charcoal ring


 

J Sprecher

New member
Ive built my mini with the SJ silver and i have used it twice on ribs. My question, as the thread title suggests is about the use of a charcoal ring. I built one using expanded metal (great idea by the way!) but i also noticed in another thread that using the charcoal ring in the Silver isnt completely necessary (as i guess the idea is more drivin to keep coals away from the sides of the Gold).

would not using the charcoal ring help in achieving longer cooks, with possibly higher temps?

In my two cooks i went about 6 hours max and i used almost all of the charcoal and my temp never went above 250. in fact in the first cook i ran both vents completely open the entire cook and couldnt reach above ~215 degrees F (note it was about 60 outside temp and a touch windy so maybe that killed my heat a bit) . and the second cook i floated between ~215 and 230/240 on a sunny 80 degree day. I use a metal cake pan as the deflector and filled it with water so it would act as water bath.

My goal is to run it at 275 or so for ribs without running out of fuel. thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
cold and wind will definately kill the heat. my last cook was bad until i put up a cardboard barrier. then it was fine. i've never really had problems getting into the 275 range.
not sure about getting rid of the basket but for sure get rid of the water.
 
thanks for the tips guys. I saw someone else made a barrier/ insulator out of the reflective insulation (another great idea by the way) so maybe i'll prepare that for the next cool/ windy day.

the next go 'round I will ditch the water and, just for the sake of trying, i will go without the ring. Ive got another charcoal grate on order so i can keep the charcoal ring i already made. I'll try to remember to follow up on this thread with the results to see if anything was noticably better.

I wanna pick your brains about the ash "blocker" as well. I am using a can with holes in it for now. I thought that maybe it was being covered too easily by the ash and thus blocking any incoming air which could have also been robbing me of a consistant burn. Is there a better solution or option to the chicken can? (or perhaps thats not the issue at all?)
 
thanks for the tips guys. I saw someone else made a barrier/ insulator out of the reflective insulation (another great idea by the way) so maybe i'll prepare that for the next cool/ windy day.

the next go 'round I will ditch the water and, just for the sake of trying, i will go without the ring. Ive got another charcoal grate on order so i can keep the charcoal ring i already made. I'll try to remember to follow up on this thread with the results to see if anything was noticably better.

I wanna pick your brains about the ash "blocker" as well. I am using a can with holes in it for now. I thought that maybe it was being covered too easily by the ash and thus blocking any incoming air which could have also been robbing me of a consistant burn. Is there a better solution or option to the chicken can? (or perhaps thats not the issue at all?)

Try a small stainless dog/cat water bowl. They work great and last longer.

Like others above said: if you get rid of the water you'll get higher temps. So much so that I can have the bottom vent barely cracked and have to control heat with the top vent.
 
one guy uses a small steel sifting screen and says it works perfectly. been trying to find a cheap one to try.
for sure only make one change at a time so you know what works and what doesn't.
 
Dwain, thats a good idea. I'll go searching for one tomorrow during my lunch break at work :)

George, i saw that when i was sifting through the forum. i was wondering how that worked out. Let us know how well it works if you find one.
 
i imagine the screen will work fine as nothing coming through can plug the holes. the ash is light enough that the air coming through can almost self clean.
for sure i will let ya know.
 
Best thing has been the metal gutter guard you can find at Lowes or Home Depot fer just over $2 each. Keep in mind that it is galvanized. You can cut it with some metal snips or wire cutters. ;)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Amerimax...Hinged-Gutter-Guard-Unpainted-85280/100002884
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You can wire tie the ring together or use a couple of bolts and nuts. :D

Here's mine that's been burned in...
 
You can actually get sheets of expended steel (non-galvanized) from Lowes and HD, or in my neck of the woods Ace Hardware. the 1x2 sheet gives you enough to make a basket 3 1/4" high, and the diameter of the existing charcoal grate. I see that this thread is older but thought I'd chime in. I have been playing with my Mini's for over four + years now (all based on silver Smokey Joes). I can say that the charcoal basket is the one best thing you can do to increase fuel efficiency and higher temps and longer cook times. My record so far on a stuffed basket running 265° no wind, warm temp day (had one 30 minute rain squall) was a total cook time of 12 hours, 14 hours total burn before temps dropped. Had a 9 pound pork butt took it to 200°. That was Kingsford blue, cherry and pecan (4) 2"-3" chunks. 10" terracotta diffuser.

This was the load,minus a couple chunks of wood

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Because I cut the bottoms out of the pot I can over fill the basket which is another thing needed to do overly long smokes.
 
I used the charcoal grate to make the basket. I just set the basket in. I have since modified the basket (no photo) I added a layer of the expanded metal to the bottom to keep more of the spent coals from falling through the grate.

9732419332_c7b567c7ff_b.jpg


Since I have the silver I use an ash deflector made from a stainless dish that I drilled holes in. Another must have in my book if you are using a silver base.

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This photo is after a 8 hour cook.
 
This is what I end up with after 8 hours with no charcoal basket...temps around 250°F.


That's great I wish I lived at a lower altitude. When I cruise to the Oregon coast I get way better burn times. Living up at higher altitudes and smoking in 30 degree weather you burn through way more fuel. With that said, I can still get a consistent 10-12 hours (no wind day) @ 265° when it's 40° outside.
 
That's great I wish I lived at a lower altitude. When I cruise to the Oregon coast I get way better burn times. Living up at higher altitudes and smoking in 30 degree weather you burn through way more fuel. With that said, I can still get a consistent 10-12 hours (no wind day) @ 265° when it's 40° outside.

I live in Prescott Valley in Arizona and I'm at 5100 ft about 1400-1500 higher than Bend and I can get between 11-12.5 hours on my silver mini running 250+ at 30-40* with a light wind. In the summer I can get 12-13hours with a light wind. Steel pie pan with a foiled clay saucer inside, stable as a brick.
 
Zinc and steel (iron).
Zinc is the sacrificial layer against corrosion.
No lead in this alloy. Can't loop them all in the same boat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-dip_galvanization

Lead is often added to the molten zinc bath to improve the fluidity of the bath (thus limiting excess zinc on the dipped product by improved drainage properties), helps prevent floating dross, makes dross recycling easier and protects the kettle from uneven heat distribution from the burners.[3] Lead is either added to primary Z1 grade zinc or already contained in used secondary zinc. A third, declining method is to use low Z5 grade zinc.[4]
 

 

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