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Are you cooking with that fire door open?

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    Are you cooking with that fire door open?

    That's what Aaron Franklin recommends..

    #2
    I know DWCowles does. Steve B might as well. PaulstheRibList might too. Huskee ?

    Comment


      #3
      Absolutely. Thanks to DW.
      As he puts it. A lot of the dirty smoke can be exhausted out of the firebox and it really does make temp control much easier.

      Comment


        #4
        I don't, I haven't found the need to. Maybe it is because the fire is relatively small on the Jambo, or the door vent (which you leave alone) pulls enough air, or a combo of the two. I haven't seen any dirty smoke after reloading or closing the door. To be honest, it is hard to get dirty smoke at all on the Jambo.

        Comment


        • smokinfatties
          smokinfatties commented
          Editing a comment
          Agreed, don't need to on the Jambo. Plenty of airfow thanks to the draw from the large smoke stack

        • Spinaker
          Spinaker commented
          Editing a comment
          Good point on the smoke stack being larger. smokinfatties

        • CandySueQ
          CandySueQ commented
          Editing a comment
          Funky wood can make dirty smoke! At a contest one time my buddy next door was complaining about a smell coming out of his Jambo after adding a stick of wood. "Take that stick out" was my response.

        #5
        My fire boxes on both my stick burners have two doors. The one on the front of the box and one on the top. Only time I open the front door is to remove the ash pan. The front door is vented as are both sides with sliding vents.
        The top door is where I feed wood into the fire. Saves on the back and knees not having to bend down to load the fire or poke it.
        The only time I ever need a door open is in high humidity days with no breeze when the fire struggles a bit. Otherwise I have no issues with dirty smoke or need the extra intake of a open door to move the smoke through.

        Comment


        • Spinaker
          Spinaker commented
          Editing a comment
          Are both of your stick burners, custom?

        • Steve B
          Steve B commented
          Editing a comment
          What kind of stick burners are you running?

        #6
        Stick burners work well ingesting a large amount of air. What does not get burnt and turned into smoke gets heated in the firebox and passes through with the smoke, so you have a milder and cleaner smoke.

        Comment


          #7
          Whenever you all start talking stick burner jargon, I' always feel like I'm some junior varsity freshman listening to the varsity team talk strategy! Pretty awesome stuff IMO.

          Comment


          • JCBBQ
            JCBBQ commented
            Editing a comment
            Coach told me i'll be on JV for a good long while.

          #8
          Well, when I get my 1,000 Super Smoker from Austin Smoke Works, I'm sure I'll leave the door more open. My Jambo is tuned to work the way I like it with the door closed. You can adjust the amount of the "normal" opening on the Jambo to what you want. As you guys know, I, like you all, am a Blue Smoke Super Snob! I will, indeed MUST have a clean fire and that blue smoke. So whenever it becomes necessary to open that door to get the airflow necessary to get that clean fire, then Open It Goes!

          Comment


          • FireMan
            FireMan commented
            Editing a comment
            You not only will leave the door open, you will be the "King". When is ETA of the Super 1000?

          • Troutman
            Troutman commented
            Editing a comment
            I heard tell that's it's hovering at 10,000 feet requesting a landing !! Seriously though, that's a big boys pit. Glad you're making that move Paul, sounds like your business is going well !!

          #9
          I rarely do, I get big temp surges when I let mine have that much air. My air intakes are below the firebox door and below the grate level that the fire is on, hence I get great airflow through the coals and burning wood.

          Comment


          • Steve B
            Steve B commented
            Editing a comment
            What stick burner are you running?
            We need to keep this thread going.
            So we know how each SB runs.
            This is a great topic.

          • Oakgrovebacon
            Oakgrovebacon commented
            Editing a comment
            Mine is one that I built as a reverse flow which started as a 125 gal propane tank.. I followed guidance from smokerbuilder.com. For firebox size and chimney size.

          #10
          My stick burner works with well with the door closed. Franklin's may work well with the door open. He didn't recommend for every stick burner to run with your door open, he recommend's you learn your stick burner and run it well.

          Comment


          • Steve B
            Steve B commented
            Editing a comment
            Agreed. What are you running Lonnie??

          • lonnie mac
            lonnie mac commented
            Editing a comment
            I gotta an old Texas Original. Soon, very soon, I hope to have a LSG!

          #11
          I don't with mine. I too recommend learning your smoker. You'll always find tricks that don't necessarily work for the next guy. Just like fishing, or wooing your lady.

          Comment


          • JCBBQ
            JCBBQ commented
            Editing a comment
            Can we re-name this thread to How to Woo your Off Set?

          #12
          Leaving the firebox door crack about 3-5 inches works for me. As stated above all stickburners don't operate the same. The more you cooked with it the more you will learn about it.

          Comment


            #13
            Spinaker Steve B yes both of mine are custom. My horizontal is custom from the ground up as the trailer was custom built as well. Not a store bought trailer with a smoker welded to it. The tank itself started life out as a 125 gallon propane tank. Everything else is fabricated and custom. They guy must have hundreds of hours into it. I found it listed in the classifieds on the Smoke Ring some years back. A fab guy in Texas built it. Sadly he passed about a year ago now.

            The other rig is not as custom. It is made by Arizona BBQ Outfitters whom most of us are familiar with. Pics of it are in the classified section here as I am selling it. I choose a vertical smoker they made and the Scottsdale Santa Maria grill and had them trailer mount both so it's not as custom as my first one. This unit you could have them make and it would be identical to mine. However they will custom anything you want. My first rig is a one off and will never be duplicated.

            I know you are looking into having Lone Star Grilz do a stick burner for you Spinaker request a door put on the top of your firebox in addition to the one on the front or side you will be happy you did!

            Here are pics of my horizontal as I said you can see pics of the vertical in the classified section.
            You can see the fire box with the two doors in this pic.

            Click image for larger version  Name:	smoker.jpg Views:	1 Size:	56.4 KB ID:	454167

            Click image for larger version  Name:	wreckless_back_side.jpg Views:	1 Size:	65.0 KB ID:	454168


            Click image for larger version  Name:	wreckless_opened_2.jpg Views:	1 Size:	54.6 KB ID:	454169

            Comment


            • Spinaker
              Spinaker commented
              Editing a comment
              I hear ya. I am more concerned with burn out, that is the only reason I was thinking to go with the 1/2" box. But I am also torn, because I think I would rather have the fuel savings from the insulated box, but I would lose the 1/2" walls and the direct grill top. How often am I really going to use it for grilling? PBCDad

            • CandySueQ
              CandySueQ commented
              Editing a comment
              You ever hang ribs in that Vertical? Very nice setup.

            • Frozen Smoke
              Frozen Smoke commented
              Editing a comment
              CandySueQ no have never hung ribs in it. When I'm doing ribs in that I'm usually doing it for a larger event so I need all the racks. I can fit 28 racks of good sized baby back loin ribs in it.

            #14
            Mine is 1/4" steel with the exception of the tank and that may be 3/16" I have no problem holding heat in any weather. I have smoked in near zero temps with snow falling. I have smoked in 40 degree weather in a constant rain. My smoker is not insulated. It takes a bit more wood and a little longer to get the mass of steel heated up but once you reach that point everything rolls along almost as it normally would.

            I don't know that I'd pay the additional cost for insulation and give up the top door. If you look at my fire box location I'd have to be on my knees when I want to add a stick or stir the coals. Of course you can design things differently so the fire box is not so low but of course that changes everything down the line design wise.

            Another thing I've really come to appreciate are the cabinet style doors. You can open one of those doors and lose little to no heat. If I open it slowly enough I can actually watch the smoke flow through the smoke chamber.
            The reason for this is you don't have the large mass of a heavy door with a counter weight swinging upwards from the smoke chamber. This creates a vacuum pulling all the smoke and heat upwards and out as it follows the mass of the door.

            I've seen this effect on BBQ shows where I see guys swing that big door up. With cabinet doors you don't have this same effect the If you're lookin' you ain't cookin' doesn't apply at least not like it does with the other designs.

            These are just things I have observed from being a stick burner and using different designs in different environments. Others may have had different experiences in similar scenarios but as we know every stick burner will operate different than the next one.

            Comment


            • Spinaker
              Spinaker commented
              Editing a comment
              Real, first-hand advise. You can't beat it. Thanks! I was thinking, being in Minnesota, I would need the insulated box. But, hell, your even further north than I am. Now you have me going back to the grill top box.

            • Frozen Smoke
              Frozen Smoke commented
              Editing a comment
              I didn't think I would use my top door much as a grill either but I use it more than I thought. Searing steaks on a open flame is hard to beat. Same with chops burgers, chicken or whatever you want to put a little char or crisp up. Cut a onion in half put some oil on it some of your favorite rub and put a nice char on it from the open flame! slice and top your burger!

            #15
            So far my Shirley likes the door closed but the vents about a 1/3 open.

            Comment

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