# brinkmann ecb



## pc farmer (May 3, 2013)

I have been using a mes for a couple years and love it.  I thought I would give charcoal a try. So I got a brinkmann smoke n grill and did the mods to it.  Tonight I did some burgers and couldnt control temps, went all the way to 320 and then started dropping til I added more charcoal.  Tried the minion method ( dumped lite coals in the middle of unlite) seems to burn so quick. Used about 6 lb in 3 hours.Burgers turned out great with a nice smoke ring thou.

Any help out there?

Thanks


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## pc farmer (May 3, 2013)

Temps went down to 160, added more unlit charcoal temps back up to 290.


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## hambone1950 (May 4, 2013)

That machine you have is much better as a grill than a smoker. I had one for years and I always liked the way it did burgers , chicken and steak....in other words , stuff that turns out good if you cook it hot and fast.. You can cook ribs in it , but just know that they are gonna cook fast- ish so you gotta watch em close.....If you fill the water pan with lukewarm water  that can help control the heat a little , but I never did get to where I felt like I could control the heat in that thing. I used to do a pork butt in it , but I would just fill it up once with charcoal , nurse it along as best I could so it got some good smoke and then I'd finish in  the oven. It came out good and I was less stressed about making BBQ.
If you find that you really like charcoal smoking I would HIGHLY recommend the weber smoky mountain. I have had mine for a year now and it is truly fun to cook on. Whatever you do , I hope you have fun and don't get too worked up about temps. As long as you watch for done ness , it usually comes out good. :grilling_smilie:


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## pc farmer (May 4, 2013)

Thanks for the info
  I will use it for the short smokes and the mes for the longer ones.


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## pc farmer (May 4, 2013)

Whats differant with the weber smoky mountain? Looks like my brinkman.


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## scottiewalton (May 5, 2013)

I had the same issue yesterday! I have a heavily modded char broil/brinkman (two of the exact same smoker, only different stickers)vertical smoker. I had trouble with high temps and couldn't do anything but just let it finish and my brisket turned out moist but not as tender. I am done with that and I am building a drum smoker (UDS) with a kit from Big Poppa Smokers.com. I can't wait to not have to watch and chase temps all day!


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## hambone1950 (May 6, 2013)

c farmer said:


> Whats differant with the weber smoky mountain? Looks like my brinkman.



Looks is where it ends , brother. You can read up on the WSM at amazing ribs.com or the virtual weber bullet.com.
You can cook all day ( 10-12 hrs) on a load of charcoal and you can totally control the temp. No B.S.   this is probably the best charcoal smoker for the average cook IMHO


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## mdboatbum (May 6, 2013)

c farmer said:


> Whats differant with the weber smoky mountain? Looks like my brinkman.


The WSM is a sealed chamber, and designed very well. The ECB, at least the one I had, is basically open at the bottom and there is no provision for adjusting airflow. With mine, if I used it EXACTLY the way it was designed to be used with water in the pan etc it would _usually_ chug along around 235˚ for a couple hours until the water boiled off. I did manage to get some pretty good food out of it but it was mostly an exercise in frustration. Weather, wind, type of fuel all had a pretty significant impact on the way it would run. I finally got irritated enough with it that I left it at a house we rented at the beach. Then I made a mini WSM and it's much, much easier and much more fun.


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## pc farmer (May 6, 2013)

Maybe I will try to make a mini WSM.  Its cheaper than buying a wsm.  How much meat can you fit in a mini?


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## mdboatbum (May 6, 2013)

More than you'd think. I've done 2 butts at once, 2 chickens, 2 racks of spares. I wouldn't want to try a full packer, but you can certainly split it and do the point on one rack and the flat on another. I've also done a 15lb turkey.


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## pc farmer (May 10, 2013)

Well last night I did another run with it.  Used the minion method and put the lit charcoal
 in the center.  Got super hot (315) then settled down.  Think I will try putting lite coals at on end and let it burn t the other.

Any advice?


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## hambone1950 (May 12, 2013)

c farmer said:


> Well last night I did another run with it.  Used the minion method and put the lit charcoal
> in the center.  Got super hot (315) then settled down.  Think I will try putting lite coals at on end and let it burn t the other.
> 
> Any advice?



You're doing all right....just keep cooking and trying stuff like you're doing. Make a note of what works and steer clear of what doesn't. I cooked everything but brisket on my brinkmann and it all came out pretty good. 
Post some pictures of your next cook. We love that stuff!  :grilling_smilie:


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## pc farmer (May 13, 2013)

How much charcoal should I start off with in the charcoal pan?


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## hambone1950 (May 19, 2013)

jeeze , i missed this. fill that sucker up !


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## pc farmer (May 19, 2013)

I thought maybe my high temp problem was to much charcoal.


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## pc farmer (May 23, 2013)

How do I keep the wood chunks from catching on fire.

I have been wrapping dry chunks in 2 layers of foil.


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## hambone1950 (May 24, 2013)

I think the wood chunks have to burn to make smoke...I would just let it go. When I use my WSM , I just throw in a few chunks of wood and leave it at that. I like a light touch of smoke and I feel that  I get it that way. I think you just have to load up the smoker with unlit....dump some lit on there... (Not too much) and let the smoker come up to temp slowly. It's a lot easier to keep the fire from getting too hot than it is to get the temp to go down once the fires gotten away from you.

:grilling_smilie:


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## hambone1950 (May 24, 2013)

:grilling_smilie:


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## pc farmer (May 24, 2013)

I cant keep it from getting to hot.  Last night I did some hotdogs, put maybe 30 unlite charcoal in it.  Put 10 lite charcoals in it on the side to let it burn across the pan.  Temps went up slow to arount 330 and settled around 320 for about 1 1/2 hours until temps started dropping.


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## hambone1950 (May 24, 2013)

Ok , see I was forgetting wer're talking about an ECB .....you don't have the vents and whatnot to control the temp. No. I don't believe you will ever be able to keep that thing from shooting up to 300 degrees. That's what they do. That thing is basically a charcoal grill. Forget low and slow on that. Anyone who knows different , feel free to correct me. 
I had a brinkmann for years and tried everything. No way. If you want to do low and slow get a different smoker. And what the heck , hot dogs only take 5 minutes anyway!    Good luck , man. :sausage:


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## pc farmer (May 24, 2013)

Thanks I will use my mes for low and slow cooking.


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## bigricky65 (Sep 3, 2013)

I'v been able to control the temp on my ECB pretty well by adding an adjustable vent to the botom of the firepan.I've maintained 160 degrees for 3 hours (beef jerky) and 225-235 for 2-3 hours before adding more charcoal. With that said I'm still going to step up to a Weber in the very near future.


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## pc farmer (Sep 4, 2013)

I put the ecb in the corner and built a uds.

Much happier with the uds.


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## magslam (Nov 20, 2013)

c farmer said:


> Whats differant with the weber smoky mountain? Looks like my brinkman.


The similarities between both ends with their look. WSM temp control is way better and easier than any modified ecb. Still we can get great cooks with an ecb.


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## magslam (Nov 20, 2013)

Hambone1950 said:


> Looks is where it ends , brother. You can read up on the WSM at amazing ribs.com or the virtual weber bullet.com.
> You can cook all day ( 10-12 hrs) on a load of charcoal and you can totally control the temp. No B.S. this is probably the best charcoal smoker for the average cook IMHO


Certainly right.


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## grimm5577 (Nov 20, 2013)

I had an ECB for years and just recently purchased a WSM. I found the ECB was very particular with how much coals to start with. Lite too many and it will be hot, to little and it will be too low. As far as maintaining the fire and temps. It's definitely more of a chore than the weber.


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## lemans (May 15, 2015)

image.jpg



__ lemans
__ May 15, 2015





So my 10 yr old Ecb sits on a propane burner
With the waterman used for wood chunks
   Low and slow. Works like a charm


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