Fire Management

If you do not start with a very hot and clean burning fire, you will not get good fire management with good heat control and the right amount of smoke!!!!!
You MUST have a good bed of coals to begin with. After that, you can keep the fire hot and clean for the perfect amount of smoke and easy heat control.

Always keep your EXHAUST chimney damper OPEN ALL THE WAY.

Calibrate the Temp Gage on your smoker with another thermometer so you know you are getting an accurate reading!!!!

A grate is a MUST to put your charcoal on!!! There MUST be at least an inch or two between the grate and the bottom of your firebox. This allows airflow under your charcoal. The air is drawn thru your damper, under the charcoal thru your smoker and out the chimney. Your smoker MUST breathe!!!!!	I always use a charcoal Chimney, starting it with newspaper. Follow the directions on your Chimney. If you use Charcoal Lighter, you risk having that lighter fluid smell on your food.
Load it up and light it.	Fire in the hole!!!!!!! Matches work good , but I like my torches!!!! I have several. Hardware stores sell these for about $20.00
These coals are hot enough to dump into the firebox.	As you can see, one chimney full is not very much charcoal and certainly not enough for a good fire.
I add another 2 chimneys of fresh charcoal on top of the coals. Close the firebox lid and open your damper ALL THE WAY at this point!!!!!	When the coals are pretty hot underneath you can start to regulate your temp by using your damper. I have added ONE piece of wood for smoke. You can see I put it BESIDE the charcoal, NOT ON TOP.
Smoke???? See it just to the right of the chimney?? Very light Blue. That's it!!!! You can put that amount of smoke on meat for hours on end and not get a bitter taste!!!!!	A little trick. Having trouble getting her up to temp fast? Prop open your smoker lid about an inch. She will suck air and the temp will climb much faster!!!!
My temp has been constant for an hour. It's time to either add more charcoal (a chimney full) or start STICK BURNIN'!!	If you are going to become a Stick Burner, you are going to have to practice a little. Start by adding small pieces of wood on top of your charcoal coals. When they are coals, add more and a little larger as you go. You can't add too much too fast or your fire will cool and you will get too much smoke. Remember, Hot Fire, Clean Smoke.