Ken Hendrix
New member
This is in regards to Kingsford BB and an 18" SMC. I have been surfing through various threads and have read several times about letting the entire amount of charcoal in the charcoal chamber become completely white or gray before putting the wood and meat on the pit. I am relatively new to the SMC and have not done any cooks in this manner where all of the charcoal is burning before putting the wood and meat on. How long does it typically take for all of the charcoal to get lit? Should you use a full charcoal chimney when starting a cook with this technique to get all of the charcoal burning? And presumably it will take longer for a full load of charcoal to become completely lit as opposed to a half load. How long for half load and how long for a full load? And is this method susceptible to over-firing or overheating the pit when first getting started?
What I have been doing so far is using about a half chimney of lit charcoal scattered across the unlit charcoal in the chamber. I have been using 3/4 to a full load of charcoal just to make sure I don't run out of heat. For the most part that has worked well for me at least as far as producing manageable heat for the duration of the cook. However, I have one issue that I have experienced that makes me wonder if how I have been getting the fire going is causing it. I use small pecan limbs since my dad has a ton of pecan trees. Think 1 to 2 finger widths in diameter about 6 to 8 inches long. When I first apply the wood I will see smoke but then it seems like after a short while I don't see any smoke. The wood is not green and some of it I have had for over a year. I have checked the wood during my cooks when the smoke seems to have stopped and it is not uncommon that it just doesn't appear to me to be burning.
Anyway, all that to say that the method I am inquiring about causes me to wonder if it would alleviate the no smoke problem I am perceiving. I would like to try the 'get all the charcoal burning before you add the wood and begin cooking' method and see if that gives me more consistency in obtaining smoke for the duration of the cook, or at least for the first 2 - 3 hours but I would like to know what to expect as to how long it will take to get all of the charcoal burning depending on how much is in the chamber. And presumably you will get smoke right away using this method after the wood is added. Or does the wood have to be exposed to the heat for a bit?
What I have been doing so far is using about a half chimney of lit charcoal scattered across the unlit charcoal in the chamber. I have been using 3/4 to a full load of charcoal just to make sure I don't run out of heat. For the most part that has worked well for me at least as far as producing manageable heat for the duration of the cook. However, I have one issue that I have experienced that makes me wonder if how I have been getting the fire going is causing it. I use small pecan limbs since my dad has a ton of pecan trees. Think 1 to 2 finger widths in diameter about 6 to 8 inches long. When I first apply the wood I will see smoke but then it seems like after a short while I don't see any smoke. The wood is not green and some of it I have had for over a year. I have checked the wood during my cooks when the smoke seems to have stopped and it is not uncommon that it just doesn't appear to me to be burning.
Anyway, all that to say that the method I am inquiring about causes me to wonder if it would alleviate the no smoke problem I am perceiving. I would like to try the 'get all the charcoal burning before you add the wood and begin cooking' method and see if that gives me more consistency in obtaining smoke for the duration of the cook, or at least for the first 2 - 3 hours but I would like to know what to expect as to how long it will take to get all of the charcoal burning depending on how much is in the chamber. And presumably you will get smoke right away using this method after the wood is added. Or does the wood have to be exposed to the heat for a bit?
