Good day all, I have a question (hopefully not too dumb lol) around used coals. So I had a few coals left over from my second smoke and since I wired the grate to the ring I shook out the ash and kept what was left there. I topped it up last weekend with new charcoal on top of the used and fired it up with the minion method to smoke a roast. Now I'm getting ready to smoke some beef ribs on Sunday and I'm expecting about a 4.5 - 6.0 hour smoke (I'm not planning to foil them). My question is, how do I factor in the amount of "life" left in these used coals? I don't want to have so much fuel that temp control is going to be hard (I'm only smoking two racks - and where I got them cut off the last 2 large bones to make them fit in their "packaging" - so a total of 10 bones and shooting for 225), and I don't want to risk having to add fuel part way through. I supposed it might be hard to answer not knowing how many used and the condition but ball parking it - should I just top up to say 3/4 ring and start with 15-20 hot? Also should I arrange the used coals on top of the new coals as they might catch and heat faster or just leave them on the bottom? Also one other thing that will be a bit different for me this time is weather. My last 3 smokes (well only 3 smokes lol) the weather has been warm and nice. We're in a bit of a rainy spot and Sunday is looking like the first day of no rain. It will be a little damp and possibly a little cooler than normal but I'm sheltered somewhat.
Thanks (I will take some pics but will need to see how to post them).
Thanks (I will take some pics but will need to see how to post them).
