Need Help!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dillons]

I recently purchased a smoke hollow smoker and grill with a side firebox. I tried to use it the first time and had a fifty degree temperature difference from side to side and could not get the temperature above 150 degreesin the smoking chamber. So i took some pointers from my earlier post and put in a convection plate and that evened out my temperature to a 10 degree difference which was great. All though i could not get the temperature above one hundred and fifty degrees again and i dont know what to do. i used royal oak lump charcoal and i used the minion method to burn it and still could not get it above 150 degrees in the smoking chamber. this is really frustrating meand i am getting ready to sell my smoker and just stop smoking i am so frustrated. please a little help like i said i am only 18 years old so need all the help i can get from the more experienced smokers Thank you very much.

 

[jdt]

have you checked yout therm against another thermometer, sounds like you got a bad one, lump burns at 700 + degrees

 

[dillons]

yeah i have checked it against the two other thermometers that i have and they are all saying the same thing. when the lump charcoal was burning the side firebox was so hot i could not touch it at all because it was so hot but i still could not get the temperature above 150 degrees in the smoking chamber its really begining to make me angry.

 

[ozark rt]

Though I am not familiar with your smoker it sounds like you may have an air flow problem. Are your intake and exhaust ports open?

 

[3montes]

Forgo the minion method for now. In a offset horizontal you may not have enough lit charcoal burning at one time to generate enough heat. Dump a full lit chimney of lump or whatever you are using into the firebox then add a few pieces of wood and get that burning as well. Leave the door of the firebox open until the wood has fully caught and then close the door. You should get some serious heat in your smoke chamber especially close to the fire box.

I have a snp. It usually spend the first hour or so just getting a good coal base to work from. Combination of charcoal and then wood (red oak splits) on top of the that. I let the wood burn into coals and then close the door. I let the temp reach maximum and then when it's starts to drop I add the meat. Then I add more wood or lump to maintain the temp.

Keep at it you will find what works

 

[fourthwind]

Make sure that you dont have a tailwind too.. Keep the firebox towards the wind. This will help with airflow.

 

[dillons]

yeah my vents are open and when you say use split wood are you talking about wood logs 12 inches long or are you talking smaller than that

 

[3montes]

I use splits meaning they are about 14" in length and maybe 3" in diameter or sometimes smaller. Use whatever you have on hand that will fit in your firebox. Just don't throw a whole log in there that will just sit and smolder.

 

[dillons]

ok and where do you get your split hardwoods. i can find no place in small concordia kansas to get split wood. the town only has 5000 people know anywhere to get good wood thanks

 

[txbbqman]

Not trying to be a smart azz I promise.....but when I was 18 I was splitting my own by hand. A good Axe and Maul were my best friends growing up around BBQ.

If you can manage to get your hands on a good chain saw, a sledge hammer and a good splitting maul you could cut down the cost of wood tremendously

Or if you have a tractor available you could invest in a Hydraulic splitter,
these can be a lil pricey for a good one but again, if smokin is something you are gonna do fairly regular, then in my opinion well worth the investment

Good Luck

 

[dillons]

i had thought about that myself but i have nowhere to cut the wood from and no way to haul it i would love to cut my own wood and reduce cost that would be great. i also dont know about how long it has to season for

 

[pineywoods]

Have you checked that the fire box to smoking chamber is actually open. I know a few manufacturers make them so you have to knock out a metal piece why putting them together and if you didn't assemble it maybe it wasn't opened up if it needed to be. How many lbs of coals are you using?

 

[dillons]

i used ten pounds of coals and there was no metal piece to knock out at all it came open and i called the manufacturer and they said that i should use about five sticks of wood over charcoal because it puts out more BTU's with the open flame than any hot coal will is this true

 

[3montes]

Just find whatever wood you might have laying around even if it's non smoking wood. Don't put any meat in the smoker just build a fire to see where you chamber temps get. Do a few dry fire runs just to experiment with temperatures. Look around and you will find a wood source.

Even without wood a good chimney of lump should bring your chamber temps up above 150.

 

[dillons]

i have no idea why but i put a chimney of lump in over the top of the rest of the bag and could not get temps over 150 and i can do the dry runs without any kind of wood

 

[ozark rt]

Do you have your charcoal laying on or almost on the bottom of your firebox? If so you may not be getting enough airflow around your charcoal to ignite it properly. Once again I do not know your smoker but with the side fire box on my Silver Smoker I will usually start with 3 to 4 pounds of lump to reach my temp.