250 gallon offset smoker

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Artur
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Artur » Sat Apr 24, 2021 7:36 am

I made 2 4x8 air inlets and installed a 8x36" smokestack. I have a temperature difference of 70 degrees from left to right. The overall performance is way better than it was. I left the hole for the smokestack at 5.75" since I ain't sure if I'll change to a 6 inch smokestack. I don't know how much it affects the draft. How does a longer smokestack affect drawing? I like the look of a longer smokestack but I don't want to make it to long.
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby k.a.m. » Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:23 am

36" is as tall as I would go with 6" pipe. The taller the exhaust the colder your heat/smoke gets and when this happens it gets heavy and stalls. You could go 48" with the 8" but for accurate results you need the 5.75" opening increased.
If you like the big diameter use it if not go with the smaller but the 5.75 opening needs to reflect what your using.
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Artur » Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:37 am

What is the trick behind long smokestacks? Pit builders like Fatstack Smokersand Primitive Pits have pretty long stacks.
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby GRailsback » Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:42 am

Artur wrote:What is the trick behind long smokestacks? Pit builders like Fatstack Smokersand Primitive Pits have pretty long stacks.


The pit builders know that the pit needs to be able to breath. Mine has 2 stacks on it. Runs like a dream.
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby k.a.m. » Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:07 am

Artur wrote:What is the trick behind long smokestacks? Pit builders like Fatstack Smokersand Primitive Pits have pretty long stacks.

They use large diameter exhausts. A 6" ID 48" long will not breathe as easy as an 8" the same length. I basically balance my exhaust to the chamber I am building. Not necessarily what looks good but what will perform the best.
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Artur » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:19 pm

Hello! It's been a while since I asked for advice about my smoker. I've not been able able to use it a whole lot lately, it's performing better since I made the modifications you suggested but not quite how I'd like it. The temperature still varies a lot from one side to the other and it's difficult to run it at 225; around 275 works a lot better. I realized now that it's actually a 288 gallon tank instead 250 as I was thinking. So my firebox is even more undersized than I thought. Would it be worth it to make the firebox larger? Would it really help me with these issues?
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby k.a.m. » Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:27 pm

In my opinion 275° is a great temp to cook at. What are your differences left to right? A 50° difference is not unrealistic in my opinion. Once you learn the cooker the temp or sweet spot it likes to run at makes your day much more enjoyable. The other side of the coin is you can fight it trying to make the cooker cook at lower temps than it likes to.
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Artur » Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:33 pm

The difference is between 50 and 70 degrees. Depending on the temperature I run the smoker. I cook briskets and butts at 275 but for ribs I like it lower in the beginning. What wood size should I use approximately? I'm new to live fire cooking so I don't know sometimes how much much of the problems are because of what I do wrong.
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby k.a.m. » Tue Nov 02, 2021 2:00 pm

When I ran my 250 gallon I liked my splits to be about 4" to 5" in diameter and 18" long. You need to learn to get a really good coal base burning then back the intakes down to keep the cooker running at a consistent rate. You will probably need to add a split every 30 minutes. Remember this isn't an oven and your temps will go up and down as you feed the coal base. My cooker likes 260°to 300°. As the temps get around 275° I will add a split knowing the temps will continue to drop till that split catches. Once it catches at around 260° the temps will climb and so the process goes through out the cook.
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Rambo » Tue Nov 02, 2021 6:30 pm

k.a.m. wrote:When I ran my 250 gallon I liked my splits to be about 4" to 5" in diameter and 18" long. You need to learn to get a really good coal base burning then back the intakes down to keep the cooker running at a consistent rate. You will probably need to add a split every 30 minutes. Remember this isn't an oven and your temps will go up and down as you feed the coal base. My cooker likes 260°to 300°. As the temps get around 275° I will add a split knowing the temps will continue to drop till that split catches. Once it catches at around 260° the temps will climb and so the process goes through out the cook.

Bingo that. I start my stick burner with one chimney of charcoal to get the coals. Then I add wood; it may spike at 400-450 for about 30 minutes. When it comes down to about 300 I’ll put the meat on and if it hits 225/250 I’ll add a chunk of wood.it will stay between 225-300 doing that which suits me fine. It took a while and many attempts to figure that old smoker out
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby GRailsback » Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:09 pm

Mine likes to run between 250-270. And that is where I let it run, and cook accordingly from there as far as timing goes. Mine runs wide open all the time as well.
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Artur » Tue Nov 02, 2021 10:27 pm

Thanks a lot! I used 3 by 16 inch splits and thought about making them smaller, but sounds like others use larger ones. If I put on larger splits the temperature gets to high but maybe it has to do with wrong vent configuration. And I have to add splits every 10 to 15 minutes. I'm able to keep the temperature between 250 and 290 pretty well, sounds to me that's close to what you all do. I tried to keep the fluctuation less than 20 degrees and can't do it so far.
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Rambo » Wed Nov 03, 2021 6:12 am

I don’t think you can keep it within 20 unless you sit there staring at the temperature constantly. Keep it between 225 and 300 and relax
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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby k.a.m. » Wed Nov 03, 2021 8:56 am

If you are adding splits every 10 to 15 minutes it sounds like you are cooking with flames and not a solid coal base. Can you post some pics of your coal base and fire when running around say 275° ?
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: 250 gallon offset smoker

Postby Artur » Wed Nov 03, 2021 9:43 am

I don't have pictures frome the coal base, but I think to few coals might be my problem. My temperature never really goes higher in the beginning than I plan to cook on and sometimes have problems that after 5 or 6 hours my coal base isn't hot enough for the logs to catch fire fast enough to produce only clean smoke.

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