Something I found that works well is you set your splits on top of your firebox. They will start to smoke a little but when you throw them in the firebox they light right off.
Bro thanks so much for the heat control tips and like manny other have mention I’ve also learn on your channel about the heat control situation 👌🏽💪🏽🙌🏽💯
Love the content, see backyard people running splits a little bigger than they should, and when we light a chimney at the cook start for our offset we make sure it's FULLY lit, like rip roaring then on with the splits
I just bought a pit and have only had 3 cooks on it. Every time I used it I wondered if I could get better fire management without the grate. So many coals kept falling through the grate and weren't actually contributing to igniting new logs. I'm going to try it without the grate for my next cook. Thanks for the video!
I really like this style video Joe, I have so many question to ask and discuss. There’s so much good info in this one, a lot of these issues I’ve run into myself and had to learn the hard way.
If I don’t, it’s gonna break soon after. So I’d rather break down and set my coals the way I want before I put new logs in, so it doesn’t smother the coal bed.
Great video. Would love to see like this. I've noticed if I let my fire dip too much and add a dense split the fire dips too long and I feel like I lose the momentum of the cook. If that makes sense.
Definitely. I’m replaying the countless moments I’ve done that my head right now. Haha. I think it comes from us hearing all the time the fire needs to be low and slow so we get nervous about feeding the fire when it needs to be fed. Thanks for watching!
I think most backyard cooks are rushing it. Be patient and things will start. I know the frustration though been there when I first started. I also think cutting the wood to the correct size is key as well. I’ve seen huge splits in a smoker and all they did is smolder. Great video and questions.
Great video. A lot of what he described has been my overall experience with kiln dried wood. It just doesn't want to ignite as quickly or easily as nicely seasoned wood. The coals from a piece of kiln dried wood versus a seasoned piece of wood also is different. Difficult to explain, but the coals appear to be more dense and don't burn as hot as it seems.
Kiln isn’t great for good. And it doesn’t make for good coals. Because so much of the moisture is baked out of it, burns much hotter, doesn’t last very long and coals turn into ashes very quickly.
I'll take an 1.5 to 2 hours useing charcoal then splits to establish a solid coal bed prior to putting meat on. I think it's better to err on the side overkill. I have a Yoder Cheyenne offset.
I know he said he has a backyard offset, but did he send you any pictures to see what he is working with? Just curious, but I loved this kind of video. Great info Joe! 👍👍
Joe just curious…. I know you have a 1000 Gallon primitive pit just wondering do they have a heat shield in the bottom?and did you take it out after you got the pit ? Just curious I have a 1975 workhorse that has a heat shield at the bottom thinking about taking it out just because there is a little bit of a hot spot about 16 inches from the firebox to the chamber wondering what your thoughts are about taking it out!!!!! Watch you all the time . Thanks
@@knoxavebbq Don’t mean to drag this out I really appreciate your response and I trust your judgment workhorse is made by the same company I believe as primitive I love the pit just kind of threw me off a little bit where the hotspot is the only other adjustment that I can think of making is that the stack….. maybe shut it down just a little bit to slow down the pull…… am I thinking correctly?
Hey Joe, have you ever used a smoker with a square firebox? I like your technique of placing the new log horizontally so that it floats above the coal bed, but I can’t do this because my firebox is square. Any recommendations on how to elevate the log on a square firebox so the log doesn’t smother the coal bed?
Great video! So I built a 500 gallon offset last year. First cook on it. It rained the entire dang time. The cook ended up taking a whole lot longer than I expected. Long story but wet wood and using a ton of it because it stormed the entire time. It felt like later in the cook when I had a huge coal bed but also a huge pile of ash. It felt like it was backdrafting a lot out of the firebox instead of out the stack. Have you had that issue before? I’ve cooked on it 5-6 times since and built a super tight grate for it to sit on. Mainly to get the small coals and ash to fall through and I’m able to scrape it out so it doesn’t pile up. I’ve had some long cooks just because I was cooking two days straight but I haven’t had the backdraft issue. Sorry it was so long and my question kind of going all over but I just wanted to see if you’ve seen that situation before. Thanks Joe!
@@knoxavebbq next cook, I’ll do it without the grate. I’m still experimenting with it. I’m sure the 18 hours of rain and 3 tornadoes didn’t help the situation. What a way to break in a new pit. Thanks man
I have a really small offset smoker (cook chamber 16 x 32) that was gifted to me. How would you go about evaluating and using such a small cooker to make good bbq?
Honestly, I would cook with mostly coals. It is much harder to cook with all wood on those smaller smokers just because you need to cut your wood down smaller and will also need to feed the fire frequently.
Dude this was really cool thx. I agree about the basket can be it the way. I think using a rack will work,if a couple pieces of expandable metal are used going in different directions. This keeps bigger embers from falling through too soon. What about fire management and ash build on a flat bottom firebox ?
I basically do the same, except my base logs will be parallel to the length of the smoker rather than perpendicular. And the only other adjustment I like is having a flat shovel instead of a curved one so I can scoop the bottom better. I still don’t prefer having anything to elevate the fire.
@@bigstevessmokemchokembbq8746 you'll have ash build up no matter. I wouldn't be too preoccupied with the ash. I only scape out ash me once every 5-6 hours. So sometimes I won't do it at all. Ash isn't terrible. It can help build the shape of your coal bed. I kind of like to have the ash on the outsides of the coal bed to help sort of insulate it a bit. as long as it's not mixed throughout the coal bed, or if you have more ash than coals you should be fine.
Great video series idea and I've learned at ton from you, in particular the brisket trimming video. One thing that has been in the back of my mind is a comment in one of your videos where you mention the temp reading in a smaller backyard pit isn't really the temp. I think it was something like- 250 isn't really 250. Does that ring a bell? If so what do you mean by that?
The intensity of the heat can be amped up because it’s a smaller space and also because of the actual distance from the fire. Sometimes it’s just too close and the pull can be too strong that you’ll get charring even from a fire that says is 250
I’m not sure I understand you’re question. Are you talking about offsets vs vertical cookers? But that also depends on your budget, cooking style, and convenience.
@@knoxavebbq I've got a decade doing so. You're experience everywhere else should complement it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pgxWLxLEWrQ.html Fire management, temperature control, and understanding the science of how fat & connective tissue breaks down.
I have a Yoder Kingman - so I have been playing with grate, grate and firebox and no grate for a while now. Here is what I have found - grate only - coal bed falls through grate makes it harder to maintain fire - grate with firebox - the firebox I have with the holes on the side seems to accelerate air flow and help to maintain coal bed - I use a smaller fire with the grate in (w / wo fire box) just 1 or 2 smaller splits to maintain temp. No grate - I like cooking with no grate - I burn a much larger fire to maintain temp - 4 good sized splits keep me right at 250. -275 - great air flow when keeping door open - con - you get a build up of ash on the bottom so you have to always be shoveling out ash. Also you go through much more wood. Once its not 5 degrees out I'm going to try and remove the head management plate - that damn thing is heavy. I don't pay too close attention to the gauges on the door - they may say 250 - but if I put in a external probe they usually read 275 - so just use that as a guide and look at how the meat is cooking / rendering and adjust accordingly. Great video.. I thought I was the only person that obsessed on this level of detail..
