Need Help with FireBox Size

[donkingngian]

I just bought new smoker reverse flow. The cook chamber is length 70"and the diametre is about 27". However, my fire box is about 15" x 15 " which is smaller than 1/3 of the smoker. Its hard to push the temp over 350F with water pan with this fire box. Do you think I should increase the size of fire box to 23" x 23" or not? and If there is bigger fire box what will affect to the temp in the pit? Is it better or this size is enough? Does the temp last longer with bigger fire box?
Another Question is that with this 200 gallon pits what heat source should I use. The 100 percents wood or charcoal and wood. Thank you
Sorry if there is any mistake in my grammar.
Thank you

 

[IronSoul]

Depending on your airflow, you should actually be able to make that work. Remember, with a reverse flow you need to make sure the smoker is nice and warmed up before starting any cooks. Mine is about 900lbs and takes roughly 30-40 minutes to get it up to a pretty good temp to start actually smoking in. By then I have a really nice bed of coals to work from. Once you get it up to temp and have a well built coal bed, it's easy to keep it steady at whatever temp you want +/- 5f. Ideally you'd be better with a 20", but can overcome that problem with a chopsaw to cut wood to fit. It's easier to keep the fire going when your chunks are consistant. I tend to start with charcoal first, using a piece of butcher paper crumpled up and oiled. Once the coals are about halfway, toss on a few pieces of oak and let it start building from there. Reverse flow requires that plate to heat up and that takes much longer than an open chamber. BUT, you have a distinct advantage over open smokers... I've used that plate (heated up to about 450+ to serve my friends some of the best wood fired steaks/burgers/chicken they've ever had. I don't know what thickness your materials are, experience with reverse flow or even cook/setup info. With something that big of a chamber/flow plate, it's going to take TIME to heat it up to temp. Once it is, you'll love the way it cooks. They can run quite literally on almost no wood once they are up to temp with a good coal bed. Think I toss in 2 12" splits about every hour with mine on a really cold day.

 

[donkingngian]

Depending on your airflow, you should actually be able to make that work. Remember, with a reverse flow you need to make sure the smoker is nice and warmed up before starting any cooks. Mine is about 900lbs and takes roughly 30-40 minutes to get it up to a pretty good temp to start actually smoking in. By then I have a really nice bed of coals to work from. Once you get it up to temp and have a well built coal bed, it's easy to keep it steady at whatever temp you want +/- 5f. Ideally you'd be better with a 20", but can overcome that problem with a chopsaw to cut wood to fit. It's easier to keep the fire going when your chunks are consistant. I tend to start with charcoal first, using a piece of butcher paper crumpled up and oiled. Once the coals are about halfway, toss on a few pieces of oak and let it start building from there. Reverse flow requires that plate to heat up and that takes much longer than an open chamber. BUT, you have a distinct advantage over open smokers... I've used that plate (heated up to about 450+ to serve my friends some of the best wood fired steaks/burgers/chicken they've ever had. I don't know what thickness your materials are, experience with reverse flow or even cook/setup info. With something that big of a chamber/flow plate, it's going to take TIME to heat it up to temp. Once it is, you'll love the way it cooks. They can run quite literally on almost no wood once they are up to temp with a good coal bed. Think I toss in 2 12" splits about every hour with mine on a really cold day.

Thank you for your advice, you really made my day. I will try to figure out the right size of wood to overcome the problem as you said. Also, make sure that the smoker is nice and warmed up. Now Im not overthinking with my firebox size anymore. Thank you

 

[IronSoul]

No problem, just remember to take the time to bring everything up to temp. Otherwise you'll be constantly "chasing" the chamber temp. It'll jump up once it's heated, but then it'll shoot past where you want it because your fire is too big/reverse flow plate finally reaches temp, etc. So you let the fire die down and then the temp will drop in the chamber. I've seen guys do a +/- 50f chasing it for hours. Build that bed of coals with a nice roaring fire, let it die down as it heats up the inner chamber/plate and by the time its up to the temp you want, throw a few splits on it now and again to keep it constant. I don't use a stack damper either. Everything is controlled by the firebox dampers/coal bed. Far easier and I'm not chasing my tail trying to "tweak" too many things at once. It's either going to be an easy process or you'll spend time hating your rig and blaming yourself for bad cooks. Do a couple dry runs (no meats) to practice taking it up to ready temp and holding it there for a few hours. You'll find yourself getting used to how your smoker "cooks" (especially in different weather conditions). Meaning you'll adapt to what you need on average for wood to keep it right around your cooking temp without destroying any meat in the process. I do that now and again, just to sit out and have a beer where it can be quiet (I have an 8 year old boy lol). But it'll teach you the sweet spots on your cooker and what you need to hold that temp. Once you master a steady temp cook, it's easy to alter that temp for other cooks. I cook my butts/ribs at 250. But I'll do poultry around 350 and steaks around 450 (love that sear as the juices drip onto that plate and back to the meat). Ham's are around 200 (depending on what brine I used). But each cooker is different and you'll find what works for you, may not work for anybody else and vs versa. That's why a pitmaster is truly that. You can "read" the fire and cooker and adjust ahead of time in order to turn out those tasty meats!