# Assassin smoker help



## big eata 9 (Apr 16, 2018)

I just purchased an assassin charcoal smoker/grill. I'm having trouble maintaining lower smoking temps. If I use the water pan in it I don't get above 185°. When I use the v-pan I can't keep it below 300°  with the damper choked all the way down. I've used a combo of RO lump & kingsford in it. I have the IQ120 I tried with water pan & v-pan & still couldn't get to or keep 250°. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks


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## noboundaries (Apr 16, 2018)

Based on what you said above you may be using too much hot charcoal to pre-heat your chamber.

Tell us in detail how you are loading the firebox; approximately how much cold charcoal and what type, how much hot charcoal and what type, how much wood.


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## dward51 (Apr 16, 2018)

How are you laying out the charcoal?  Is it a large single bed?   One possible solution is to take some cut steel square stock and create a maze or "charcoal snake" so you only have a small amount of charcoal actually burning at any given time.  It would work sort of like a pellet tray.  You could still intermix smoke wood chunks like normal with the charcoal and the power draft will also work like normal.  It's just a smaller fire at any given time for lower temps and temp control.

I found some photos (not mine), but they are on photobucket so you have to go to that album to view them.  The album link for direct viewing (there are also other photos of a 48" assassin in that album) is below.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TwiztidOne/library/Assassin 48 Grill And Smoker?sort=3&page=1


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## big eata 9 (Apr 18, 2018)

noboundaries said:


> Based on what you said above you may be using too much hot charcoal to pre-heat your chamber.
> 
> Tell us in detail how you are loading the firebox; approximately how much cold charcoal and what type, how much hot charcoal and what type, how much wood.


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## big eata 9 (Apr 18, 2018)

I am using a full charcoal chimney of Royal Oak mixed with kingsford. I have a 2" square tubing 36" long I run down the middle of my charcoal gate & snake my charcoal around It with pieces of chunk wood spread throughout.


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## big eata 9 (Apr 18, 2018)

This is how I have my charcoal loaded. Yesterday I ran strictly Kingsford & I still couldn't get below 300°. 8ve also noticed that the charcoal gets hot enough to auto ignite charcoal on theother side of divider


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## noboundaries (Apr 18, 2018)

Try the same load with 1/4 chimney of hot charcoal, or less. My smoker, a WSM bullet smoker, isn't that far removed from a cabinet smoker. I'll put a full load of cold charcoal and wood chunks in my fire ring, and no more than 8 hot Royal Oak briquettes to get a 225F chamber. With Kingsford, you use twice as much, but not a full chimney of either. The only time I'd use a full chimney of hot KBB is when I wanted 300F+ chamber temp for poultry.


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## gmc2003 (Apr 19, 2018)

I agree with noboundaries, start off with less lit charcoal and let the smoker get to temp gradually. 

Chris


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## big eata 9 (Apr 19, 2018)

Thanks for the advice I will try it this weekend and see how it works.


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## big eata 9 (Apr 19, 2018)

Is there any advice for cooking with the water pan in and getting above 185°?


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## WillRunForQue (Apr 19, 2018)

As far as jumping goes in your snake method, from your picture it looks like your divider is short compared to how high you are stacking your charcoal and wood.  I'm not sure what the height clearance is in your grill, I use firebrick myself as a divider and don't stack it over the top edge.

Regarding the water pan, you'll get lots of different ideas.  I never cook with water in my vertical because I think it's a mess to clean.  I just put foil down to catch drips.  In my miniwsm I put foil over sand in a pan to act as a heat sink since it isn't insulated.

Thinking of getting an Assassin 48 myself, so keep posting your cooks!


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## noboundaries (Apr 19, 2018)

I'm in a bit of a hurry this morning, so if this post comes off as abrupt, I apologize.

There are only two confirmed reasons to use water in your water pan. First, to maintain low temps. Water is a heat sink. Two gallons of water is a 16.7 lb mass that has specific properties of heat absorption and expansion. Personally, I've found that dry smoking is a MUCH better teaching tool for learning to control chamber temps than depending on the water, water that will eventually evaporate and cause spikes in chamber temps. Using water also uses more fuel because you have to use a lot of your heat energy to heat the water.

Second, a moist environment causes more smoke to adhere to the meat, which can be both good and bad. If you have "bad" smoke (white or grey and filled with particulates), you get an ashtray taste on the meat, or a bitter creosote flavor. If using a strong wood like hickory or mesquite, and the smoke is good (thin blue), the smoke flavor can overpower the meat. If you want a lot of smoke flavor, and moist meat, spray it instead.

Some believe a moist environment keeps the meat moist. True and false. True in that the outside of the meat can be kept softer if using a water based spray that does not contain sugar or any other ingredient that will burn as it evaporates. False in that spraying the outside of the meat does nothing to keep the interior moist, and there are posts I've read where folks believe it can actually contribute to the interior of the meat being dryer due to the evaporative flow it creates as water surface moisture leaves the meat. Since a lot of the meats we long smoke do not get their juiciness from water, but from melted collagen, the evaporative flow probably only applies to lower temp meats like roast beef, tri tip, etc. Personally, I only spray if I want to add a specific flavor addition to my rub's flavor profile.  A double smoked ham is all I spray these days, but that could change.


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## big eata 9 (Apr 19, 2018)

Thanks for the great advice! I will definitely pay attention to how high I stack my charcoal & be cognizant of organizing it instead of just pouring & "evening it out" with my hand.  Interesting points on how meat reacts with smoke & water pan possibly hindering my cooks. I will definitely keep you all posted on my journey/progress with this cooker. Side note, after i finished smoking 5 slabs of ribs i did open the damper and cooked brats & burgers in no time with the charcoal i had remaining. One thing i can say is that it has good draw & cooks hot. This was with the v-pan still in.


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## big eata 9 (May 21, 2018)

Last weekend i tried double stacking kingsford briquettes 3 across×2  deep. I used half a chimney of charcoal to start with & still was cooking steady at 300° with chimney cracked & iq 120 temp set @ 250°. I think my next option is to lay one layer of coals down & see what temp i get. Any suggestions are always welcomed to achieve the proper smoking temps will be greatly appreciated.


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## mike5051 (May 21, 2018)

half a chimney is still a lot of lit coals, I turn mine upside down and use the smaller section.

Mike


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## lvrgsp (May 25, 2018)

Start it with 8 briquettes lit and I would move the while charcoal closer to the vent intake end. Have you checked the thermometer in boiling water or ice water for comparison?
I remember another 48 owner saying he removed a washer from the intake and it made a tighter seal to not allow so much draw from the intake side.


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## big eata 9 (May 25, 2018)

Good advice. I have placed an oven thermometer in smoker to compare tenos & both smoker thermo, oven thermo, & grate reader on iq120 all read withing 5° of each other.  But i will try less briquettes next time. And i haven't compared boiling water on thermo either. Thanks!


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## lvrgsp (May 26, 2018)

I have a 48 ordered and it should start production build next week hopefully...
Looking forward to it. From what I have read and talked to other 48 owners... For the price it might be the most versatile grill smoker price point and capacity wise on the market.


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## JckDanls 07 (May 26, 2018)

also when going with less coals to lite...  don't let them get screaming white hot before dumping them in... dump them in when they are only half lit..  it's easier to bring temps up than it is to try and bring them back down...


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## big eata 9 (May 31, 2018)

Great ideal, i definitely let them get "white hot". Thanks


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## big eata 9 (May 31, 2018)

I agree this is a great smoker/grill the capacity is ridiculous on it, it has great air flow, I am happy with the purchase, now to get my smoking temp where i meed it and i will be golden.


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## lvrgsp (Dec 29, 2020)

Smokin Dem Butts on the 48...


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