# Oklahoma Joe Highlander Damper Not Working with Wood



## broncoblair (May 30, 2017)

Hey Guys

Been reading a lot on these smokers and the mods. I have done a few. I have done the charcoal/wood basket and also sealed the smoke stack and area between firebox and smoker with RTV. I've taken the advice of guys on here to start with coals, and add wood. So I filled a can about 3/4 full and got some hot coals going, dumped them into the basket and opened the intake door wide open and chimney wide open. It looked fairly healthy so I waited till it got up to around 250 or so to close the door and damp it down a little to stop the temp increase. It seemed to work alright, I also stuck a few small half splits of hickory on the coals, sure enough smoke city so I waited for them to catch, they never really did. I had to open the top firebox door and the intake door of the firebox to get a clean fire going, so I close the top door, leave the intake door open but now my temps are skyrocketing towards 300. So I decide to close the door and leave the damper wide open, do that and within seconds white smoke everywhere. I have to restart the process by opening the top door of the fire box and the intake door etc to get the fire clean again....

I haven't done any of the door sealing mods yet, but my doors leak a little bit, not enough to where closing the intake door everytime kills the fire. Im pretty frustrated. The wood is pretty dry. I think its probably older than a year. Im using lump charcoal.


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## hardcookin (May 30, 2017)

In a nutshell a lot of your problem is fire management. Your doing a lot of right things, but you just need to fine tune them.
The size of your fire controls your temperature. The secret is maintaining a fire and keeping a good bed of coals. Your smoker is going to have some temp swings when you add splits, probably 20-40 degrees.
Set a couple splits on your firebox to preheat them. When you add them to your firebox they will ignite quicker with less smoke.

When your temp starts dropping add a split or two. Repeat...

Your exhaust stack leave open. Don't damp that down.


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## JckDanls 07 (May 30, 2017)

Hardcookin has ya on the right trail for a wood fired smoke ...  Myself...  I think these smokers do better with a charcoal fired (minion method) with wood chunks smoke ... If wanting to stick burn, as stated above temp is controlled more so by fire size (less charcoal and smaller splits} .... just means you'll be feeding smaller splits more often ..


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## krzymoke (May 30, 2017)

What do you all mean by splits?


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## broncoblair (May 30, 2017)

hardcookin said:


> In a nutshell a lot of your problem is fire management. Your doing a lot of right things, but you just need to fine tune them.
> The size of your fire controls your temperature. The secret is maintaining a fire and keeping a good bed of coals. Your smoker is going to have some temp swings when you add splits, probably 20-40 degrees.
> Set a couple splits on your firebox to preheat them. When you add them to your firebox they will ignite quicker with less smoke.
> 
> ...


Gotcha. Seems Im using too much charcoal to start. Only issue I guess is adding wood. I have to leave the intake door open. The damper smothers the fire with wood. Kind of a bummer, I guess that's these cheaper smokers it seems like guys with Yoders and Lang's are able to get better results with larger splits and it also seems those dampers are more robust. 

I did try with smaller wood splits, like a quarter really. I had a hard time keeping enough coals after one 1/4 split would burn down. I really dont want to do charcoal just a preference, i start with charcoal but am adding wood when I get a good fire going. Maybe I should let more charcoal burn before I add wood. But again, after you're just burning such a small split there's not a ton of coal left over when you start to add more.


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## broncoblair (May 30, 2017)

I saw some guys would fill their charcoal baskets with charcoal and then add wood and were able to get temperatures they liked. I did that, my smoker went up to 400. And I couldn't dampen it without the wood going out so I just had to wait it out.


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## hardcookin (May 30, 2017)

KrzyMoke said:


> What do you all mean by splits?



Wood splits...you take a log and split it into smaller pieces = wood splits.


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## hardcookin (May 30, 2017)

KrzyMoke said:


> What do you all mean by splits?



Wood splits...you take a log and split it into smaller pieces 





broncoblair said:


> Gotcha. Seems Im using too much charcoal to start. Only issue I guess is adding wood. I have to leave the intake door open. The damper smothers the fire with wood. Kind of a bummer, I guess that's these cheaper smokers it seems like guys with Yoders and Lang's are able to get better results with larger splits and it also seems those dampers are more robust.
> 
> I did try with smaller wood splits, like a quarter really. I had a hard time keeping enough coals after one 1/4 split would burn down. I really dont want to do charcoal just a preference, i start with charcoal but am adding wood when I get a good fire going. Maybe I should let more charcoal burn before I add wood. But again, after you're just burning such a small split there's not a ton of coal left over when you start to add more.



Take and dump a lit chimney of charcoal in your firebox. Then add 2 splits. Crack your door open until the splits take off. Once they are burning good, close your door and adjust the damper till you are at the temp you want and the smoker gets settle in. When your temp starts dropping add 1-2 preheated splits. 

You will be smoking in a range not an exact temp.
Say you want 250 when your temps drops add a couple splits. Your temp for a few minutes could go to 275 and then settle down to around to 250. That will be your range.

On the Lang etc they are heavy metal and maintain heat better.


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## broncoblair (May 30, 2017)

hardcookin said:


> Wood splits...you take a log and split it into smaller pieces
> Take and dump a lit chimney of charcoal in your firebox. Then add 2 splits. Crack your door open until the splits take off. Once they are burning good, close your door and adjust the damper till you are at the temp you want and the smoker gets settle in. When your temp starts dropping add 1-2 preheated splits.
> 
> You will be smoking in a range not an exact temp.
> ...


I've done this. Everytime i shut the door I get a smolder (white smoke. I have to leave it wide open. The question is I guess how much white smoke is too much and for how long? I always leave the fire loading door open until the wood catches and then close it, but have to leave the damper door open.


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## krzymoke (May 30, 2017)

Gotcha, thanks


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## broncoblair (May 30, 2017)




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## hardcookin (May 31, 2017)

When I said crack your door I was referring to the damper door. Is your wood seasoned and dry?
Once the wood ignites it should be pretty clean burning. The video you posted the fire could be a little more clean burning. The smoke should clear some after a few minutes. Your looking for clear or blue in color smoke.
That is something you are going to have to figure out with practice. Your smoker will put out some good Q with a little practice and patience. Thumbs Up


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## broncoblair (May 31, 2017)

hardcookin said:


> When I said crack your door I was referring to the damper door. Is your wood seasoned and dry?
> Once the wood ignites it should be pretty clean burning. The video you posted the fire could be a little more clean burning. The smoke should clear some after a few minutes. Your looking for clear or blue in color smoke.
> That is something you are going to have to figure out with practice. Your smoker will put out some good Q with a little practice and patience.


I see. I guess I am overly sensative to the white smoke. It seems to settle down after 10 15 mins, but is that 10 15 mins of white smoke very hour or so going to make the meat sour?


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## hardcookin (May 31, 2017)

You shouldn't be getting white smoke for 10-15 mins. Maybe only a minute or two after you add a split. If you have the time experiment with trying to get a clean burning fire. 
Try smaller splits, try some different wood.

Check this video out...


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