Advice on fire management in a 16x16 firebox
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2019 4:41 am
Hi everyone
I spent some decent cash in the UK to buy a smaller (but higher quality) offset smoker that's 5mm in thick steel, without much leakage which is great!
The problem? It's only a 16x16 firebox and about a 28x16 cooking chamber. So not huge but not cooking for many people so that's fine. The makes of this model suggest running it with the firebox lid fully open, or half way shut (using a wood split between the firebox lid to keep it open). The reason for this is when it's shut, the extra heat from the small size just eats up the log in no time. They also use Beech wood to get the fire going rather than coals with about 4 to 6 smaller splints (stacked 2x2 or 3x3 crossing each other) set alight to form the first coal bed.
I did my first cook on it over the weekend. A 2.5kg (5.5lbs) boneless pork shoulder (UK style, so not Boston Butt). It was hard work, a LOT of maintenance but it came out absolutely amazing in the end after about 9 hours of cooking (I kept it too low a bit long early in the process thus the time). In fact, I couldn't have been happier with the taste. Replicated Salt Lick in texas (Used their dry rub) which is what I was going for (only used Oak logs). WOHOO!!!
But I need advice. I've had a few hiccups that I'm looking for some expertise on.
The fire management method was hard work with this small firebox. I was consistently and frequently (every 5 to 10 minutes) having to rotate logs, stoke the fire, get things re-lit by moving around and blowing through the side. I often did close the firebox as the temp dropped when there was a small fire just to keep it going for a bit longer. I'd try keeping another split inside the firebox (separate) to keep warm to instantly catch - that seemed to work well but space was tight.
My question comes down to a couple of elements..
Firstly, when starting the fire using beech, what size splits should I really be using? Using the smaller split seems to light up nice and fast and turn to coals quick but the coals are fairly small. Enough to get a few smaller/medium oak logs alight which means it's done it's job but that's about it.
Next, with the oak logs, I need to learn better how to manage this as I had to give it WAY too much attention it seems. How big should the splits be first and foremost. Right now, I'm taking half a log, splitting into either 2 medium/large splits, or 3/4 smaller splits which burn up much faster. The problem with the smaller splits is of course, they just burn up into coals quickly so you need to add more, more frequently, and the heat is generally much lower (especially with the lid open) which is a problem for above 225 cooking it seems (or even above 200...).
The problem I had with the medium to large split sizes is that they would catch quite easily when pre-heated and give off a nice high heat (with the lid half closed, get to 250 no problem or 225 with the lid fully open). However, after only a few minutes, the fire would disappear or go down to be a very small fire. I'd then need to rotate the log/turn it over. It would light up again for a bit, then go down. Then, I'd find myself adding a SECOND log to put them side by side with a gap in between, which would mean the new log sets alight and that fire keeps a fire burning on the other log too. Obviously the heat at this point goes up super high, which is fine when the lid is fully open anyway.
This process meant I was doing a LOT of opening the lid fully, closing half way, or even in some circumstances fully closing when the fire is getting smaller to keep the heat up. I was constantly attending to that fire every 5 to 10 mins for the full 9 hours to keep it cooking between 225 and 250. This seemed to be more attention than it should be - So what am I doing wrong? Should I always be adding 2 oak logs together and in theory should they just continue to burn till it's ready for more fuel? Or should I only be adding one log and with a coal bed good enough, the same thing?
LAST question (I promise). The grill thermometer built in to the lid goes half way into the main cooking chamber area. I bought a separate themometer to go on the grill plate itself but have found the temp difference is actually quite large. For example, the grill temp in the middle of the chamber at about 250f reads at around 300 (or slightly higher even) on the termometer at the top. Is this common and if so, is it common to be this big of a difference? Where is best to place the grill thermometer to get the most accurate reading for what the meat is cooking at (firebox side? chimney side? in front of the meat or behind it?). My worry here is that when I was cooking at 225, the space the meat was in was actually lower (thus the internal meat temp just not rising well). Once I picked up the heat to 250 on the grill thermometer it worked fine. I tended to ignore the thermometer on the lid but I guess I need to understand how the difference happens so I know what the meat is cooking at.
Appreciate all the advice here. Happy to provide pictures if required though the offset I'm using is below:
https://prosmokebbq.co.uk/products/blackfire-indiana-16
Thank you and appreciate your advice and all the content!
Josh
I spent some decent cash in the UK to buy a smaller (but higher quality) offset smoker that's 5mm in thick steel, without much leakage which is great!
The problem? It's only a 16x16 firebox and about a 28x16 cooking chamber. So not huge but not cooking for many people so that's fine. The makes of this model suggest running it with the firebox lid fully open, or half way shut (using a wood split between the firebox lid to keep it open). The reason for this is when it's shut, the extra heat from the small size just eats up the log in no time. They also use Beech wood to get the fire going rather than coals with about 4 to 6 smaller splints (stacked 2x2 or 3x3 crossing each other) set alight to form the first coal bed.
I did my first cook on it over the weekend. A 2.5kg (5.5lbs) boneless pork shoulder (UK style, so not Boston Butt). It was hard work, a LOT of maintenance but it came out absolutely amazing in the end after about 9 hours of cooking (I kept it too low a bit long early in the process thus the time). In fact, I couldn't have been happier with the taste. Replicated Salt Lick in texas (Used their dry rub) which is what I was going for (only used Oak logs). WOHOO!!!
But I need advice. I've had a few hiccups that I'm looking for some expertise on.
The fire management method was hard work with this small firebox. I was consistently and frequently (every 5 to 10 minutes) having to rotate logs, stoke the fire, get things re-lit by moving around and blowing through the side. I often did close the firebox as the temp dropped when there was a small fire just to keep it going for a bit longer. I'd try keeping another split inside the firebox (separate) to keep warm to instantly catch - that seemed to work well but space was tight.
My question comes down to a couple of elements..
Firstly, when starting the fire using beech, what size splits should I really be using? Using the smaller split seems to light up nice and fast and turn to coals quick but the coals are fairly small. Enough to get a few smaller/medium oak logs alight which means it's done it's job but that's about it.
Next, with the oak logs, I need to learn better how to manage this as I had to give it WAY too much attention it seems. How big should the splits be first and foremost. Right now, I'm taking half a log, splitting into either 2 medium/large splits, or 3/4 smaller splits which burn up much faster. The problem with the smaller splits is of course, they just burn up into coals quickly so you need to add more, more frequently, and the heat is generally much lower (especially with the lid open) which is a problem for above 225 cooking it seems (or even above 200...).
The problem I had with the medium to large split sizes is that they would catch quite easily when pre-heated and give off a nice high heat (with the lid half closed, get to 250 no problem or 225 with the lid fully open). However, after only a few minutes, the fire would disappear or go down to be a very small fire. I'd then need to rotate the log/turn it over. It would light up again for a bit, then go down. Then, I'd find myself adding a SECOND log to put them side by side with a gap in between, which would mean the new log sets alight and that fire keeps a fire burning on the other log too. Obviously the heat at this point goes up super high, which is fine when the lid is fully open anyway.
This process meant I was doing a LOT of opening the lid fully, closing half way, or even in some circumstances fully closing when the fire is getting smaller to keep the heat up. I was constantly attending to that fire every 5 to 10 mins for the full 9 hours to keep it cooking between 225 and 250. This seemed to be more attention than it should be - So what am I doing wrong? Should I always be adding 2 oak logs together and in theory should they just continue to burn till it's ready for more fuel? Or should I only be adding one log and with a coal bed good enough, the same thing?
LAST question (I promise). The grill thermometer built in to the lid goes half way into the main cooking chamber area. I bought a separate themometer to go on the grill plate itself but have found the temp difference is actually quite large. For example, the grill temp in the middle of the chamber at about 250f reads at around 300 (or slightly higher even) on the termometer at the top. Is this common and if so, is it common to be this big of a difference? Where is best to place the grill thermometer to get the most accurate reading for what the meat is cooking at (firebox side? chimney side? in front of the meat or behind it?). My worry here is that when I was cooking at 225, the space the meat was in was actually lower (thus the internal meat temp just not rising well). Once I picked up the heat to 250 on the grill thermometer it worked fine. I tended to ignore the thermometer on the lid but I guess I need to understand how the difference happens so I know what the meat is cooking at.
Appreciate all the advice here. Happy to provide pictures if required though the offset I'm using is below:
https://prosmokebbq.co.uk/products/blackfire-indiana-16
Thank you and appreciate your advice and all the content!
Josh