chargriller duo w/ SFB - made a baffle and plate- How did I do

[hodge]

I've only smoked once with this grill and I just extended the stack and inverted the charcoal tray.  3 racks of ribs came out pretty tasty and fall of the bone, just the way I like em.  I did get a little char on the tips and had some trouble regulating the temps so I figured these two mods would help the most with that.  I did this tonight and I also plan to seal up any leaky spots with fireplace caulking.

looking for any feedback on my plate and suggestions for other easy mods I might be able to do before July 4th as I plan to smoke that day.

thanks

Hodge

 

[cliffcarter]

After looking at the second pic I would think that the baffle in the first pic is not needed.

 

[hodge]

Well I seemed to be having trouble getting the temps up to 225-235.  It wanted to sit right at 200.  I was using cowboy hardwood natural charcoal and mixing in some kingsford charcoal and added Cowboy hickory wood chunks for smoke.  I theorized that I was not getting enough airflow and also the temp from one side to the other was about 40 degrees difference so I took out the smaller of the plates and moved the larger one to the firebox side.  After a while this got the temps to within 10 degrees side to side, still slightly hotter on the firebox side.  I was still having a hard time getting to 225-235 though.

Based on all of that info I think I need to use a basket in the firebox to allow the fire to breath better. Am I thinking about this correctly or could it be something else that I need to change? 

   I don't completely understand what features I need to build into the box/basket to do this.  I'll probably use the expanded steel as that seems to work well for others.  Is there an optimal shape?  

 What about the distance from the bottom of the basket to the bottom of the SFB and the sides also?  My neighbor is a metal worker and has the skills and tools to build it out of other materials as well if there's better options.