Stupid stacking ?

[tnvolsmoker]

Taking a poll, how many build and pyramid and how many spread charcoal out at smoking time?

 

[tom37]

Mine spreads and stacks up when I dump the bag into the basket.

All joking aside, the only time I ever handled each piece of charcoal is when I made a circle charcoal that looked like dominoes. And it was in a weber, coal around the outside and a turkey in the center. Lit one end of the ring and when it was almost burned up I added more coal to the unburnt end until the cook was over.

 

[roltyde]

My fire basket is 16" X 16".  I place a 2# coffee can upside down in the front left corner and then pour my lump charcoal in to fill the basket.  I put a few chunks on top of the lump.  When my chimney-lit charcoal is ready, I remove the coffee can and dump the lit coals into the space left by the can.  I close the vents to 1/2 when the internal temp hits 200 degrees and another 1/2 at 210, another 1/2 at 220 and by the time it levels off at 230-240, I've got my damper closed almost all the way.

I can keep a steady 230-240 for almost 6 hours with no further adjusting or adding more lump, though I drop more chunks in as needed. 

 

[tnvolsmoker]

So you are saying that you fill a 16x16 space except for area under coffee can? How many pounds would you guess you use per smoke?

Would like to try this so I could smoke over night for next day. Thanks