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Light my (Hasty Bake) fire!

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    #16
    I put a drip pan on the heat deflector which prevents flare ups and start fire pretty slow.

    Comment


    • IowaGirl
      IowaGirl commented
      Editing a comment
      So no water in the pan -- it's just a barrier. That would be less messy!

    #17
    Wow, tons of experience here. I have had my Hasty for about 2 years. Getting used to it is a bit of a learning curve but I have the hang of it now. I usually just add some handfuls of good lump if I need to maintain heat. Seems to work good for me.

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      #18
      Very nice sticky. I've owned an old 60's model Boomer HB(the size of a new Legacy) for a little over two years and bought a new unused Legacy back in Oct. from someone off of CL. Grilling has been fine but trying to smoke anything has always been problematic since these grills are not air tight at all.

      While I have not tried the maze setup, I have tried the method in the HB 101 burn method with not very good success. I can't keep the temps down under 300 degrees no matter what I do. Most of the time it wants to run about 350. My opinion is that the side fire door is the main problem as it lets too much air around it even when latched tight. When the grill heats up, the door tends to warp slightly, letting in even more air. I can have all of my vents closed down 100% and still maintain an over 300 degree internal temp and it will burn up all of the charcoal left after a cook.

      I love the history and the adjustable fire grate of the HB but hate trying to do long smokes on it.

      Comment


      • IowaGirl
        IowaGirl commented
        Editing a comment
        Even before I sealed the fire door (see earlier in this thread), I have been able to control temps in the range of 275-300 F. My guess is one of the key skills to learn is knowing when to close up the cooker when the right amount of charcoal is actively burning -- don't let the fire get burning too strongly at first if you want to keep the temp lower during the cook.

      #19
      On my last longer cook, I only got one fist sized area of lump going before shutting the lid and door and the temps still ended up going up to around 320 on the gauge. I typically like smoking between 250-275 so having the grill going and staying over 300 is very frustrating.

      Comment


      • IowaGirl
        IowaGirl commented
        Editing a comment
        Yes, it would be for me too. Have you given any thought to sealing some of those leaks and see what happens then?

      #20
      Yes, I've thought about sealing the door since I feel it's the biggest leak. I just need to buy some high heat gasket.

      Comment


        #21
        I cooked 6 pounds of beef short ribs yesterday, and gave details of the cook in this thread about cooking meat straight from the freezer.

        What I want to share here is how my Hasty Bake performed during this cook.

        To recap, I have added Lavalock gaskets to the firedoor, and that has helped a LOT (see Post #11). This is a tweak that I heartily recommend doing. I also put a strip of gasket on the bottom of the top lid to seal this lid a little better. The sides of the lid still leak a little, but I'm getting good control and stopping these leaks might be more trouble than it's worth, so I'm not worrying about them.

        For this cook, I used about 80 Royal Oak (RO) briquettes -- actually I measured two scoops of my calibrated Folgers coffee can.

        RO is a new brand for me; up to now I've only used Kingsford Original (KBB). The RO briqs didn't smoke as heavily at first, compared to KBB briqs. I think I got roughly the same amount of cook time from the 80 RO briqs as I would from KBB -- maybe a tiny bit less, but the difference was small.

        I set up the charcoal and wood and lit the fire exactly like I show in Post #10. The briqs piled high enough to just peek out over the top of the firebox with the wood more or less in the middle. I set a firebrick at the far end of the firebox to corral the briqs, again just as the photos in Post #10 show.

        I honestly don't think the firebrick is essential. I like it as an aid to help me keep the layer of briqs the same depth from one end of the firebox to the other, but careful stacking without a firebrick will work fine too.

        I lit the charcoal with the top lid and side fire door wide open. I set the top exhaust vent and the firedoor intake vent so they are wide open. After about 10 minutes, I closed the fire door so the air input is only through the firedoor vent. edit: I also added the diffuser at this point.

        I put the frozen ribs on the cooker and closed the top lid about 20 minutes after lighting the charcoal. Normally with KBB, I'd wait maybe another 10 minutes to let the smoke settle down more, but the RO wasn't smoking heavily at that point, so I went ahead with the meat a little earlier than usual.

        The initial cooker temperature at the time I added the meat was around 170 F. That was quite a bit below my goal of 275F / 135C, but I'm learning that I'm better off to close the cooker firedoor and lid right after the fire is going well and let the temp rise gradually to my target with just the firedoor and top exhaust vents wide open.

        The times I've hurried the HB so it heats up faster, I have spent the rest of the cook fighting to get the temp under good control. It's not worth it -- a little patience getting the HB going at first will result in better control overall with far less fiddling and frustration.

        Once the temp gets close to the target temperature, I will close the firedoor vent most of the way to slow the temp rise. I often have to re-open the vent later once the temp stabilizes, but after that it seems to maintain pretty steady temps. If the temp gets away from me that closing the firedoor vent is not enough, I'll then close the top exhaust vent partway. I'm getting better about not having to do that as much as I used to.

        Forty minutes after adding the frozen ribs, the cooker temp had gradually risen to 275F, and it stayed pretty consistent throughout the cook, bouncing up a few degrees and then down a few.

        I started the cook with the firedoor vent and top exhaust vent wide open. About an hour after adding the meat, I closed the firedoor vent to a 1/8 inch / 3 mm gap for about an hour, then opened the vent again. I didn't make any adjustments to the top exhaust vent -- it stayed wide open throughout.

        I got about 5 hours of cook time from the time I put the meat on the cooker to the time the temp had fallen off to 230F due to the briquettes burning out. This time doesn't include the 20 minutes needed to start the charcoal.

        I should probably have started with about 100 RO briquettes to make sure the temp stayed up for a full 6 hours or so, just in case the ribs needed a little more time to fully cook. But it worked out fine in the end.

        Here's the cook times I'm getting using KBB and RO briquettes for cooking at 275-325F / 135-165C --

        40 briquettes -- 2-2.5 hours
        80 briquettes -- 3-4 hours
        100 briquettes -- 5-6 hours
        160 briquettes -- 7-8 hours
        Last edited by IowaGirl; July 20, 2020, 11:39 AM.

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        • ecowper
          ecowper commented
          Editing a comment
          Great to see how much control you are getting with your HB. I like mine running about 250F and it seems to dial in there pretty good.

        #22
        My goal today was to run at 250F for 3 hours. I’m smoking a chuck roast to make chili. Here’s what I did

        1 smallish piece of red oak taken off a split with a hatchet, about 1” X 1/2” wide and 12” long
        30 Kingsford Pro briquettes unlit and laid in the door end of the firebox, red oak piece mixed in with it
        30 Kingsford Pro briquettes lit, dumped on top of the unlit
        9” x 13” x 2” aluminum pan, filled with water, in the other end of the firebox
        Door vent cracked about 1/4 open and 1 vent on indirect end about 1/4 open
        Firebox set at the lowest setting that still allows air to circulate underneath it

        Temp got a bit higher than I wanted, about 270F, so I closed the vents down just a bit more.

        Temps running in the 250’s and holding nicely steady. :-)

        Forgot to take a pic of the firebox set up, hope that my description makes sense

        Click image for larger version

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        Comment


        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          How did you seal the bottom of the door since there is no lip for it to rest against like the other three sides? Do you have a picture of this?
          Last edited by 70monte; September 6, 2020, 12:31 PM.

        • IowaGirl
          IowaGirl commented
          Editing a comment
          In Post 10 I explain how I sealed my fire door on the top and both sides. I didn't add any gasket to the bottom, although I could have (and still might). I'm getting good results with temperature control without having to shut the vents. If I was having to keep the vents fully shut a lot of the time for control, I'd add a gasket at the bottom. But it looks like things are working okay -- did a rump roast last week and the HB chugged along nicely in the 240-260 F range without much fiddling.
          Last edited by IowaGirl; September 6, 2020, 04:39 PM.

        • ecowper
          ecowper commented
          Editing a comment
          IowaGirl I think the Continental, with the smaller cook chamber, is going to actually need more air flow than the Gourmet. The real key is to get the thing set up right and then learn how to run it at the temps that you want.

        #23
        70monte this is what I did. I have a dual finish Gourmet, but the firebox door setup should be exactly the same as a Legacy. I used 1/4” Lavalock. The bottom looks newer because I recently replaced it. I end up replacing the seals every 18 months or so


        The door closes very snugly with the seals in place, instead of wiggling and being loose.
        Click image for larger version  Name:	33DCF631-3C8F-448A-81D5-3ACB7A4A7214.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	4.67 MB ID:	906677
        Here you should be able to see the lavalock on the edges the door closes against on the top and left side
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        Here you can see that I used the lavalock along the bottom of the body that the door closes above. It actually fills the gap well
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        And here you can see the bottom of the door is well sealed
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        Last edited by ecowper; September 6, 2020, 02:26 PM.

        Comment


        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks ecowper, I see how you did the bottom. Did you use the 1/4 Lava lock for all the sides you did or just on the bottom? People on the FB group said to use the 1/2" x 1/8" gasket for the sides.

        • ecowper
          ecowper commented
          Editing a comment
          70monte I had to go look when you asked this question. I actually am using the 1/8” lavalock on the HB. I have some 1/4” as well and have used that for a couple other things (like a stove that needed sealing). Both are sitting on my workbench and I guess I misremembered which I was using.

        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks for the info. I went and measured my gap at the bottom of the door and it's about 1/4" on the left side of the door and then narrows to about 1/8" toward the hinge. I don't want to buy two sizes since the gaskets are expensive. I'm still trying to see if there is another option for the bottom. I don't know why HB didn't put a piece of metal across the bottom of the opening like they did on the new 357 so that the bottom of the door would have something to press against.

        #24
        I used the 1/8" thick Lavalock for the sides and top. There isn't enough clearance for the 1/4" thickness, but the 1/4" might work fine on the bottom if the gasket is installed so the door butts up to the gasket rather than ride over the gasket.

        Comment


        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks to both of you for the info. I guess I will be ordering some to try out.

        • IowaGirl
          IowaGirl commented
          Editing a comment
          I hope it works well for you. Sealing those leaks has made a real difference in my cooks (and hands-on practice has been helping a lot too!)

        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          I have another quick question, when you guys start your fire, are you leaving the lid and side door open after you get your coals started or just the lid? I was talking to Nick Parsons and some other people in the HB FB group about the fire starting technique and they said to only leave the lid open and not the side door. I have been leaving both open for about 10 minutes and then shutting things down. I wonder if this is causing my fire to get too hot to fast? I still need to get gaskets.

        #25
        70monte -- I have been leaving the lid and the side door (fire door) open wide while lighting, whether I'm doing a lower-slower cook or a hot 'n fast cook. After about 10 minutes I close both the fire door and the lid, but leave the vents in the fire door full open as well as the vents in the cook chamber wide open for a little while longer.

        I think ecowper starts his briquettes in a separate chimney and then adds them to the cooker, and you know a chimney is going to get briqs going good 'n fast.

        Honestly, I don't think there's any magic to getting the briqs started -- it's whatever works for you. The point, in my opinion, is to get sufficient briqs burning well when the cooker is closed up -- not too many, not too few.

        For a lower-slower cook, I want a double handful of briqs to be about 50% ashed over when I close the fire door and start prepping the HB for the cook. I've found that temps won't rise into a decent cooking range if there is are fewer briqs burning when I close up the cooker. I found that temps shoot up too fast for a lower-slower cook if more briqs than a double handful are burning.

        Whether your cooker overshoots the final cook temp or stays in control is (again IMO) more about how you adjust and restrict the air flow after that double handful is going okay.

        Assuming you want low to moderate temps for a longer cook, you want the cooker grate temp to take about 30 minutes to ooze up to its final temp range, not shoot up there fast.

        Comment


        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          Here is an update. I bought the Lavalock and installed it for the side door. I also put a strip on the bottom like ecowper showed on his. I also cut one of my extra grease rods to put behind the gasket on the bottom. Doing all of this made a huge difference in temp control. It actually took longer to get it up to temp so I will have to keep the lid open longer during the lighting process. I did the snake method and was about to keep temps around 250 on the rib cook I did yesterday.

        • 70monte
          70monte commented
          Editing a comment
          The lump and B&B comp logs burned for over 13 hrs though the temps were lower toward the end. I'm very happy that I did this mod and want to thank everyone for their input and suggestions.

        • IowaGirl
          IowaGirl commented
          Editing a comment
          Glad to hear the gaskets have helped!

        #26
        Some tips for low temp smoking in the Hasty Bake for yummy stuff such as dried beef jerky and tomato "raisins" a la Meathead --

        Build a fire the usual way (see my Post #21) but use about half the briquettes you would normally use for a higher temperature cook. If you corral the briquettes with firebrick, as I like to do (see Post #10), then reduce the area of the fire to about 1/2 the usual area. When the fire is going well, add the damper, add the meat or other food you want to smoke, and close up the cooker as normal (again, see Post #21)

        Plan on feeding the fire about 10 briquettes, give or take a few, every 45 to 60 minutes. Once you tweak the vents to your liking and feed the fire from time to time, the Hasty Bake should hold a fairly steady 180-200 F temperature for hours without a lot of fiddling with vents and such. What worked best for me is to leave the fire door vents and the vents on the left side of the cook area all wide open. Just feed enough briquettes as needed to maintain that temperature.

        I will say I have the smaller Continental model, so if you have a larger Hasty Bake, you might need to add a few more briquettes than I do to compensate.

        Comment


        • ecowper
          ecowper commented
          Editing a comment
          Great tip!

        #27
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          #28
          Hopefully this will all flow together. I have been using my 256 stainless steel for just over a year and thought I would offer observations, tips and what not. Top pic is the Snarr Bar done up for Halloween so cheers to that. Prior to my HB I used a weber wanabe Patio grill for 15 years. Actually a good knockoff as it had an enclosed ash can unlike Webers at the time. I could kill steaks, chops, chicken with that grill. But hey, it was a "cheap" Weber knockoff. Decided to go all in on the HB. Gave away the Patio to "good home". Yeh, right. Putting aluminum foil down on ash pan is a must. Cleanliness and clean up ease. Early on I would light charcoals without benefit of chimney and it was a big mistake. Also switched from lighter cubes to lighter gel. So much better and quicker and easier..... You'll notice that I am using only one "side" of main grill and warmer grill also removed. Can almost always cook what I need on this space. Was cooking something with a marinade and had all the grills in place.at the time. Clean up was a nightmare as the sauce circulated throughout inside, coating everything. No more. If I don't need a grill for a cook it's safely tucked away. And speaking of cleanliness, mine gets a thorough going over each and every time I cook. Don't want any possibility of food picking up stray scent. A complaint I heard about HB was people couldn't keep window clean. Bottom pic shows my cleaning kit including glass cleaner. That stuff works. See above pic. So I find I am cooking for 2-4 people most of the time with most cooks being of fairly quick time. As I previously have stated, have used the "fuse" method on several occasions with varying success. I just recently sold my 26 in. Weber gold with a Smoke E-Z conversion (think large bullet smoker on legs) that was great for longer cooks up to 12 hours. Kinda sorry to see it go as I don't see the HB being an apt replacement for that. I do find that the HB embarks a more profound smoke/grill taste to my usual meats. I need to expand and try pizza and other baked goods. The HB I got is probably bigger than I really need, but I am just an ordinary guy. Not at all sorry I bought this and that it's my only grill now. I do find myself sometimes daydreaming of pellets.......

          Comment


            #29
            Awesome thread!!! Thanks so much for posting this. I can't wait to get my HB ( won in March give away ) . I need a lot of training so can't wait to absorb all of this information- just what I needed .

            Comment


            • ecowper
              ecowper commented
              Editing a comment
              I can't wait to see your first cooks!

            #30
            Awesome thread! Thanks very much to IowaGirl for starting it and the rest of you for your brilliant contributions. My brand spanking new 131 arrives on Monday (6/27), and I couldn't be more excited. Any suggestions on getting prepped for cooking? Is it a necessity to put the Lavalock gasket on the door? So many questions......Inquiring minds what to know.

            Comment


            • DrPoke
              DrPoke commented
              Editing a comment
              Thanks! Glad to be here.

            • ecowper
              ecowper commented
              Editing a comment
              It is not a necessity to put a gasket on the door. If you don't, you will get more air than you expect, creating a hotter fire. You can mitigate a lot of that with the air vents. Also, tons of good info on youtube from Hasty-Bake owners and employees

            • IowaGirl
              IowaGirl commented
              Editing a comment
              I agree with Ecowper that you don't absolutely have to put the gaskets on the door, but sealing those door leaks has sure made my life easier when I cook with my HB.

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