review of brinkmann..1st cure cycle

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bsteele

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2009
9
10
Los Angeles
Good afternoon:

So I picked up my brinkmann split door on Saturday, put it together and started a fire today at lunch to cure it.

The only "mod" I did was purchase the wok pan from home depot.

Anyways, full chimney of charcoal and it burned at 375 for about 45 mins. Now I've been just feeding it small amounts of charcoal to maintain the heat for the desired 3 hours.

So now the temp has dropped down to 300 for about the last 1.5 hours.

I guess my question is how do I get the temp lower? I can't smoke this high can I?

my only thought is to put less charcoal it in, but then I'll need to feed it like every 30 - 45 mins to maintain temp.

I did the cure with all the vents closed and no water.

I used Cowboy lump for my fuel, the only other stuff they sold was mesquite flavored briquetts.
 
i Have the dual door EBC... i noticed mine without water runs hot, i was amazed at the effects of water in the bowl. try it with a full bowl once see if that drops temps...in mine it did!
 
That should probably do it.
 
Cowboy lump is considered Hot and Fast, it can be hard to rein it in once the fire gets really going.

I do prefer lump, but I suggest you try a bag of briquettes because I think you'll find it a little more manageable.

Most importantly, use the Minion Method approach. I haven't read the thread Bilbo linked to, but the process is well known and a time tested winner.

One main difference with the briquettes is they are slower to respond to changes in fresh air supply and they produce much more ash, which can choke off the fire a bit.
This choking can be a good thing though as it helps the fuel last longer and keeps the temps from spiking.

As far as water goes, it's worth a try, but in my WSM I quit using water after just a few cooks.
Lots of people put something like sand, rocks, ceramic briquettes, bricks and such in the pan instead to hold some heat and stabilize things, which is generally useful in longer cooks.
 
I'm having the opposite problem with my Brinkmann. I bought it at Wal Mart for 75 bucks, may help you know the one I have. My temp stays too cool. Can't get it over 200 for very long. I think its the fact that there are no slits in the charcoal pan and ash chokes the fire. Having a water pan slows it down too. I burned a fire without the water pan and no meat to clean it the other day and it would only hold about 240 or so. Took 13 hours to do a small butt the other weekend.
 
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