The Texas BBQ Forum

Anybody ever loaded up an offset firebox with a fire basket of lump and get some nice burn time on it? I'm thinking an insulated firebox would help that unattended burn..?

I've tossed chunks of hardwood lump in there during a cook when my coal base was getting low and I needed a cheat, but never added lots at once.
If you knew in advance where to set the intake vent to prevent the charcoal going 2000 degrees it would probably work but leaving the vent set where seasoned oak likes it might provide too much air for the lump...

Stumbled across this on instagram from Malcolm Reed and immediately thought of your question.





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In years past I have read where folks have tried it and the results were varied mostly do to the cooker itself. What happens in most cases is to achieve a certain temp you need a desired amount of intake air and coal base. This in turn allows your charcoal fuse to super heat and totally ignite and run away.

Yup... Total fail every time I've tried it... Which was once.

I put a chimney of lump in then light another chimney of lump and pour it on top. It gives a nice base for a few hours, but I only use wood splits afterwards to maintain temps.

Thanks for the info guys!

I think a coal base would ignite any fuel put on top like KAM mentioned.. maybe removing all burning fuel/embers and put it on top of unlit fuel.. I guess like you would on a drum. It would take some experimentation for sure. I don't have an offset but thinking about getting one soon.. best of both worlds type of setup would be nice.. but tricky. I'll check out Malcoms post.

Here's what I'm thinking...
On long cooks.
They say the meat really only needs 4 or 5 hours of smoke in the beginning.
So about that time I would want some sleep for a few hours.
I'm thinking pushing your fire to the rear when it's time to reload. Then using my air controller and charcoal in the front of the basket.
This in theory should work. I'll be giving it a try.
So after I have my Knap I could go back to wood if I needed/wanted to.

I just read a post on another forum about this topic.
Another guy made a fairly large charcoal basket large enough to fit in the fire box. Filled it with unlit charcoal. Then added a small amount of lit to the front by the door. Closed the fire box vent. Used an air controller and it road pretty good temp wise for several hours.
He used this after the 4 of 5 hours of wood fire for the smoke.
He said it worked great.
I don't see why it wouldn't.

I used to know a guy who loaded down his firebox in a propane tank built pit. He could get it to go several hours at a time but he terribly over smoked everything since his fire was smoldering.