# Old Country temps out of control



## 1ray (Sep 30, 2014)

I have a old country  pecos and having  trouble controlling the temps in my  pit ? I can get it set around 225 and walk away for 30 min and it will be 325 to 350 so bump the intake very little check in 30 min and it is 175 the stack is wide open any help would be appreciated . I am also using a maverick temp gage Sealed  cook chamber with RTV and fire box with stove rope. I have also raised the fire grate 3 1/2 to 4 inches.  Here is picks of the mods I have done. All help will be appreciated.













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## JckDanls 07 (Sep 30, 2014)

charcoal or wood ???


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## 1ray (Oct 1, 2014)

I have tried both charcoal & wood  together & separate makes no difference


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## buttburner (Oct 1, 2014)

lets see some pics of the wood and the fire.

what kind of wood are you using


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## jburn244 (Oct 1, 2014)

Ray--

I began to answer your question in the Pecos owners thread (since you posted there as well as created a new thread). I have this same pit, see my response and questions there. You need to give more details about your process for starting your fire.


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## 1ray (Oct 1, 2014)

I start with a full chimney of kingford  blue and fill the charcoal basket except for 1 corner that I put a can in until chimney of cols are ready and I have peace's of pecan wood I cut down with a chop saw but even after an hour of warm up time temp wont hold .After 15 hour cook fighting with it last weekend temp wouldn't hold more than about a 1/2 hour













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## oldschoolbbq (Oct 1, 2014)

Here ,1Ray . This may help...http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/stickburning101


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## buttburner (Oct 2, 2014)

I would get rid of the charcoal basket. Allow the fire to breathe.

use less charcoal, start the fire with maybe 1/2 chimney

then I would not use those chunks, I don't think they would burn evenly

I would use splits about 12" long and maybe 2" diameter. that piece on the lower shelf should be cut in half at least

don't wait too long before adding another split, once the temps start to droop maybe 10 degrees add another pre heated split.

Once it gets going good you will get a rhythm down and will know your fire better

it takes time to figure this out

the stickburning 101 thread is an excellent start


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## jburn244 (Oct 2, 2014)

I didn't have any luck with a charcoal basket in this pit. You can't slow the burn down enough to make it work right and keep a good draft in the cooker at the same time. It was either burning up way too fast or the temps would be weird and uneven since there was no draft. 

I'm pretty happy if I can stretch out to 45 minutes before adding another one.


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