Please tell me about the dump method.
Hey Mike, glad to offer my experiences on the E6
I’ve had mine almost a year now. Prior to the E6 I came off a WSM 18. Both are very different cookers but similar in approach.
Some people like a snake method in the E6 but I found that it might not be the best method in the E6. The E6 likes to have a density of fuel and you can easily manage temps via the lower vent (smoke symbol setting).
I started out by loading up the E6 with briqs, since heat was all I needed, and then added wood chunks for smoke flavor.
A fully loaded E6 can burn for 24 hours+ from some videos I’ve seen.
So for a LAS and or HAF cooks, load up your briqs and then you’re going to place lit coals atop your pile.
Since you won’t be opening the lid or need to add more fuel because you’re running loaded, this method will ensure a long cook and or a HAF short cook. Adjusting your bottom vent to more open, will get you to temps of 350°-400° (Using the diffuser of course to spread and make for even heat).
In this pic I loaded briqs at lowest coal grate setting and then lit my chimney. Once the chimney was all lit, I dumped the hot coals atop the cold coals, similar to a donut method on a WSM.
Here’s the lit coals ready to be covered by the diffuser and then cooking grate. Basically readying and steadying the E6 for temp.
This amount of coal should easily get you to 12-16 hours of LAS cook time, 250-275° temps. Some might chime in and agree that up to 300° will work too for this coal load (think a butt cook going 8-10 hours).
Here’s how the coals look after an 8 hour cook from the above session.
There’s been threads on E6s with consensus that for LAS on E6 your fuel has to have coal contact points to other briqs so that the cold briqs will light when needed.
This dump method makes cooking LAS on the E6 super easy. And that a snake method might not be the best approach for the E6, since you'll manage temps and fuel consumption via the lower vent opening.
The WSK/WSC cookers are so well insulated that you need less fuel over time to maintain temps, thus you’ll get an even and consistent cook temp throughout your cook.
The key is your bottom vent setting and then dial in your top vent to keep airflow moving.
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have. There’s a bunch of experienced WSC/WSK owners on this board now.