (probably where they got the idea as is typical of oil barrel conversions). I balled up aluminum foil and would stuff it partially in the hole... I could squeeze the sides of the balls a bit to increase the airflow, or stick them in the hole a bit more to decrease it.
Wasn't the best system, but it was all I had.

Thanks a lot! I did had that idea of the aluminum foil!

 

[Jchoyos]

To Jchoyos, the aluminum foil idea above is a good one, but however you achieve it, you'll need to reduce/restrict the air coming in to achieve the low temps needed for "low and slow" cooking. I regularly use my Weber kettle grill for low and slow indirect cooking and have found that my inlet vent has to be almost completely closed in order to keep temps down. Outlet vent is wide open...

Thanks a lot for the dedication to even find out the thing and yes they are not the best butt they are the best in here where i live (same city where they are manufactured) i do want to mod it and it was completely free :)