The unit you have is basically always going to be an indirect heat smoker, which i can tell you from
a year's experience, is AWESOME. Not nearly as efficient or minder-free as the 3-500 dollar units,
but makes great BBQ. Make your pile of fire on the end opposite of the chimney, and toss your smoke
wood on top of the coals before closing the lid once your coals are where you want em. inside the unit,
with indirect heat, you should be getting 200-225 on the meat end. smoke will draw from the fire to the
chimney end giving you decent smoke envelopment. Fire will usually need a extra handful of coal
about every 90 mins. But regardless, it will take you several weekends to learn the quirks of your unit.
Then when you are about predictable, call your friends over.
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You pretty much nailed my experience today, but I did get it a little hotter based on temp. Middle of smoker was low 300s end by chimney 275ish was the peak.
Tritip is done. Sampled a piece and it is tasty. Middle is so juicy.
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I also agree with TG in that if you have a chimney extension, (and you should) :-),
it shoud be at lowest, 3-4 inches above the cooking grate and should only be used if you
have a good draw from vent to stack.
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Did baby backs on the kettle this weekend while we were camping.

Offset grilled em, stacked two rib racks on top of each other and hit em with some sweet and smokey rub. Marinated with Honey, Bourbon and Cider Vinegar every 30 minutes for 2 and a half hours then hit em with the sauce for another thirty minutes.

They were awesome.

Sorry for the crappy pic it was on my iphone.

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OK. To me it looked like the exhaust vent came down to the grill, not all the way down to the coals.
This might help in 2 ways. It will bring more smoke down to the grill or meat level before it can escape. Also it might let more heat escape directly up the exhaust vent alowing for even lower temps. Just my :-)
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Agreed, and make no mistake, if you have a good draw, the smoke WILL not be stagnant.
Down to the cooking grate is impractical, as it steals meat space, but too high and it makes no sense
to even employ such a device. Your intake vent IS directly opposed to your chimney, right?
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In terms of height, top of the coals is about the same as the height of the grate.

And it would not allow more heat to escape out the stack as heat rises and you're taking your exhaust from a cooler area. But, due to smothering the fire, you would probably have lower temps overall.

Like OLS said, 4-5 inches off would be fine, if you need it.
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By the way, those Baby Backs look AWWWWEsome~
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Has anyone used acorns for smoking wood in their smokers? Wondering what you thought about it.
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I certainly wouldn't. I HAVE used peanut shells to GREAT, buttery effect.
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Got a 4 lbs. pork loin marinating in the fridge overnight. Rubbed it down with garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper. Hit's the smoker tomorrow morning.
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Raw acorns contain high concentrations of tannic acid, so their taste is bitter, and some varieties can in their raw state be toxic to humans.....
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In your opinion, should I do the loin with the foil on or off? Difference?
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if you want smoke flavor and bark, no foil... or foil later into the cook
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I ended up leaving the foil on for the entire cook. The cook times to meat weight ratios listed in my book are incorrect so far or my smoker is hotter than what they used. Taking notes so hopefully the second time around it will be better.
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Two things...

Depends where the thermometer(s) are located in your lid/cooker as to how accurately they will reflect the grate temps. You can also probably take them out and test or possibly calibrate them, depending on the design, for accuracy.

Keeping food wrapped in foil while cooking will cause your cook times to drop dramatically as it traps the heat and creates a braising effect around the meat.
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Ahah, this is where I went wrong. Next time I will either cut back on the time or attempt again, sensa foil. Thanks.
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'welcome.

If you're going to foil, my recommendation would be to smoke first for a few hours, then foil at the end, otherwise, you might as well just skip the BBQ and stick it in the oven in your kitchen.

Foiling is a controversial subject with BBQ. Some swear by it, some hate it. If you're not careful, you can make meat too soft with it.

Some also feel that foiling causes some of the flavor to fade, so they smoke much heavier at the onset so make up for the loss of flavor.
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last night

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