A few ?'s about the Char-Griller Outlaw

[kindollbbq]

Hey everybody. Bought a Char-Griller Smokin' Outlaw yesterday. I am in the process of seasoning it right now. Here is my setup.

--Outlaw
--Royal Oak Lump
--Lowe's Shaker Basket for charcoal basket
--Used Minion Method for basket
--Cherry Wood on top
--Turned Charcoal Grate in Smoking Chamber upside down and set at the highest level as I had read that somewhere else doing this distributes heat better.

Problem is grill has been running for about an hour and temp has made it only up to 250 at the grate (using oven thermometer). And that is with the damper on top wide open and the damper on the SFB wide open!

Any ideas?


BRandon

[kindollbbq]

Been running for over 3 hours and can't get the smoker over 250 deg. HELP!! Seems like the airflow is off but I don't know. Of the things that I have read about folks turning the charcoal grate upside down, airflow was never a problem. I don't get it.


Brandon

[JamesB]

Actually you should probably be happy at 250°. That is just about the perfect all round BBQ cooking temp...

Not really famaliar with the CG Outlaw, but isn't the exhaust stack on the lid? is there any way you can lower it to grate level with some metal flashing or something? That would help to trap some heat in the pit, 'cause I think what is happening is that the heat is entering from the firebox, going straight to the top of the pit and over to the exhaust. Some wort of baffle to direct the heat into the cook chamber might help too. Best of luck!

[OSD]

This is not advice, but an observation. Your shaker basket is too small ( 10" x 10" x 3"--got size from Lowes site ) to build a big enough fire in. You don't have a big enough fire built, especially doing the Minion method. Try a fire without the basket. Then build a bigger basket and it should work.

[kindollbbq]

James, I have the charcoal grate that comes with the Outlaw turned upside down. It acts like a big baffle, that runs the length of the smoking chamber. The temperature at grate level is actually where I am getting the 230 degree reading. It only shows 175 on the hood! I can't really lower the stack any because of the 2nd level rack that is in the smoking chamber. I just dont understand.


Brandon

[kindollbbq]

Jim, I had not thought of that. That very well could be what it is. Do you think the upside down charcoal grate in the smoking chamber could be a problem??? I don't think it is, but I wanted your take on it.


Brandon

[OSD]

Jim, I had not thought of that. That very well could be what it is. Do you think the upside down charcoal grate in the smoking chamber could be a problem??? I don't think it is, but I wanted your take on it.


Brandon

No, I don't, alot of people do that and don't have a problem. I think it's the small basket and fire size.

[DJ]

I think Jim nailed it. If you can place charcoal on the inverted charcoal grate, do it, if not, put it in the way it was designed to work, I would think that Char Griller built the grate high enuf to get plenty of air below it.
Just my $.02
dj

This is not advice, but an observation. Your shaker basket is too small ( 10" x 10" x 3/4"--got size from Lowes site ) to build a big enough fire in. You don't have a big enough fire built, especially doing the Minion method. Try a fire without the basket. Then build a bigger basket and it should work.

[kindollbbq]

Jim, now I wasn't paying attention to the dimensions you gave earlier. My basket is about 11 in. long, 8 in. wide, and 3 in. deep. Not quite what you were talking about. Does that change anything?

And DJ, the inverted charcoal grate is actually in the smoking chamber, not the SFB. I am just setting my charcoal basket on the grates in the firebox.


Brandon

[OSD]

Nope, it's not burning right in that basket, might be the way the holes are ( too small of mesh, it's made for cooking small things like veggies in ), might not be letting the all the ash drop out the bottom, or letting air flow through good enough.
If you still have a fire going, pull your basket out, put a bunch of charcoal on the grate, then dump the hot coals from the basket onto the new charcoal. It should take off burning and increase the heat pretty quickly.

[JamesB]

Yeppers, I think old OSD nailed this one. Try what he suggested and let us know how it works for ya!

[DJ]

I looked at one on line and did not see any sfb, so I am envisioning a grate in the bottom of the cylinder which came with it. Follow Jim's advice and she'll get there in no time.
dj

Jim, now I wasn't paying attention to the dimensions you gave earlier. My basket is about 11 in. long, 8 in. wide, and 3 in. deep. Not quite what you were talking about. Does that change anything?

And DJ, the inverted charcoal grate is actually in the smoking chamber, not the SFB. I am just setting my charcoal basket on the grates in the firebox.


Brandon

[kindollbbq]

OSD NAILED IT!!! Went back outside, put two chimneys worth of lump directly on the grates, then 4 large chunks of cherry on top of the hot coals. It was at 300 deg at the grates before I knew it!! Not that I BBQ at 300 but it's nice to know that you can reach 250 with the damper throttled a bit, ya know? Thanks again OSD, and everybody else for that matter.

Brandon

[JamesB]

Glad to hear that you have it figured out! Only good things to come now...

[kindollbbq]

Yeah, from the pit I had before this honkin thing requires a lot more charcoal to keep it at temp. I'm gonna need a pretty big charcoal basket I can see. Thanks again

Brandon