Weekend Smoke From Hell!!

[jaysun]

Nothing but problems from the ECB this weekend;

#1) Underestimated the effect of the wind on my cooking temps. Temp was jumping all over the place between 165* - 240* and my homemade wind break did nothing as the wind was swirling all over the place.

#2) Had smoke leaking out from every possible seam where the 3 parts stack onto each other, any ideas on how to seal this thing up better would be greatly appreciated.

#3) The most frustrating part of this experience was that the wood kept catching fire. I'm using a mini afterburner which has a spot to lay a narrow tin can (like the kind asparagus comes in) and you put your wood inside the can & lay it on the burner. After about 30 seconds, woods on fire and temp spikes up. Put out the fire, jam a bunch of alum foil inside, thinking that would keep it from igniting, wait 30 seconds, damn things on fire again. Again, any suggestions on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

End result is I was able to get 2 hours of smoke on my ribs before throwing in the towel and finishing them in the oven. My guests still raved that they were awesome ribs, which I guess should be the ultimate goal. If I would have had a frag grenade at that specific point in time, that ECB would be no more

. Now I'm debating on trying to 'fix' all the issues with the ECB or just saying to hell with it and pulling the trigger on a new CharGriller Outlaw.

 

[pimpzilla]

I've had an Outlaw for over a year now, and I have zero complaints. It probably takes a little more babysitting than some other smokers, but I think that's all the fun! Good luck with your decision!

 

[jaysun]

Pimp, does that firebox just bolt on to the outllaw? Do I need to cut a hole?

 

[coyote-1]

The Outlaw comes with a predefined, football-shaped knockout. Remove that (it may take some concerted effort to do it without damage, be patient) and bolt the firebox onto that spot as the instructions specify.

 

[jaysun]

Thanks coyote

 

[bigsteve]

I think some offsets can't handle wind very well either. Can't guide you there.

I've never leaked smoke anywhere on my charcoal ECB except the lid, where it's supposed to leak. It's very easy for me to set the cylinder back down on the coal pan a little skewed. I've always seen that right off, so don't know if smoke would leak because of that.

If smoke is coming out anywhere but the lid, I have to wonder if you're going too strong on the smoke?

The Brinkmans aren't for everyone. I thought I had mine all figured out and dialed in nicely. Then yesterday I did a smoke with the same amount of charcoal, laid out the same as always. Temp went way up, and stayed up the whole smoke. I have no clue what happened.

Smoking meat is supposed to be fun. So get a smoker you'll enjoy.

 

[gooose53]

Can offer a little advice on the Afterburner as I have one.....I take heavy duty foil and cover the top then poke a few holes in the foil. I've never had the wood catch on fire using this method. Hope this helps.

 

[rivet]

Exactly! Couldn't have said it any better.

 

[pimpzilla]

Yes, what coyote said. 2 people can get the whole thing together in an hour or so. Temp variations are fairly easy to control with adjustments made to the firebox and chimney as long as you catch them early. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.