I am just finishing up my custom offset build and I am wondering what the best way is to keep the fire?
Do you start out with some charcoal and add logs through the remainder of the cook? What size?
What are you looking for when attempting to tune the smoke? Blue? Temps? What is the relation
I am a bit of a newb when it comes to offset fire management so I am eager to hear your tips/tricks/tales.
Thanks in advance!
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Last edited by lumbrjk; October 17, 2022, 11:12 AM.
We’ll this is what am doing, small hot fire, using wood splits, (not logs) pre heat your splits, get the splits freakin HOT not just warm. On my next cook am cutting my splits down to about 6 to 8 inches in length, wanting to try that am curious. I am thinking allowing the wood smoke flavor more gradually in turn getting thin blue smoke for those 12 hours smoking. I’m thinking stop pounding the smoke out the exhaust so heavy. Trial and learning, not trial and error.
I don’t like to think of error when smoking, that just causes frustration. The picture is my fire burning during my long pork shoulder cook. I think the fire picture is cool, thinking about framing on the wall. Look at those hot blue flames!
The blue flames are coming out of those hot coals, the split has the candle type flame releasing which if understanding correctly that isn’t the best fire. This is kiln dried Texas post oak.
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Last edited by Ghawtho; October 17, 2022, 01:07 PM.
I get mine gong with a good base of coals, let that go for about an hour to stabilise, Then add pre-heated splits as required and a hand full of lump on occasion. Don't over think it, the temps will fluctuate.
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I have a Shirley Patio smoker and it is a reverse flow.
I grab a few splits and make some kindling out of them and stack them in the firebox and light them up with a torch or a couple of fire starters and let it rip.
then I had some larger splits onto the coal base and monitor the temps
I get it up around 300f and then let it settle back down to 275 ish and add a split +/- 3” dia. About every 1/2 hr. I let it swing between 250-275 +/-
seems to work quite well
I am using red and white oak.
I start with lump and then add 3" - 4" splits as I go and as needed. Length doesn't matter to me so I don't bother cutting them down from firewood size of 16". You're shooting for thin blue or no discernable smoke (it is still smoking, however). Get one of these or something similar: https://www.amazon.com/Kindling-Crac...13324952&psc=1
This is exactly what I do - the kracker is wonderful! I usually get several bags of hickory logs from home depot and prep them all at once. Most of the logs that come in the bag have to be split in half or thirds as they are too big to really catch in the firebox. I have an OK Joe Longhorn, btw
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I'm cooking on a Lang Patio 48 inch and I start with lump charcoal.
Pardon me if I'm repeating info here, but I like to lay out about three full size sheets of newspaper and put the pile of lump charcoal in the middle of the newspaper. I can do this on my patio table. Then I grab two corners of the newspaper diagonal from one another and pick the whole thing up and take it over to the fire box. This sure beats trying to empty a charcoal bag into the fire box.
Now don't go telling anyone about this, but I am one of at least two people on the planet still buying and using charcoal lighter fluid to start charcoal in an offset. I give the lump a good dowsing, light it, and let it go for quite some time.
I begin adding splits after the coals have had a chance to take off. If I'm cooking at 9 am, I'm lighting the fire between 7 and 7:30 to be up and running with good, clean smoke.
I also keep a fireplace poker and a set of wood tongs to manage the fire box during the cook.
I would try to describe my methods but that gets long and involved depending on what the weather is doing. I'm in the Midwest and I cook regardless of the conditions outside.
I'm sure you know, the more you cook the better you're going to get!
Share lots of pictures and keep asking questions. Brian
Panhead John that makes three of us. Myron Mixon is the other guy I was thinking about.
I use a charcoal chimney most of the other time without fluid, but lighting that stick burner with lighter fluid is something I probably won't ever give up.
Don’t blame you a bit. I’ve never had an issue with any kind of aftertaste after using lighter fluid. If I’m doing a hot and fast cook on my Bronco, for an hour or two, I’ll sometimes just fill the charcoal pan, put it in the Bronco, and squirt away.
This is just an observation, but the rods on your firebox rack seem a bit far apart. Which can lead to the coals falling down in-between when they break down. I had that issue in my Jambo. Coal bed fell between the rods. So I had to put in another chimney of lump to build back up the coal bed during the cook. Since then I laid a wire mesh (like Ghawtho) on top of the firebox grate. This prolonged my coal bed. FWIW......
Another thing I learned, keep your splits warm. A cold log takes longer to ignite and burn, thus smoldering can occur and incomplete combustion. I found keeping my splits warm helped. They caught fast, good smoke and helped keep the temp up. I would keep one in the cooking chamber and rotate as I used them.
When it comes to fires I’m in favor of small, hot fires. Exhaust vent always 100% open, and I don’t even close the firebox door. I want the fire to use all the air it wants, which leads to cleaner smoke.
I regulate temps by how much wood I add to the fire. This has lead me to breaking down logs fairly small - typically 3-4” wide and less than a foot long - so I can hit my target temps of 250-275°F.
There’s always a shovel close by for maintaining the coal bed and removing ash; again, all in the name of the fire freely breathing.
I start my fires with a small stack of lump using a weed burner (big time saver in getting pit started and stabilized), then add a couple logs. Once those logs are cleanly burning with a nice flame and thin blue/clear smoke and temps are stable I add the meat and let the magic happen.
You can see a pic of my fire in my profile picture.
Light a fire and let’er rip!
You’ll regulate it on the fly…
No two fires are the same…
Air flow on a bed of coals is different than a fiery stack of just inserted sticks of firewood…
Enjoy being the fireman..
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