I want to thank everyone for their input thus far. It looks like I am on the right track compensating for the limitations of my COS. Everyone has been so helpful as always.
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I am curious about this no wind situation Huskee mentioned. Do smokers that breathe well encounter issues on no breeze days?Comment
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I leave the damper on the smoke stack wide open and leave the firebox door open about 2-3 inches. Works great for me. Practice makes perfect!Comment
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My answers here could go on forever, so I'll focus on the most important:
Last edited by JGo37; October 27, 2018, 08:13 PM.Comment
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Wood naturally burns best when there is no restriction on airflow (wildfire, anyone?). You’ll get the purest smoke when the wood burns the way it wants too. Choking the fire - inlet or outlet - will result in dirtier smoke because proper combustion isn’t happening.
Leave those firebox doors open and keep those smokestacks long and fat. You’ll use more wood that way, but your barbecue will see a noticeable improvement. The natural draw will be so strong you don’t have to worry about the breeze or a fan.
The only way I control temp on my offset is by quantity of wood added. Having a selection of wood split sizes will ensure you have exactly what you need.Comment
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Installed this massive air intake hole..... 1-1/8 inch hole saw, big deal !, placed hole 3 inches above the fire grate on the back side of the firebox underneath the cook chamber mostly to one side i.e not the center under the CC. What it does is it blows on the coals on that side like a blacksmith's bellows and creates a very hot blue orange flame. I set my lump and logs in the middle but allow some of this to fall on the super-hot blue flamed coals. This accomplishes several things. First, the fast air flow over the existing coals brings the raw wood and lump up to ignition temperature quickly thereby eliminating the lengthy dreaded "white smoke" time frame. While you still get your white smoke during the initial ignition phase it is much shorter in duration. Secondly, after studying my firebox ash I concluded that having the small air duct right above the coals and away from the middle would eliminate some of the "blockage" problems by inserting large sticks or a good pile of lump in the middle of the box. This would also keep me from having to "fiddle" with clearing pure ash away from the small duct hole. The actual inside diameter of this device is a 3/4 inch galvanized pipe. Very easy to block! By the time I am half way through a brisket or butt I have accumulated inches of powdery ash below the fire grate. Easily blocked and requires tedious and sometimes extremely hot, poking to clear. So far the only issue I have had is moving some extremely large logs away from the side hole to allow maximum air draft. On a Weber, BGE or similar kettle you do not get a choice so you will have to clear ash out. On a large custom box 22x24x18 I have more options and choices of locating. Remember this is taking the place of the pinwheel draft controller or slide gate draft controller on your cooker so it is air volume in not placement that is crucial. Lastly, I am an old fat man and bending my knees down to install probes and 12 volt transformer jacks has become unpleasant. Since my little bitty fan is a "stick on" type I just grab the fan right under the CC and pick up, insert jacks, check that green LED is on or flashing and "stick it" back on. It is a gravity tab at the top of the square duct that inserts easily into its mating hole and low and behold you are "Cheat'in on the Ritz" with a fan controller.
Smoked Tennessee style Pork ribs using Memphis BBQ sauce and Memphis rub just to try something different and a flat prime brisket together overnight using the Flame Boss 400. Mostly trouble free except a few glitches. Loaded up firebox with big logs of pecan and 1/3 bag of 20lb lump charcoal at 8:00pm, Began cook at 9:00 sharp, with fan controller and pit up to temp at 225 degrees, cooked to 11:30p.m. without any fire "fiddlin" until notified of drop in chamber temp to 205 when text alert alarm went off. Scurried out of bed like a zombie and went out side with flashlight for more fuel. Loaded firebox up full again and had to do one more time at 3:30 a.m. Texas crutch'ed brisket at 168 and covered ribs during off times of the night based on timer I set on phone. Was waiting for my 6:30 a.m. firebox refuel and brisket temp goes off about 5:45am at 207 degrees. Again, scurry like a zombie down to pit outside with wooden spoon in hand, open crutch, insert handle into brisket.......mighty tender old man I says to myself and pull off pit, an 8 hour cook! This was a flat and not a full packer but was still really shocked at the shortened cook time the fan allows me to do because of much more consistent CC temperatures.
In summary, I still want to do one more cook before reviewing all of my notes but so far, the Fire Boss 400 has cut "fire fiddlin" to a minimum and without any scientific trial it appears to shorten cook times down due to consistency of maintaining fire temps.
Stainless and Zamac Duct Placement on Firebox
Attaching little fan
Attached FilesComment
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My fire management just got a whole lot easier! I ventured to a local muffler shop and for ten bucks they fixed me up!
My COS breathes a bit easier now. I still need a small fan though.
Nothing but thin blue smoke.
Good enough for government work!Comment
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