BBQ/Grill question.

[grasshopperglock]

There's a damper on the chimney and a vent to the fire. How do adjust either one or both for the best smoke and heat?

 

[SloppyShooter]

There's a damper on the chimney and a vent to the fire. How do adjust either one or both for the best smoke and heat?

The more you open them, the hotter the fire.

 

[Dad_Roman]

Both will control flame/heat. You can get away with a good fire and the vent open quite a bit but close the damper down a lot and this will retain much more smoke. Smoke to your taste. Lower vent opening chokes the fire itself down which is really ok for those 225-250 degree long cooks like a brisket etc.

Kick her wide open for burgers, dogs, jhonsonvilles etc that will take a quick cook over high heat.

As I said, closing the chimney can keep a little more heat/smoke in but that chimney is to insure flow through the cooker. Remember for smoking, if you close it down a lot you have to make sure that fire can breathe real well.

Fire box vent feeds the fire.....chimney damper controls air flow amount/speed through the cooker and in the same way controls heat retention and smoke retention.

 

[kenboyles72]

The fire/box vent regulates air - more air, hotter fire. The stack damper regulates how much goes out - closed, more smoke/heat stays in. All wide open, hotter fire, faster cooking. Closed, cooler fire, slower cooking.

 

[RobertTheTexan]

Sloppy is correct but the vent by the fire itself will draw more O2 in and cause your fuel source to burn hotter. In most grills, like a CharGriller, I use the lower vent to control my heat, and the smoke stack vent to control how much smoke flavoring I want.

Make sense?


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[RobertTheTexan]

I reckon Ken was writing just ahead of my writing... lol
Same message it seems


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[Dad_Roman]

The fire/box vent regulates air - more air, hotter fire. The stack damper regulates how much goes out - closed, more smoke/heat stays in. All wide open, hotter fire, faster cooking. Closed, cooler fire, slower cooking.

Yea....what he said^^^^^^^


........without all my blather

 

[grasshopperglock]

Most excellent, Gentlemen. I've been adjusting these things to whatever. I knew there was a method.

Beef ribs tonight.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Thermometer is the key to this. You want to maintain 200-250 depending upon what you are cooking and how prepared, wrapped in tin foil or not, slathered in BBQ sauce or not etc.

Use the damper to control the smoke, use the fire box to insure you are keeping up the heat, its a balancing act. Too much damper and it can hold back the fire, to much vent and the heat can climb on you and you burn up your meat.

TIP: Get a long thermometer, most any cooking store will have them often called a candy thermo. Its a near instant read, use it to slide under you hood into the cooking area right, left and center(s) to find the hot/cold spots when cooking. Do this when you themo on your BBQ is reading 225/250 to find the hot/cold spots on the grill. You want to find the spot that is the same temp as your thermo for cooking, for smoke look for a cooler spot.

Its all about balance and knowing how your Q cooks use will make you smarter...

 

[SloppyShooter]

Buy a Maverick remote monitoring system.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Buy a Maverick remote monitoring system.

Takes all the fun out of it

 

[Dad_Roman]

Its a learning curve for sure, like OleCowboy says...

You need to figure out what temps are generated with what openings and then what temp is needed for your meats du'jor.

Its all about balance and knowing how your Q cooks use will make you smarter...

....says a lot right there.

 

[Vaquero]

What they said, with experience with your own grill.
It's like trigger time. Some generic rules apply, but every grill is a bit different. Wood is different. Climates are different.

I hauled some seasoned Mesquite from out here up to the southern Rockies. Built a fire to grill some ribeye. Yep, it was different. Lower oxygen made a bit cooler fire.

 

[RobertTheTexan]

Grill. ALOT. I could run my CharGriller with the smoke box at 200-225 consistently for 8 hours. Learn your grill, make sure you’ve got the right setup. That grill I had wasn’t fancy. But I could create some killer Q on that thing.. great memories.

May she Rest In Peace....

Sniff...sniff...



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[SloppyShooter]

Takes all the fun out of it

It gets WORSE! Imma gonna buy an electric pellet smoker! Well on the flip side, I grilled and smoked the heck out of everything for 40 years old school, but it would be nice to set and forget, because I often wake up realizing I got meat on the smoker, that's past due for a fuel charge.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

It gets WORSE! Imma gonna buy an electric pellet smoker! Well on the flip side, I grilled and smoked the heck out of everything for 40 years old school, but it would be nice to set and forget, because I often wake up realizing I got meat on the smoker, that's past due for a fuel charge.

OMG, sawdust + remote control, what's next, you going VEGAN???

 

[SloppyShooter]

Nope, just homosexual.

 

[SloppyShooter]

I've got the Maverick thermometers , but never figured out how to set the alarm, sooo...only partly helpful.

 

[ed308]

I use a BBQ Guru DigiQ on my BG Egg. It has both a pit and food temp which is regulates with a fan. Makes smoking ease for the long smokes like with brisket. Set the temp then let it do it's thing.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Nope, just homosexual.

Well guess you are still eating meat...LOL