# adding charcoal to fire



## duggy (Oct 23, 2010)

Hey all

I have a question. When adding more charcoal to the smoker, do they need to be lit and left to burn a little bit in the chimney starter or can I just add it directly (unlit) to the fire?


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## tom37 (Oct 23, 2010)

My drums burn like the minion method so I have never added coals to them. But my RF gets coals added after they are lit and start to ash. A little bit of coals and a little bit of log wood, which ever works at the moment.


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## meateater (Oct 23, 2010)

duggy said:


> Hey all
> 
> I have a question. When adding more charcoal to the smoker, do they need to be lit and left to burn a little bit in the chimney starter or can I just add it directly (unlit) to the fire?




 LA CRESCENTA.......I was raised there!!


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## jirodriguez (Oct 24, 2010)

Yeah... if you can at least get the new stuff heated... not necisarrily fully lit, but almost fully lit works well. Main thing you want to do is avoid having all the "start up" smoke from the charcoal going into your meat.... makes for unplesant flavor.


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## duggy (Oct 25, 2010)

hmmm wouldn't that mean that using the minion method is not a good idea as well? Since it'll have the "start up" smoke from the charcoal


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## rw willy (Oct 25, 2010)

I've heard that point of view before.  I've thought that every time I use my UDS.  But, no unpleasent taste on my smokes...so.


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## alblancher (Oct 25, 2010)

I add charcoal or splits to my small offset all the time.  If you are using a quality lump charcoal all the bad stuff has already been burned off.  Well cured splits do not have enough moisture to cause a problem with sooty smoke.  The most important thing in my opinion is not getting a temp spike when you add fuel.

Al


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