Questions about my new smoker

[Jcof88]

Hello all, new here and to smoking, I bought a new Char Griller competition pro offset wood smoker, I ran into some problems last night while trying to smoke my first pork but that was 5lbs, I sprayed the grill off with spam and let it burn for 2 hours like the manual said and then started cooking at 225 degrees, I used apple wood chucks and had a hard time maintaining 225 constant open and close vents to keep this between 225 and 240 but sometimes would get over 250 and close to 300 and get below 200, I tried to just let the wood to burn down and use the heat but again it would lose heat and not stay around 225, so I used a whole 2 big bags of kingsford apple chunks, i left the fire box vent open about 1/4 of the way and same with the smoke stack, is this right or am I doing something wrong, any suggestion would be greatly appreciated, it took almost 12 hours for a 5lb porkbutt. Just 1 more question when I got up today to look at the smoker i had a hard time opening the main door as it was stuck on something that leaked out on the sides of the door it's very dark and sticky and very glossy, the whole inside of the lid is very glossy. What is this. Thanks

P.s I only used wood no charcoal

 

[smokerjim]

temp management will take time, it's an art and you'll have patience. when I used my off set I tried to just use the vent on the stack to control temp, it seems if I tried to many adjustments everywhere the temps would be all over the place, maybe some of the pro's will be around to help more, as for the black stuff it maybe creosote, grease, just scrape it off and you should be fine. good luck

 

[fivetricks]

Richards advice is very good. Also am willing to bet that it leaks like crazy right out of the box. A smoker that isn't all but air tight is going to be awful hard to manage.

There's tons of threads on here about how folks have greatly improved their big box offsets for not a lot of money or trouble :-)

 

[radio]

looks like the smoke did not exhaust well and just made creosote. Are you sure the chunks were well seasoned?
Most stick burners are happy in the 270-280° range and trying to maintain 225 is an exercise in futility. You might want to start your fire with a chimney full of briquettes and add wood splits to those, then more briquets as needed. maybe alternate with wood one feeding, then briquets the next.
My offsets need feeding every 45 minutes to an hour and I keep extra splits on top of the fire box so they pre heat and combust more readily, and with less white smoke.
Most folks use the packaged chunks in electric or gas smokers for the wood flavor. If using only those in a stick burner, you had an expensive smoke!

 

[Jcof88]

Thanks all for the help and advice, yes it was an expensive smoke lol, not sure of the chunks were well seasoned bought them at home depot, went though 2 bags lol....anyways thanks again really appreciate it

 

[kawboy]

But, how did it taste?

 

[Heart of Dixie]

The shiny stuff is creosote from smouldering wood. It can make the meat very bitter. Don't stress trying maintain 225. Pork butts are very forgiving. You can do them from 225 up to 300 and everywhere in between all during the same cook. You don't want to see any white smoke, just thin blue or none. The only way to make a good pork butt is to keep trying until you figure the pit out. I leave the firebox door and the exhaust wide open then control the temp with the size of the fire. Knowing the CC ambient temp and watching it closely to me is the key.You will soon be able to look at the fire and or the exiting smoke and know what to do. I shoot for maintaining a temp between 250 and 275 and usually end up with a few gusts up to 290-300 for a short period. A "Kindling Cracker" is a wonderful tool if you burn sticks. It make adjustments a breeze. I found that using smaller, preheated splits, 10" or so long is best for my pit. Read or watch Building a Fire by Aaron Franklin.
It will get easier.

 

[Jcof88]

But, how did it taste?

It was awesome had so much flavor

 

[Jcof88]

The shiny stuff is creosote from smouldering wood. It can make the meat very bitter. Don't stress trying maintain 225. Pork butts are very forgiving. You can do them from 225 up to 300 and everywhere in between all during the same cook. You don't want to see any white smoke, just thin blue or none. The only way to make a good pork butt is to keep trying until you figure the pit out. I leave the firebox door and the exhaust wide open then control the temp with the size of the fire. Knowing the CC ambient temp and watching it closely to me is the key.You will soon be able to look at the fire and or the exiting smoke and know what to do. I shoot for maintaining a temp between 250 and 275 and usually end up with a few gusts up to 290-300 for a short period. A "Kindling Cracker" is a wonderful tool if you burn sticks. It make adjustments a breeze. I found that using smaller, preheated splits, 10" or so long is best for my pit. Read or watch Building a Fire by Aaron Franklin.
It will get easier.

Thank you, I will check out the video I did practice with just wood yesterday and left the exhaust vent all open and try to maintain with the firebox vent was able to keep between 220 and 275 for about 3 hours with a few flare ups around 300 much better then before, was able to keep a thin smoke most of the time, I think wood logs are a lot easier to manage then chunks lol, any suggestion on what to clean the creosote from the smoker thanks again

 

[Heart of Dixie]

The creosote should just burn off with the higher heat. You might want to build a good fire and not put anything on the pit for a while and take a look. I would not want pieces to fall off on the ribs, butt, brisket etc.