Smoker troubles

[Speeds9408]

So I a new to the world of offset smoking. I have an OK joe highland offset smoker and I am struggling with fire management. I can’t seem to get it to pull a good draft over the coal bed. Iv tried with the grate , without the grate; only lump charcoal, only wood; fire near the door fire away from the door. I understand there is a learning curve to every smoker and new hobby but I feel like I’m trying all of these things with marginal wins but they all seem to struggle with pulling a draft and keeping good oxygen flow. There are times I struggle to get the cook chamber up to 250-275. I don’t have any add ons but I have sealed all doors and opening. I feel like in its simplest form should pull a draft and maintain a good fire. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[phatbac]

Make sure your stack is wide open at all times. Open the inlet dampers and once you have a fire going close the cook chamber except for about 1/2 inch and it will draft heat and smoke until you have a good coal bed. Add a split every half hour or so. Keep air flowing!

Happy Smoking
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[Speeds9408]

So I have been leaving stack open and the door wide open to get good flow. I even tried to leave door open about an inch( that seemed to yield the best result)

 

[sawhorseray]

Are you starting out with enough charcoal, like maybe 6-7 pounds at least? I see where the OK Joe has just the one air inlet on the firebox so you'll want to get a really roaring fire going inside that firebox to attain a good bed of coals, adding wood like Aaron said, before closing the door all the way. How cold is it where you're at?

 

[flatbroke]

Place a fan by the fire box vents. And aim it so it partially flows in if you dotn get enough air

 

[Speeds9408]

Well when I got it, it was prob about 50 degrees and I smoked yesterday it was about 30 degrees. I think I may not be getting a good enough coal bed down. I have used a fan and it helped, but I also felt like it burned much hotter and faster. I’m not opposed to the fan but if I could, I’d like to keep the fan as a tool in my back pocket instead of relying on it. Do you think if I make another vent hole, thing would improve? Sometimes I will crack the top door and the fire improves but I feel like I am losing a lot of heat.

 

[Speeds9408]

I am considering a coal basket as well, do you guys think this will help or hurt this?

 

[smokingunny]

I cannot stress enough to leave the stack wide open. I have a buddy here who uses a Longhorn and he will not leave his stack more than half open because the temp falls. He also uses matchlight charcoal DURING the cooking process, against my advice so there's that.

Are you letting your fire really get going before you close it down?

 

[Speeds9408]

I leave everything wide open, like I said times I struggle to even get to temp. That may be my issue, not enough of a coal bed or fire going before I start

 

[sawhorseray]

A coal basket wouldn't hurt, and neither would another vent as long as you make a way of closing it. 30º is pretty nippy and your OK Joe isn't real thick skinned. Your going to need a real good bed of coals and more air will make the fire burn hotter and faster, so you'll need to be feeding more wood more often. A temp probe that's independent of the one that came on the smoker is also a good idea, the ones that come from the factory can be notoriously inaccurate. My SQ36 devours wood, and it never gets all that cold where I live in AZ. Part of the challenge and fun in using a offset is heat control, but it can't be beat for imparting smoke flavor. They have to be monitored constantly, beer helps. RAY

 

[fowldarr]

When I first got my Brinkmann I had to use a fan anytime it dropped below about 45 in order to get a good flow going. (Now it has a warped ash pan that allows for extra airflow.....not a good thing, but it helps get a good temp going).

Sounds like you are keeping your stack wide open. What kind of charcoal are you using? Might want to try lump charcoal.

 

[Speeds9408]

I use royal oak

 

[forktender]

A basket helps a lot as long as there is air space under the coals with room for the ash.
I started mine with a full Weber charcoal chimney and my charcoal basket held about three chimneys full total 1 lit and 2 unlit. Also, adding a few good size chunks or a small split really helps get the draft going, start with the fire box door open about 2'' . Once you get it up to temp close the door and make sure the vent is all the way open. Sometimes I had to run mine with the vent on the fire box door open and the door open about 1''.
Keep the cooking chamber door closed and the stack wide open at all times adjust the temp with fuel load and incoming air only. I'll tell ya they are a bitch to stabilize and hold steady temps. if you are within 20* you're doing well. The best mod you can do on the ok joe is make or buy a heat defuser plate and add a 3'' sheet metal 90* inside the fire box to bring the exhaust down lower to the cooking chamber and adding a good size stainless steel water pan to place in front of the opening that goes from the fire box into the smoke chamber.
For me it helped even out the two sides of the smoke chamber.

This is what I used for a water pan.

Good luck, don't give up, they are a bitch to get dialed in but once you get them figured out they kick out some damn good grub.

 

[phathead69]

How about this, since I find it easier to hold higher temps steady at first, with Nothing in the cook chamber, get some kindling going. Have a well seasoned and dry stack of wrist sized splits about 10 to 12 inches long. Start adding splits until you basically have a decent fire going. Stack open and vents wide open. Grab a beverage and watch temps. Get the temps above what you cook at just for a number say 350F. Add more wood if needed dont worry about TBS on this yet . If when you reach temp work at maintaining this high temp for a little while. Once you have that start letting temp drop and when at temp say 230F. Add split and watch what happens and start looking for the TBS also. It really is practice makes it easier. Weather plays a huge factor. With well seasoned and dry wood, maintaining temps on a windy or high humidity day is different then a calm day low humidity. Good luck.

 

[radioguy]

Can air get to the fire base? Is air available underneath? Send a picture of your grate setup.
I had to experiment, wide spaced grate, spaced firebrick. I finally found that a double #9 expanded grate worked best for air flow and coal retention. Base is #9 1 3/4" grate and I top it with a basket made from the same material.

RG

 

[smokingunny]

Can air get to the fire base? Is air available underneath? Send a picture of your grate setup.
I had to experiment, wide spaced grate, spaced firebrick. I finally found that a double #9 expanded grate worked best for air flow and coal retention. Base is #9 1 3/4" grate and I top it with a basket made from the same material.

RG

I didn't like the grate that came with mine so I built one out of 3/4" expanded steel and angle iron.

 

[phathead69]

What radio said

Good point and shows another point. All smokers ain't the same. Right now got two racks of St Louis going. Finished a brisket yesterday. All with fire built on the bricks, no grates. Only the cold of the coldest days to I put in my rack to raise the fire off the floor. Will hold 230 to 250 all day like that. Gotta find what makes yours tick.

 

[smokingunny]

I think someone pointed out that weather plays a big part in it too. I was stationed in AZ when I really got into smoking but when I retired and moved to FL, the humidity caused me to re-learn how my smoker works.

 

[Speeds9408]

Well after some tuning and patience (probably my biggest issue) I am currently holding 300 degrees with a beautiful blue smoke coming out of the stack. I basically built a big fire and let it cook down into a nice coal bed and went from there. I actually had to gate my stack a little bit because it was getting too hot. Thank you everyone for the tips and years of experience.