Trouble keeping coals hot while smoking

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JackCity63

Newbie
Original poster
May 14, 2020
3
0
Hi everyone!

This is my first time posting, after finding these forums today. I've been having trouble keeping the coals hot while smoking. I've tried smoking 3 times, 1: a whole chicken and 3 brats, 2: a rack of ribs, and 3: a whole chicken. Other than the brats, I've had to finish everything in the oven. I've attached 2 pictures of the smoker. The outside (before the coals went too cold) and one of the inside.
I drilled some holes in the air-vent inside of the smoker.
The first time I ran it, I just dumped coals in the bottom, after that, I've had a charcoal grate.
I'm thinking that maybe I should try some sort of charcoal basket, to keep the charcoal together, because when I dumped them out after, there were still quite a few black ones. I've used a charcoal chimney, and let the charcoal mostly go white before dumping in the smoker.


If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear, and try them out. I really want this thing to work out.

IMG_20200424_150753.jpg
IMG_20200423_122409.jpg
 
I took the bottom grate from a Webber and it sits above the pipe. I just kinda dump it on that grate
 
Your on the right track. Your gonna need a basket with some legs on it to get it up off the bottom. Search for some UDS builds. For the set up you have there you should find tons of info. The basket in my UDS I have had burn 30+ hours. Also get rid of the pipe with the little tiny holes. Three holes around the outside with valves or caps will give you way better air intake to feed the coals.
 
Last edited:
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When running a setup like yours it's pretty simple.

Not enough draft. Make the changes to your inlets as suggested above. No horizontal pipes inside of the keg. Just a threaded nipple will do.

If you still have problems then increase and/or extend your exhaust.
 
Thanks y'all!
I think I'm going to try doing this one at a time, just to nail down the main problem.
Also, why does the extended exhaust increase flow? I believe you, just not sure about the physics behind it
 
Also, why does the extended exhaust increase flow?
It creates more draw. Exhaust is where the heat escapes. The more the heat escapes the more it draws in fresh air to feed the fire. The better flow you have through your exhaust will also give you much better control of your fire temps using the intakes.
 
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It's not so different from a combustion engine. You need a free flowing exhaust or it will act as a damper. The intake should regulate airflow like a throttle body. You don't want a restrictive exhaust system.
 
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Looks like 3/4" sch-40 pipe from what I can make out from your pictures. I would think you need more air flow. Your set-up is basically a deep kettle grill. The more air in, the more oxygen for combustion, hence a hotter fire. My suggestion would be either put a hole in the side with a damper, or use 2" pipe along with a larger exhaust that's able to be dampened.
 
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