continuous FUEL smoking ?


 
G

Guy Wallace

TVWBB Super Fan
I need some advice guys /gals ! I have 6 slabs of loin back ribs on right now and of course in about 5 hrs there gona come off !

Here is my ? I am going to put in 3 butts and a brisket as soon as the ribs come off ! There will be X amount of K in the ring then... I want to fill up the ring for the butts and brisket ! The cooker will already have lit fuel in it ! can I just add K on top of it and letter rip or do I need to add some LIT K on top so it don't go out ??? Remembering there will already be K burning below the new load !
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Thanks in advance
Guy

PS no i I could not a gotten it all on at once theres beans and meat pieces from some spare trimmings in there with the 6 slabs . no way 3 butts and a 14 lb brisket would a fit well maybe but not by me
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The unlit will light. I don't do mixed meat cooks, usually, but instead do successive cooks. How much you add depends on temps of the cooker, quantity extant, what you're cooking next, etc. Usually I cut the vents to barely open, add unlit, then see where I am in 20-30 min temp-wise. This lets me know how much I likely need to open the vents, or not.
 
I have a small fireplace shovel that I use for just this sort of thing.

I take the middle section off my cooker and with welding gloves (the kind that cover me up to the elbow) I use the shovel to scoop all of the lit K over to one side, and then fill up the remainder with more unlit K or lump or whatever. This lets me add more smoke wood to the lit 'pile' and then I can add wood to the unlit side so that I dont need to watch over the coals and keep adding smoke wood.

I have an ATC, so it lets me keep the temp right where I want it, so it ends up having the effect of being like a large minion method. You could also scoop all of the live coals to the middle and pour a ring of unlit around the otside depending on the amount of the lit K. All depends. As long as you have 5 lit coals, you can fill up the rest of the ring and it will light.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

S
 
You don't want to put a lot of unlit on top of lit. It will all soon become lit.

After the ribs come off, lift the top sections off the bottom section as one and set aside. This will help hold heat within the top sections. Be very careful if using water.

Two ways I've tried ...

1 - Scoop out the lit and put into a chimney. Fill up the ring with unlit. Dump the lit back on top. Reassemble.

2 - Push the lit to one side. Fill the empty space with unlit. Sort of a sideways MM. Reassemble.

2's easier but I got better results with 1.

I used a fireplace shovel and long kitchen tongs.
 
I agree with Scott and Travis - push the remaining lit coals to the side and pour your unlit in next to them. "Sideways Minion Method" is a good description, and this is the way I always fire up the WSM - lit coals on the side, not on top.
 
I guess I was on the right track was going to pull the top and middle sections off and dump my lit coal in a coal bucket I use and fill up the ring and add back wood and then the lit coals !
And IMO Butts over brisket is not a mixed cook ! The butts baste the brisket but YMMV
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Ya I always use welders gloves ! just got new ones some how managed to lose my old pair .

Thanks guys
 
I use very different rubs on the two so don't cook them together. Not really interested in one basting the other.

I do not remove the center section and do not remove the lit nor do I push them over. I'm not looking for a MM start in mid-flow - I expect the lit to light the unlit - and simply gauge how much unlit to add based on the lit already going and the unlit (if any) remaining still below the lit.

Several ways of approaching this, as you can see.
 
I agree there are many was to skin a cat . I just wanted to get your guys thoughts as I had not done 2 cooks back to back like this from the looks a things 5 hr's into the ribs and hardly any fuel has been used so I may not do anything but add some smoke wood and go from there .

Iam doing everything low and slow so the brisket and butts a be a all nighter anyway so if I need to add fuel and I know I most likely will need to any way I will cross that bridge when I come to it .

Thanks again guys


Well after the ribs came off 6 hrs I looked and I had like 80 to 90 % a my K left so just tossed smoked wood on it and kept on cooken toosed the brisket on and 3 PB and there off and rinning
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