How to build a fire in a SS

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bama bbq

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Sep 24, 2011
2,352
71
Rocket City (Huntsville) AL
This works OK.  Looking for an improvement - some advice. Here's how I do this:  I put a layer of coal and wood down,

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then put a coffee can in and surround it with another layer of coal and wood,

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then put a partial chimney of lit coal in the can,

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and pull the can out,

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which produces a column of lit coal to start the unlit coal surrounding it

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Anyone else have a different way of doing this?  It works ok but I may be blaming poor burn on all the leaks I need to fix.
 
First I think you need to trim some hieght of your charcoal basket and then raise the whole basket up of the charcoal grate so air can get under the basket when you start to get ashes. but If you can raise it a couple inches up off the grate without trimming then thats even better.

How are you with your temps.. are they high and can't get em down ?
 
Last edited:
The ashes fall thru the grate pretty well but I may be able to raise it a bit more.  Ash buildup can be an issue.  It takes a while to get to temp then overshoots.  I put a water pan below the meat grill at the opening of the fire box into the smoker chamber in an effort to slow things down and I picked up a pitmaster iQ 110 stoker and think if I restrict chimney thru put I should be able to slow things down as well.
 
yea, more than likely it is all the air leaks and you can't suffocate the fire. mine's the same way, i can't slow it down. So i just cut way back on my charcoal and control temps with the amount of charcoal I put in. Just have to add charcoal more often.
 
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