Minion meth- charcoal use and refills

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Regarding my smoke session this weekend, I have a question on refilling when using the minion

(you can see http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=98110183&f=1780069052&m=2210046262 )

Over all the WSM again performed very well. I began a long smoke session for 4 butts at 11am. After initial vent adjustments, the lid temp held a steady 250 for about 12 hours.

Outside temps went from the high 70's to low 60's with an almost continuous 5 mph breeze.

I refilled the smoker at the 12 hour mark with about 1/2 a chimney of coals (I think lit) and went to bed.

I set my alarm for 2:30 am, and the lid temp at that time had dropped to about 205. I added a chimney of hot coals and a few hand fulls of cold ones. The temp came back up, and I caught another 1.5 hours of sleep. Seemed to me it was hard for the smoker to hit 250 at the lid now.
Around 6 or 7 am I again had to add more coals.

It seemed to me that maybe the light breeze caused the smoker to eat up the coals at a faster rate. The problem I faced with that is that the ash had built up to the coal grate limiting the air flow. Even with a 1/2 empty water pan and full open vents after 20 hours she was having a hard time getting to 250 at the lid.

I went through about 24 lbs of char, anyone else have similar experiences?
 
That's a lot of charcoal! I fill the ring with unlit coals but leave a hole in the middle big enough for half a chimney of lit coals. I also use a Guru with no water in the pan, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference. In warm weather, that will last the 16 hours that it usually takes to cook my butts.

But, when it's cold or windy I'll get to about 12 hours. I use a smoking jacket when it's cold or windy to conserve fuel.

A 5mph wind does not seem extreme, but it could easily cause your cooker to lose a lot of heat. Perhaps you should investigate a wind break or even the smoker jacket found at: http://www.thebbqguru.com

Ed
 
Jim M.B.;
It was quite breezy around here yesterday also. I used the MM and did not do anything to protect the WSM from the wind and I had to refill with charcoal. I started at 10:00a.m. and finished up at 7:00p.m. I may have done something wrong, but I know from previous times that I would have to refill much sooner not using MM. This was the first time using MM that I did refill, but I did not mind at all. I just need to get by HD to get some more charcoal while they are on sale for 7.99 (48lbs). They have been on sale for a little over a week now.
 
Jim

You might want to consider using sand. It takes less air to get up to and hold temps, so I believe it burns fuel at a slower rate. It takes a couple of times to feel comfortable with, but it did help me with that particular issue.

Paul
 
Hey Jim, I think your main problem was the amount of ash that had clogged the air intake vents. Someone needs to come up with and alteration such as making a contained airway from each vent that will rise to the top of the charcoal ring, this might work to keep the ashes from clogging the vents.
 
Hey Jim, I feel your pain here. I have regularly had longer cooks and use more charcoal. A couple of things I have learned:

-when the coals need it give them a stir .... if your temp is low in the morning say, stir them. I need to after 10-12 hours with Kingsford. In all honesty I'm finding yellow bag no-name cheapo briquettes working better for me cuz the ash falls down. Maybe Canadian Kingsford just isn't the same....

-don't add too many unlit coals on top of lit coals when there just isn't enough fire in there to start with. I think it's better to put some unlit in every hour or so than wait for your fuel to be nearly exhausted and dump a boatload on the little fire. I watched my temp plummet down to something like 165F once doing this and it took a couple of hours for the smoker to recover.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Seemed to me it was hard for the smoker to hit 250 at the lid now.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The load variable that Doug D talks about might have been a factor here. The theory goes something like this .. the 30lbs of meat you had in WSM absorbs a lot of the heat being created which in turn makes you run a hotter fire trying to maintain the 250F lid temp. Running hotter fire means you use up the fuel sooner, but also means you can't get by with as small of a fire to maintain your target lid temp.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the great responses fellas.

Again, I had no problem getting 12 hours out of my ring full of coal. It was after that point that I seemed to get diminishing returns.

Say you get to 12 hours, and you have another 12 to go, how much coal do you put in?

I guess that would be my real question. If it took a ring full to do the first 12, hours I assume I would have to repeat that.

Tom: As far as the vents go, they really did not get clogged too bad, it was that the ash built up to the same level as the coal grate I was speaking of. I am sure this caused reduced air flow around the coals.

Shawn: Yep, I stired the coals starting at about 10 hours. Makes a visable difference.


I almost want to make some kind of ash dumper for the bottom!
 
I don't think you'd need the same amout of fuel because you already have the meat up significantly in temp. You would need enough to raise your pit temp to 250 at lid. I think that could be done with less than a full chimney.

Paul
 
Jim, after getting everything assembled I leave all the vents open until the temp gets to 195 or so then I close 2 vents and adjust the 3rd to 1/3 open. Then I adjust till the temp holds around 225 or so and wait for an hour or so then go to bed.

I routinely get 21hrs out of a load of Kingsford so I am amazed at the fact that you have to add coal at 12hrs. Seems to soon to me. Do you tinker with all 3 vents to hold the temp where you want it? Perhaps closing 2 down and using one might benefit you in a longer burn? Maybe I'm just lucky...also, I use a pretty sad windbreaker every cook to block any wind that might kick up overnight! Perhaps that plays in my favor as well?

Just a thought if you're not doing that already!
 
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