Temp & Wood Combustion Issue

[Albert Pak]

Hey Guys,

I've browsed through the forum a lot and I can't seem to get a definitive answer to the issue I'm having.

I own a cheap smoker, which is the Dyna Glo Offset Vertical Smoker. I made all the adjustments by sealing off the cracks with high temp silicone, gasket, and buying a new thermostat (Surprisingly, the thermostat that came from the package is accurate to the dot. I did this by placing several electronic thermometer in a boiling water and cool water).

From what I've read online, I understand you should open up your vents to raise temp and close the vents to reduce temp. With most, it seems like it is recommended to keep the exhaust wide open and choke off the inlet/firebox side. I wish this was the case, but I seem to have a hard time getting the temp to go up. I leave both the firebox and chimney vents wide open, but it gets stuck between 170-200 degrees.

The other issue I'm having is the wood is not combusting. I throw wood chunks inside the firebox, allow air to flow in and ignite the wood. I leave it for a short minute or two then I proceed to close the firebox. However, within a minute of closing the firebox the fire extinguishes. I've read the wood needs to have a small flame to produce the best smoke flavor that can only be achieved by it combusting.

I usually fill up the basket 3/4 of the way with briquettes that has been fully lit. Still, no fire on my wood chunks. The last time I cooked a pork butt and had a hard time getting the temp up. I put a fan near the firebox blowing in which caused the temp to go up and the wood to catch on fire again. However, I noticed I run out of fuel source like crazy. I think last time, I used 1.5 bags of briquettes and 2 bags of 5 lbs wood chunks. Are there any other tricks you guys use to alleviate this type of issue? Just the fuel source is costing me a pretty penny.

 

[smokinq13]

The fact your smoker is cheap shouldn't affect you not having fire, it can affect heat resilience as cheaper materials mean it might not hold heat as well BUT you should still be able to get the temperatre up there.

So you are using a bed of coals to start the fire, which is good... this was my first suggestion... fire needs three things to thrive, 1. fuel 2.oxygen and a 2.heat source

Since you have the heat source, it can either be the fuel or the fact the fuel isn't getting enough oxygen. Is your wood have moist in it or it is well seasoned(dry)? Also before you try cooking, check your flow as in is there anything blocking air flow from your firebox to the cook chamber to the chimney?

If everything checks off, I would try smaller wood pieces to start, maybe half or even quarter of the size you're using and see if that helps. also keep the vent on the stack fully open and use the vent on the firebox to control the temperature, also try instead of using the vent, use the actual door to the firebox as the "vent"... if you're getting a lot of white smoke usually that means your fire is lacking oxygen... hope something helps!

 

[Albert Pak]

Thanks for your reply!

Last time I smoked, I had two 8 lbs pork butts on different racks and placed on the center. This left me about a good 6"-8" on both sides of the pork butt. I assumed this would provide enough air flow through the cook chamber. I kept all my vents wide open to allow maximum amount of air flow. I played around with the firebox door as well by giving it a small crack to opening it up a bit more. Weird thing is, I started losing more temperature in the cook chamber when I did this. I don't have any other restrictions aside from the food I'm cooking.

Just out of curiosity, will having too much coal rob the wood of oxygen? This is the only thing I can think of, but of course.. as a newbie smoker I could be completely wrong on this.

 

[dcecil]

So Im new on this forum so I am a little cautious to offer any advice. keep in mind this is only my opinion. I agree 100 percent with what was mentioned by smoking13. Dont rely on the vents to provide adequate oxygen. For me I like to leave everything wide open to not only get the fire going but to build up that bed of coals. I will let my fire go and coals develop for at least an hour or until I can feel radiant heat from the coals. Just my 2 cents

 

[Albert1977]

I too have a cheap offset smoker. I used to have the same problem. I fixed this with adding a charcoal basket. What was happening was that the charcoal was getting suffocated by the ashes. Adding the charcoal basket lifted the coals away from the ash and the results were instant. I now spend more time bringing temperature down and use way less charcoal/wood. Not sure if this is what your experiencing, but it worked for me.

 

[smokinq13]

To a degree yes it could rod the wood of oxygen but you would have to use a ridiculous amount of charcoal for that to happen. a chimney full... even two chimney fulls shouldn't do this.... if I were you I'd open the firebox door even more to help with that air flow( like a quarter to half way open even fully open) when heating up the smoker... its always best to get the temperature well above your desired smoke temperature so when you put the meat on, the recovery time is less( if you want around 250F, bring the smoker up to 325-350F and then adjust it to bring down the temp to whatever you desire... once the air flow starts it'll pull more oxygen feeding the fire which will help with the heat problem

 

[Albert Pak]

No worries! A lot of us are on here to learn and any insight is greatly appreciated!

As previously mentioned, I actually started to lose temperature in the cook chamber.

Another thing which I forgot to add is the temperature would go up after 1-2 hours of smoking. It would sit somewhere between 225-250 (Usually closer to 225). However, until that point I'm battling between 170-200 degree range. I don't open the cook chamber either as I fear of losing more heat.

 

[Albert Pak]

smoking13 interesting. I'll try going between 325-350 next time I smoke on it to see if that works.

 

[Albert Pak]

Albert1977 Sorry, didn't see your post. Mine actually came with a charcoal basket and there is a separate tray that catches the ashes that falls down from the basket.