Old Country BBQ Pits Pecos Owners Thread

[jburn244]

 
Do any of you pecos have trouble controlling the temps in your pit ? I can get it set around 225 and walk away for 30 min and it will be 325 to 350 so bump the intake very little check in 30 min and it is 175 the stack is wide open any help would be appreciated .I can post picks if yall need to see all the mod I have done. I am also using a maverick temp gage.

It's a learning experience, for sure. After 4 months and several cooks it's starting to feel more predictable for me. To help though we need to know what kind of fuel you are using, how much, how you started it, etc.

If you let it come up to 225 and then came back and it was over 300 that's actually not a bad place to be. You need to give this thing 45 minutes or an hour to come up to temp and be ready to cook. I've learned you HAVE to let the body of the cooker get loaded with heat. You can't just let it come up to 225 in the first 15 minutes and expect it to hold because it won't. I try to overshoot my cooking temperature a little bit and drop back down into it. Biggest thing I'm still learning is keeping a consistent coal bed for heat. But learning to work a fire is fun and it's fun talking about it.

 

[1ray]

Thanks JBurn 244 yes I do let it set for about an hour and I start with a full chimney of kingford  blue and fill the charcoal basket except for 1 corner that I put a can in until chimney of cols are ready and I have peace's of pecan wood I cut down with a chop saw but even after an hour the temp jump around

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• 1ray
• Oct 1, 2014

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• 1ray
• Oct 1, 2014

 

[glocksrock]

Have you tried moving the smoker so it's pointing a different direction? It's possible your temps are varying due to lots of wind blowing into the vent.

 

[1ray]

I don't think wind is it . It sits near a 6foot wood fence

 

[jburn244]

Your problem is too much air. The minion method is not working because it's just burning across the whole basket. It's up to 300 so quick because all your charcoal gets lit. I haven't had any luck with the minion method in this cooker. You can't choke off the air enough and keep the proper draft.

 

[1ray]

Are you not using a basket and did you raise your fire grate up to about 4 inches?

 

[jburn244]

 
Are you not using a basket and did you raise your fire grate up to about 4 inches?

I did try a basket and doing the minion method but I didn't have much luck. It took an entire 20lb bag of charcoal just to get a 5 hour burn, even though I started it too fast and could have gotten more, it's not to economical. I may eventually experiment with it more, but as of right now it's not a viable option for me.

My grate isn't really raised although I'm not using the stock one anymore. I found a cooking grate at Home Depot that fits well and raises it slightly maybe. I didn't really measure.

 

[1ray]

Right now I am using the grill grate that slides in the top fo the fire box. Have you done any kind of mods to any part of yours?

 

[jburn244]

I thought about doing that but I opted to keep the grill grate in case I ever wanted to grill over the firebox.

Only mods I have done on my Pecos are 1/4" thick tuning plates, and the bbqgaskets.com nomex gasket on both cook chamber and firebox doors. The tuning plates seem to have made the biggest difference not only in temperature distribution, but radiant heat and temperature recovery. It seems to come back up to temp quicker than before with the tuning plates.

 

[slimc]

Just got the pecos and I'm having a hard time keeping temp above 220, losing smoke and heat. Where did you place the nomex tape on the lid or smoker body? Also do you burn chunks or splits?

 

[jburn244]

Hey there, I put the gasket on the lid. 

I burn splits in mine. They can't be too big though or they won't catch and burn clean, they'll just smolder. 7"-10" splits seem to work best, around wrist/forearm size in diameter.

How are you running the cooker? What position are your dampers and how did you start your fire?

 

[slimc]

Thanks for the info JBurn I appreciate it

I put a bed of kingsford original charcoal, used a chimney to start it. Then I was adding chunks of apple wood. I got up to about 250 degrees after half an hour before I put on my ribs. Then the temp would just drop off and the chunks were burning really fast but temp stayed around 190-220. I had the firebox door mostly open and flu wide open. I was wondering how much charcoal you guys use to start off and do you just put on one split at a time? It seems like the amount of charcoal I had in there wasn't hot enough to keep temp without more wood added to it. Thanks for any advice.

 

[jburn244]

 
Thanks for the info JBurn I appreciate it

I put a bed of kingsford original charcoal, used a chimney to start it. Then I was adding chunks of apple wood. I got up to about 250 degrees after half an hour before I put on my ribs. Then the temp would just drop off and the chunks were burning really fast but temp stayed around 190-220. I had the firebox door mostly open and flu wide open. I was wondering how much charcoal you guys use to start off and do you just put on one split at a time? It seems like the amount of charcoal I had in there wasn't hot enough to keep temp without more wood added to it. Thanks for any advice.

Yeah I'd say chunks is probably the reason you can't keep it at temp. You need more fuel. Use splits around the size I mentioned above. Another thing to be sure to keep in mind is to give it plenty of time to come to temp. Try giving it closer to an hour. Your temperature gauge might read 250 after 30 minutes, but you have to give the body of the cooker plenty of time to load with heat. Best to get the temp up over your target, and then drop down into it. The bed of charcoal/kindling you start with will be about spent by the time you are ready to cook if you do it right.

You are correct on keeping your chimney 100% open and your inlet damper most of the way open also.

I usually add one split at a time, sometimes 2 smaller ones. You are looking at every 40-45 minutes. Stick burning requires babysitting. I'm still getting the hang of keeping a good solid bed of coals. That's the key to keeping the heat as consistent as possible.

This is a good video from Lang on firing up a stick burner. This is the way I usually try and go about it. Except I'll usually use lump charcoal to start rather than kindling.  

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[slimc]

thanks JBurn, can't wait to  give it another shot, I'll get back if I have questions!

 

[buttburner]

J Burn is exactly right

use splits not chunks

splits burn a lot slower and more evenly and easier to control the temps

chunks have much more surface area to burn, they catch, up in flames quick, there go your temps, then they burn out quick, and you lose your temp

use sticks

you will have to experiment with thickness to see what works best for your pit

 

[thmoker]

 
Thanks for the info JBurn I appreciate it

I put a bed of kingsford original charcoal, used a chimney to start it. Then I was adding chunks of apple wood. I got up to about 250 degrees after half an hour before I put on my ribs. Then the temp would just drop off and the chunks were burning really fast but temp stayed around 190-220. I had the firebox door mostly open and flu wide open. I was wondering how much charcoal you guys use to start off and do you just put on one split at a time? It seems like the amount of charcoal I had in there wasn't hot enough to keep temp without more wood added to it. Thanks for any advice.

Slim,

I agree with above advise to use sticks over chunks. It's easy for me to say because I live in FL and don't have to deal with freezing temps, but I've never had a problem getting and keeping temps in my Pecos. I've always used standard fireplace sized pieces of split red oak, and I try to warm them on the firebox before I use them.

I find it helpful to relate my smoker to an automobile, in that I consider the firebox vent to be the "accelerator" and the chimney flu to be the "brakes". After I get the charcoal fully lit and in the firebox, I put in a couple of splits on the coals and open the FB vent wide and the chimney about halfway. When I can see that the splits are burning, I close the chimney to about 1/2-inch or so (where it stays for most of the entire cook) and close the FB vent to about the same. I keep a close eye on the temps: if I need more heat I open the FB vent a bit. If it gets too high, close it a bit. I only change the chimney if temp runs away too high, in which case I close it completely to "put on the brakes". Essentially, you are choking out the fire with its own smoke. When I get back down to temp, I return the chimney flu to 1/2-inch and get back to controlling the accelerator to get temp dialed in. I should also mention that after I throw in a new split, it usually takes a while before the temp settles in and I can leave the grill alone for a bit.

This is how I manage temps on my grill during a cook. Of course, a digital thermometer is very nice to have...I have a Maverick that I rely on.

 

[buttburner]

I control my fire solely with intake air. Chimney is always wide open

its a bad idea to try and choke off the fire with its own smoke. You risk stale smoke on your food.

 

[thmoker]

on my grill, wide open chimney runs temps way too high. I tried to control temps with the FB vent only but couldn't get any consistency. I need to be able to get other things done while I'm cooking. I have found that keeping the chimney mostly closed is more forgiving. But as I indicated, it's probably different for people in colder climates. What it boils down to is, smoke should be coming out of the stack, not from around the cooking chamber lid, and it should be thin blue smoke...

If closing the chimney briefly causes "stale smoke" to affect flavor of meat, it hasn't made itself apparent to the palates of anybody that has tasted my ribs. 

 

[buttburner]

try maintaining a smaller fire for less heat

closing the chimney "briefly" is not the same as running with it 1/2" or so open the entire cook as you stated

it may work for you but its not really how stickburners are designed to run

they are designed to let the air flow, the smoker performs better if its allowed to breathe

 

[slimc]

Do you guys use a charcoal basket or not? I've been reading conflicting information about what is better to allow the fire to breathe, curious to hear your opinions on using a basket vs just using the firebox grate that came with the smoker by itself, thanks