Confused.

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RUBYRW
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Confused.

Postby RUBYRW » Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:49 am

As I learn more and more...i still get tripped up on a few concepts..
When I load my chimney up and dump into the firebox then add some wood, I am able to achieve good temps. But as my cook prolongs my temps get harder and harder to keep up. And I noticed that as the charcoal and wood breakdown, they fill the space below the grate and bottom of box with ash...and this doesn't allow air to get under the grate from the door and keep my fire hot. So on long cooks, I need to open the door and scrape out the ash that is suffocating my fire.
Question...is this normal? Too much charcoal causing it? Use more wood vs. charcoal? I am using an Oklahoma Joe offset.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

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Re: Confused.

Postby limey » Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:58 pm

That is normal, I have a old chimney poker that I move the ashes to the sides. I also crack the door when throwing on a log to get the fire restarted quicker. Same thing happens to my trailer pit and I have a raised grate which helps out a lot. I still move the ashes to the sides after I throw a split of wood on it.
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Re: Confused.

Postby Chasdev » Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:08 pm

Normal charcoal briquettes create lots of ash, too much really, the best charcoal is lump and there are good and bad versions of that as well.
I prefer Fogo, it's a bit spendy but it burns a long time and leaves very little ash behind..also imparts a clean wood smoke flavor to the food unlike cheap briquettes.
I don't like Cowboy lump, it has an off-putting smell.
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Re: Confused.

Postby txsmkmstr » Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:20 pm

Briquets are notorious for leaving behind large amounts of "ash" - which really isn't ash at all. Binders and other by-products are to blame.

My suggestion would be as follows.

1) Use less charcoal.... 1/2 chimney instead of a full one. This will result in less ash build up and reduces the frequency of cleaning.

2) Consider using no charcoal - build a good old-fashioned fire with kindling and add larger pieces as it gets going. More involved yes but you'll have a LOT less ash. Or man-up with a propane tank and weed-burner - that's a ton of fun right there.

3) I believe you have a round firebox as opposed to a square box - this inherently reduces the volume of ash your firebox can handle. I would expect periodic cleaning on very long cooks even with all wood.

Hope this helps.
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Re: Confused.

Postby RUBYRW » Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:26 pm

I will try only lump charcoal..half chimney and the rest wood.
Now on the other hand...people always talk about too much smoke and they usually only smoke the first few hours of a smoke... if I burn with all wood and no charcoal...will this give me too much smoke in my meat?

Thanks

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Re: Confused.

Postby txsmkmstr » Wed Aug 30, 2017 4:00 pm

Keep a clean burning fire and you have nothing to worry about. Thin blue or even clear smoke out the stack is what you're looking for. Billowy, whitish, gray, black smoke is no good. Keep your exhaust wide open and control your temps with the size of the fire. Once the meat reaches a certain point it won't really accept any more smoke flavor but a dirty fire will deposit creosote residue on the meat giving it a bitter and unpleasant taste.
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Re: Confused.

Postby Chasdev » Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:00 pm

You should consider buying Franklin's excellent book, now for sale on Amazon for around $20..buy it and read it at least twice..
His chapters on wood and fire/smoke are a great place to start, I highly recommend it, it gave me a good head start before I fired up for my first cook.
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Re: Confused.

Postby RUBYRW » Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:55 pm

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a new routine this weekend on a pork butt and some ribs. Looking for Franklin's book now. Thanks all.

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