Temp Control Ok Joe

[tag0401]

Being fairly new to the offset world I have a question for the more seasoned stick burners . I am cooking between 240-260 and I have my firebox door wide open and exhaust is wide open. Is it normal to have to run with the door open. My fire is small as I use a stick about every 25 mins that is roughly 1.5 inches in diameter. Started my fire with half a chimney of lump. Is this how I should expect to run my low and slow cooks?

 

[Chasdev]

That's exactly how you should be doing it!
You want the fire to have all the air it can get to create clear blue smoke and you control cook grate temps by adding or not adding more fuel.
If you get too hot at the cook grate level, don't shut the firebox door or exhaust damper, just crack the lid to dump some heat.
I've had a few temp overheats (due to too many beers) and had to prop the lid open a few inches with a chunk of wood to lose heat until the fire burned down.

 

[Alphonse]

Yes, always run the stack wide open and throttle the heat with the size of the fire and the door/vent.

Keep a flame going to avoid creosote (white smoke).

 

[thedude99]

I always had to run that smoker with the door wide open. Anytime I tried to close it and control the temps with the vent my split would start to smolder.

The vent is undersized IMHO

 

[tag0401]

I always had to run that smoker with the door wide open. Anytime I tried to close it and control the temps with the vent my split would start to smolder.

The vent is undersized IMHO

I will have to agree with you!