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Christmas came early
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That is one problem with an all stainless steel grill that uses fairly thin metal. The outer metal is 18 gauge and the inner metal is 20 gauge. Everyone says that the all stainless steel HB's will run very hot until they get a black coating on the inside.
I've seen many pictures of various SS HB grills with the door warped like you describe and when that happens, you are sucking in a lot more air which keeps temps high.
I tried doing the double turn snake on my powder coated Legacy and I could not get the temps up because the rows of charcoal were too narrow.
Hopefully as yours gets used and gunks up, the metal won't get as hot and you won't have all of those internal rail and door warpings or at least to the extent you had.
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Thanks for your input. Am going to try a double turn before cutting down the vent openings. i feel like if the temps are low, maybe putting the deflectors on the higher shelf and raising the fire might give it a boost. When you ran your double turn, did raising the fire not make a meaningful difference in raising the temp?Last edited by Smoldering Flea; December 23, 2020, 01:51 PM.
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surprsied that you couldn't get to temp on your double turn. I got to 270 and my fire had not jumped the fuse yet. though i ran without food so not sure if that makes a material difference.
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I can't remember if I raised the charcoal grate or not but I did prop the door open some and it still would come up to where I wanted it to. It was below 200 degrees and it had been that way for awhile. It was starting to get late so I had to do something to get the temps up. I've not tried the double turn since.
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Test burn #2 on the 357.
Based on how the first burn went, my plan for the second test burn:
2 turn fuse with vents all open to start.
one deflector and a water pan to start with the option to add the second deflector later (but i reversed the placement so that i would not have to slide anything around after the charcoal was lit).
Saw a much more gradual ramp. took 1.5 hours to get to 275 degrees. however, temperatures continued to climb. Added a second deflector which didn't seem to do much and temps continued to climb to > 350. Seemed that temps really ramped after the fire took the first turn near the door. Took a quick look before shutting it down and it looks like at some point the flame jumped, lighting all the charcoal. Thinking i might try reversing the direction so that the flame starts at the door to help get things to temp early then is more moderate and i'll probably close just accept having to choke down the vents. Might also go to natural briquettes. am open to other suggestions.
looks like christmas bbq will be served on the BGE.
Last edited by Smoldering Flea; December 24, 2020, 01:51 PM.
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They say to get about a fist size spot of coals going before adjusting the vents and closing the door and lid. It takes some time to learn how to control temps on a HB. There is a guy on the FB HB group by the name of Jeremy Jackson. When he first got his 357 he was having the same type of high heat issues. I believe he put a light inside his at night to see how many cracks he could see and said that there are many. I think he mainly uses a single turn fuse burn on his and now that his is seasoned up, he is able to maintain more stable temps. He also uses a temp control on his. Search his name in that group.
Hopefully you can get yours dialed in at some point. It can get frustrating for sure.
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to be fair i have not tried shutting the vents down at all (at least until temps went way high). was trying to see if i could cap temps using other methods. bought some briquettes and might try a smaller or more bendy fuse one more time before choking back air.
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70monte you're right. I'm in the middle of my first smoke using the vents. Using the setup they have on youtube (minion with charcoal logs on top). Vents 2/3 closed. Has been flat at 247 for an hour and counting.
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Did my first real smoke on the HB. Unlike the test runs, i was resigned to using the vents. I also went with the method they outline in their video (modified minion with large charcoal pieces on the top). Worked well and likely would have been even better had i not been insistent on trying to maximize the size of the input vent. Stayed within a 20 degree range of 250-270. 1 hour to ramp and 6.5 hour cook. Will check back on the firebox tmrw am, but when i looked mid-cook there was a LOT of charcoal left. I would guess it could have gone at least 8 hours just using half a firebox and in 30 degree temps. The vent setting was the first line in the input vent; and line 2.5-3 on the output vent. when there was visible smoke it looked like there was a slight bit of egress in the door and in the back, but seems pretty clear that you can use the vents to keep a pretty stable temp using their lighting method.at 250+ degrees.
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Sorry. Didn’t have photos on me when I commented. SRF wagyu beef plate ribs. First smoke on the HB and second time I tried cooking beef ribs next time will probably add a bit more rub to try to get a bit more bark—might also try to cook slightly hotter but all in all pretty happy with how this turned out will post how much charcoal was left in the pan tmrw.
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Some charcoal left over (mainly the large pieces that go on top). this cook went for 6.5 hours. I’m guessing that it could have gone at least 8 (with a half firebox) which seems to suggest that a full firebox should take you well into an overnight cook. Used a water pan on one half (higher level) and one of the deflectors in the other half (lower level).
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I believe another benny of placing the Char Logs or Coconut Briquettes on top of the Lump or regular Briquttes is they are dense enough and pretty much diminish/prevent the fire from jumping the fuze maze.
I could be all wrong in that assumption but have only had 1 temp kabuki dance with fire control and it was sans char logs.
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tiewunon did not do a fuse burn on this cook. just lump with a layer of logs on the top
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ecowper think its more the arrow than the indian. Very responsive with small changes in vents (like 1/8" move in vent -> 10 degrees)
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I have only done I think 2 non fuze burns of about 6 hrs duration both times beef ribs. Many non fuze when just grilling. My longest fuze burn was just over 12 hours using B&B briqs with Napoleon Coconut Briqs riding piggyback. I did data log that cook but used no blower. Cooked pretty much chugged along at 265 degs with one spike into the 280’s when my neighbor snuck over to see what was for supper and rubber necked too long.
I am enjoying your journey.
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Once I got over my resistance to using the vents it is very easy to control and very responsive to small changes in vent settings and reasonably stable. I have not used my BGE since (though novelty and grill area a factor). There were a few hiccups which HB has been responsive to so all in all no regrets given my needs. But my decision calculus might not relevant for others
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