Fabricated a fire management basket

[Henrik]

So, as some of you may have seen Lone Star Grillz make some awesome offset smokers. They also manufacture a fire management basket, see photo below:



Now I’ve seen it in a few YouTube videos, and it gets good reviews. The idea is that with the slanted walls the glowing embers are kept closer together as they fall down when splits are burning. This allegedly gives you two benefits:
1. More fuels efficiently, and
2. you don’t have to add splits that often

I like the idea, but not sure if it works or not. So today I decided to build one. Just a quick job, zero precision, a proof of concept to test it out.



This is what I came up with. It measures 12x12 inches, and about 10” tall. Already I think I’ll do a few mods before firing it up. First out: cut off 1-1.5” from the walls, to lower it a bit.


Does anyone else have experience with this product or similar? What do you think?

[RonB]

I think you like playin' with metal. Looks good though.

[Henrik]

Caught red handed 😄

[barelfly]

I love seeing the skillz you all have, making this type of stuff!

[Johnny Booth]

I have no experience with it, but I am very curious. Please keep us posted. 👍😎

[Oak Smoke]

That’s great! If you just threw that together you could have made a fortune here with an oil field fab shop.

[Redwng]

I have one similar on my LSG and wondered if the sides were angled more to the outside and a little higher like your second pic I would be able to get longer/bigger diameter pieces in the basket. Just a thought.

[Henrik]

Cool, do you use it regularly, and can you tell if there is a difference compared to not using it?

[Redwng]

Henrik,

I use it almost all the time. I have experimented with putting some expanded metal on the grate which seems to hold the charcoal and wood better than nothing at all. That keeps a good pile in the center. For that last 6-7 cooks I have been using the basket each time. It does a good job funneling stuff down to the bottom in a small pile. I have thought that maybe a wider basket a little higher might work even better.

Mike (aka Redwng)

[Henrik]

Thanks Redwng! I’ll fire it up this weekend. The main “feature” l’m after is: can I add logs/splits less often with this basket? What are your thoughts?

[WayneT]

Nice fabrication, indeed. The next heavy metal band will be called Henrik.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

That looks great

[HawkerXP]

[Jerod Broussard]

I dunno, 2 more holes with a magnetic drill press would have made it worth something.

[Henrik]

I bought the magnetic drill a few months ago, absolutely love it!

[bbqLuv]

I agree, after all, it's the hole that makes a Donut.

[Henrik]

A few more things good to know perhaps. It’s made from 5 millimeter steel, so very sturdy. And the two “feet” are 20x20 millimeter solid square bars, so they will last. They run along the length of the basket creating a gap so air can enter from below. The expanded metal I use in the bottom is not attached, on purpose. So if and when I need to replace it I’ll just lift it out and drop in the new one in like 2 seconds.

I’ll report back on how it behaves, just curious as to anyone else having tried this and know if it works as advertised or not.

[Jerod Broussard]

I guessed 3/16" on the steal.

[Henrik]

I had to look up what 3/16 is in millimeters. Good call Jerod Broussard !

[Uncle Bob]

LSG makes another design basket like the one you've attached that has short "legs" on the bottom for airflow. It's the version they supply standard with their Texas Edition offset released last year. That unit doesn't have the slide out grate to provide room for air flow like the rest of their products.

[Jim White]

I bought the fire management basket with my LSG Adjustable. I haven't used it yet, as I'm still learning the ropes on it with lump first. I haven't set aside a batch of appropriately sized splits, even though there's plenty of oak pieces of various ages scattered around my property. No legs on the LSG basket, but at least in the Adjustable, it sits on an expanded metal sheet so no concerns about airflow from underneath.

I will be watching with interest as you report back on its use.

[rlozinak]

looks good

[Uncle Bob]

Okay Henrik I can now report first hand regarding the Texas Edition version with the stubby legs. There are probably some variables aside from the basket design that could have an affect on the outcome so I'll give some details that I think might be involved.

The firebox on the TE is basically a cube, 20x20x18 with a damper in the door that is at the same level as the bottom of the fuel basket. I ran the pit for six hours maintaining a fairly steady 250-275. This was my first "training" burn so that I could learn how to manage fire/smoke on this cooker. I have no experience with an offset so I relied heavily on YT vids, in particular the one LSG posted for this particular model. For this model they suggested splits 7-10" in length, visually theirs looked to be 3-4" across. Since I wasn't cooking any food I went cheap on the fuel and used some Pecan "logs" (not splits) I have because I get them free by harvesting drops at a nearby pecan grove. As such, these are mostly branch sections 1.5-3" in diameter with bark all around. After building a coal bed with a small chimney load of lump charcoal I continued to fuel with the pecan sticks. I was able to maintain my narrow temp range fueling roughly every 20 minutes which worked out to bout 20 sticks for the whole 6 hour session. Next time I'll be using actual post oak splits more like the ones LSG demonstrated with where they claim approximately one split every half hour..........we'll see.

The V shape does seem to do a decent job of dropping the formed coals to a bed at the bottom of the basket. You do have to keep knocking down the ash build up, and I made it a point to rake the accumulated ash underneath from time to time thinking it helped with air flow. The temptation might be to lay the splits/logs lengthwise at the bottom, but I don't think that compliments air flow enough. I put the logs in diagonal to one another each loading. I'm speculating that when I use actual splits with less bark I likely won't create as much ash, and might/hope to get a bit longer burn time with the larger profile of material so that I'll only have to fuel on the half hour cycle. We'll see. I do think the V shape crowding the coals closer together speeds up their burning so be mindful of keeping a sufficient coal bed especially if the splits are very dry and tending to burn more readily. Their claim about more economical use of fuel is likely based on the 7-10" length. Wood suppliers around here typically have full splits in the 18-20" size, so cutting them in half gives the impression of using half as much fuel. Believe what you wish on that one.

[Henrik]

Thanks, great write up! I just got done with my first test run, see post below 👇

[Henrik]

Alright, I’ve been testing the basket, seeing how it behaves. Spoiler: dang, this is a good addition!!

So, I added 1/2 - 2/3 of a chimney of Marabu charcoal (doesn’t matter, use any good quality charcoal). I then lit the same amount in the chimney starter, and poured it over the unlit charcoal in the basket. I lifted it in place, sliding it all the way to the back, minus 1/2”.

Then I just left it for 20 minutes to see how temps would change.

Just placed the basket in the firebox:



After 20 minutes the smoker temp was at 120
deg C, perfect!



I haven’t been able to get my smoker up to 120 with just charcoal, so already this was a big win. Creating a thicker coal bed obviously helps 👍

I added the first oak split, and left it for another 20 minutes:



it held temp rock steady, I literally did nothing. Really good, I picked just the right size split.

Finally I dropped in an oak log, and left it again.


So, my findings overall:

WITH the basket, I can do less babysitting. It holds steady temps better, and I only have to add a log every 30 minutes.

WITHOUT the basket, I can get up to cooking temp faster initially, but I have to add splits every 10 minutes, and with slightly more temp variations (still acceptable though).

it is early days yet, but so far with this dry run it has really impressed me. And I fabricated it quickly from scrap pieces. Looking forward to the next real cook with it!

[Jerod Broussard]

Fabricating from scrap stuff is so awesome!

[Henrik]

Indeed Jerod Broussard 👌

[Sweaty Paul]

Awesome. Thanks for the update.