Lower temps on Lang 60 Desired

[jjmrascal]

Hey All,

I have been away from the forum for a while.  While gone a couple of things took place:  We sold our home and moved a lot closer to work and civilization and I got the BBQ pit of my dreams!  We had $3500 more than we had anticipated from the sale of our home and my wife gave me the go-ahead to go see Mr. Lang down in Nahunta. 

I love my 60 Deluxe!  It holds a rock steady 250* with no trouble at all...but I like to cook at 225* or so.  I have used it twice now and I know the answer is to get more practice but when it gets to that point, the coals are getting depleted and make it hard to start another log.  It just smolders and when it does catch (with me blowing on it to get more 02) it raises the temp to 275* or so.  I cooked on my OK Joe (with 1/4" tuning plates) for many years and knew how to operate it pretty well.  The Joe only had one intake damper and this one has four.  Does anyone have any advice on tweeking it?  Perhaps I need to change the method of log addition etc?

Thanks in advance and it is great to be back.

 

[pineywoods]

Jeff congrats on the Lang they are great smokers. With my Lang I only use two intakes and close the ones that are facing into the wind. I also find if you use smaller wood splits you can control the heat much better. You have to add wood more often but the temps stay much more consistent. After a couple smokes it will become second nature to know what the smoker wants and when to get it to run just the way you want it to.

 

[randya]

I agree with Pineywoods, stay with smaller wood pieces. I have never had a factory custom built smoker (I envy you) , but with the ones I build I always play round with the temp during my seasoning of the grill. I just pick a starting amount of what ever I am going to use for heat (charcoal and wood), ie: 5-7 lbs of charcoal, one small piece of oak, open the intake and let see what the max temp it gives me. Then I make sure I can get the temp quickly down to 200 deg by just regulating the intake. After I know it will do that, them I double the coals to see if I can get the temp over 300 deg, then close the intake and see what it goes down to. Doing this just satisfies letting me know I will be able to work the temp smoothly while ensuring the smoke flows though the chamber and is blue at the top of the exhaust.

Can’t wait to see your first smoke,

randya from Florida!

 

[adiochiro3]

Managing the intake is key.  O2 in, higher temps.  Choke it down a bit to lower the temp until you learn to maintain that 225* (I like that temp as well -- seems to be the perfect temp for good results IMHO).