Fire starting help!! (need some)

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EastSideRich
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Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby EastSideRich » Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:55 pm

How do you guys with Big Green Eggs, Bubba Kegs and similar smokers load it up and get it going?

I just got a Char Griller "Big Red Kamodo Kooker" for my b-day.
I've given it two dry runs with only charcoal and no food to see how well I can control the temperature.

The first time I put about 1/2 -2/3 chimney worth of lump in a pile and placed a few large hunks on top that I had got burning with a torch.
I left the little vent on the bottom open about 1 sq inch.
Well, the temperature shot up to about 450+(F) within less than an hour. I closed up the bottom vent almost all the way; it stayed in the 450+ range for at least a few more hours.
By the time I went to bed (4-5 hrs from start?) it was cooling down and the coals were pretty much burned out.

The second run I put a lot more coals in (maybe a chimney and a half?), arranged them with the big chunks on the bottom and the smaller stuff on top.
I started a couple good handfuls worth in a chimney using newspaper, poured them off the side of the pile in the grill (hoping it would slowly burn from one side to the other).
This time I left the lower vent closed almost the way from the start.
The temperature crept up to 350+ over the next hour or so (not really sure cuz the thermometer is off and I can't calibrate it, it was about 50 deg low at 212) and stayed there for most of the night. After I noticed the temperature was high I closed the lower vent all the way, but the temp stayed fairly steady between 350 and 400 (air leaks?)
it burned for quite a few hours, and I think was in the 350 range when I went to bed (about 6 hrs or so after start)

I would very much like to do some overnight smoking of some pork butts and briskets, but want to keep that temp around 225, hopefully for 12-16 hrs. I should be able to do this, right?

Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. (pics would be even awesomer!)
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby BluDawg » Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:39 pm

Having never cooked on a Ceramic pit take this with a grain of salt hopefully DATs or Egghead will chime in here.
An Egg is close to a UDS in theory and the way I fire up my UDS it is very controllable. This may help you. Load up your lump and mix in 3-4 fist sized chunks of wood. I then light 8 briquettes in the bottom of my inverted chimney. When the ash over I place them in a tight circle in the middle of the lump and put 1 fist sized chunk of wood close to the briquettes put on the lid and open my intake valve and remove the nipple caps. When the temp gets to 190 I cap off one nipple at 200 I cap the second and close the valve about 1/3 it will settle out at 230. With the Egg I would open the sliding intake all the way then close it 1/2 way at 190, at 200 i would choke it down to 1/4" and see where it settles out, then make small adjustments from there. You can change the draft with the exhaust as well closing it down some will slow the burn.
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby OSD » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:35 pm

Those cookers are closer to a Keg than a BGE. They are not ceramic but double wall insulated steel cookers.
The first thing you need to do is seal up the edges of the bottom air intake and the bottom edge of the top vent to control air leaks. High temp silicone sealer works good for this.
From what you wrote, You put too much lit lump in on top of the pile of un-lit lump. It doesn't take very much lit charcoal to maintain low temps in this type of cooker. The next thing is you need too watch the temp closer and start closing down the vents sooner. On my Keg, I start closing down the vent about 75° under my target temp. The temps can and will shoot up very quickly. And once the temps over shoot, it's almost impossible to get them to cool back down.

Here's a pic of one, so that everyone knows what you are referring to.........
2011-04-21_11-51-33_692 (Custom).jpg
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby DATsBBQ » Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:16 am

To add to what Jim said about vent control.

With Einstein the process is like this.
Open up the clam shell, remove cooking crate and clean out the fire box.
Remove the ash grate and clean out all ashes, put ash grate back on. Open bottom vent 100%.
Load fire box with lump, trying to get a few largish flat pieces wedged over the air holes in the grate in to ensure air flow.
Invert a charcoal chimney (put it upside down) and load in 5 or 6 pieces of lump and lite with newspaper.
Transfer hot lump to the center top of the unlit lump in the firebox.
Replace food grate (and mount Maverick grateclip if using). Close the clam shell and open top vent 100%
Watch the dome thermometer, when it gets to 175° I close the bottom vent to allow a vent opening of about and inch.
and close the top vent to allow an opening of about 1/2 inch.
The cooker will still gain heat but at a slower pace.
When the cooker gets to 225° I'll close the top vent a tad. From adding the hot lump to this point takes about 15 minutes.
When it appears the internal temp has stabilized I walk away for 10 minutes.
Depending upon the lump, relative humidity or the moods of Kamado gods you may to adjust the lower vent (course tuning) and/or the top vent (fine tuning). Most of my smoking is done at 235° +/- 5°

When doing a cook that starts in sunshine and ends in darkness or visa versa I'll have to adjust the lower vent at least once. Air here is thin to begin with and when the sun goes down the thin air gets cold and the RH goes up. The bottom vent will need to be opened a tad to 1/2 inch or you'll lose heat. Same principle if you start at zero-dark-thirty, if you don't adjust you'll gain a lot heat.

There are some gadgets out there that mount on the lower vent that can do those adjustments for you but they are not found in the cheap bins. A couple hundred bucks I think.
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby CJATE » Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:52 am

if I'm smoking, I check it every few min after I light it. After a few cooks you will know about where it needs to be.

I give it all the air it wants when I' have my chimney in there, then choke it down to barely open to cook. I also am careful to only light a few pieces in my chimney, I don't want a whole fire bed if I'm smoking.

I'm not one to read instructions, but I did on the egg, as I had no clue where to start. the "directions" told me how much fuel to use, and it was spot on correct. I did not struggle on day one, my struggles came when i tried to experiment with what all it could do... so to sound like my dad, "did you read the directions?"
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EastSideRich
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby EastSideRich » Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:48 pm

I did read the directions when I unpacked it, but it didn't have anything on this from what I remember.
I think sealing up the vents is gonna be necessary too.
I'm itching to give it another try, but am stuck in Florida with a sick kid and a wicked sunburn until Sunday.
Man, it's freakin hot here - I don't know how people live here. :?

Anyway, thanks for the tips guys. I'll give it another shot when I get home.
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby revolver1 » Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:01 am

I fill up the fire box with lump, make a shallow hole in the center, lite a Rutland square in it and cover that with several pieces of lump. Lower vent is wide open, dome closed and top wide open. Time to go prep the entree. Routinely takes about a half hour to get it going and stabilized. Rarely use the top.
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby Mickey » Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:30 am

This is how I do it:
Image
Nuff said.
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby Chef Jacques Strappe » Sat Oct 25, 2014 1:40 pm

Use lump, not briquettes (way less ash to clog things up). Use a weedburner and watch for sparks as you light it. My weedburner has everything going in 20-30 seconds.
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby NaptownSmoker » Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:08 pm

I use a DigiQ wifi with my BGE. Maintains a level temp with a small stater fire.ImageImage
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Re: Fire starting help!! (need some)

Postby Mattman3969 » Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:17 pm

I actually take the Rutkand Fire Starters and cut into 1/4's and place 4 small chunks of the starters at 12-3-6-9 for every fire I light. Just gotta catch it on the way up.

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