DATsBBQ
Head Chef
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3rd attempt on this cooker. This time had the upper exhaust stack wide open, clean-out flap down, Baffel/cleaner rod at the half-way position (per manufacture), firebox intake vent wide open, burned only Lump.
1. No black food but,
2. Had the smoker chugging at 250 then loaded it with a chicken and a fatty. Temp dropped to 200 and no matter how much lump I tossed in, temp stayed between 200 & 255 for 4.5 hours when the wife decided for me that it was oven time cause she was hungry and I over shot my turn in time by over 1.5 hours. She was not willing to wait any longer.
I would think that with the amount of Lump that I was using, with both vents wide open, that the temp should have been pushing the mid 300s. Previous test using Oak and Hickory produced simular results but turned the bird black.
Which leads me to a couple of possible conclusions.
A. The exhaust pipe is 2 1/4 OD. Perhaps it should be 3 1/4 OD.
B. The intake vent on the fire box is too small, but when I cracked the door I lost 15 degrees within 2 minutes.
The guest cook at the Merc is on hold until I can get some better results.
3rd attempt on this cooker. This time had the upper exhaust stack wide open, clean-out flap down, Baffel/cleaner rod at the half-way position (per manufacture), firebox intake vent wide open, burned only Lump.
1. No black food but,
2. Had the smoker chugging at 250 then loaded it with a chicken and a fatty. Temp dropped to 200 and no matter how much lump I tossed in, temp stayed between 200 & 255 for 4.5 hours when the wife decided for me that it was oven time cause she was hungry and I over shot my turn in time by over 1.5 hours. She was not willing to wait any longer.
I would think that with the amount of Lump that I was using, with both vents wide open, that the temp should have been pushing the mid 300s. Previous test using Oak and Hickory produced simular results but turned the bird black.
Which leads me to a couple of possible conclusions.
A. The exhaust pipe is 2 1/4 OD. Perhaps it should be 3 1/4 OD.
B. The intake vent on the fire box is too small, but when I cracked the door I lost 15 degrees within 2 minutes.
The guest cook at the Merc is on hold until I can get some better results.