Thanks for sharing this method. I got a new 90 gallon offset pit in December and I'm still learning how to manage my fires. Thus far, I've been using a big charcoal chimneys worth of lump coals along with a few splits to start my cooks. It seems to work decent but I do get swings in temp when the splits runout. This typically happens during the early portion of my cooks. As you pointed out, it's likely because my coal bed is probably too weak. The train track method with the 2 wood splits together seems like a great way to keep that low flame we're all after. Looking forward to giving this a go. Thanks again, I've really enjoyed your content lately. Cheers!
Ah mate. This is the best vid I’ve watched on fire management. Closing the gap and rotating the logs before replenishing. That’s what I was definitely NOT doing. Thank you
@@robertlamont2611 - Thank you. Do you use the Midwest fire basket or build on the floor of the firebox? Mine is semi-insulated. I've asked Jon about the SmokeyOak style tray.
Excellent vid Dave, the tip on butting the splits up together to control the flame is very useful indeed. I think we've come full circle when it comes to fire management - there was a point where everyone was getting hung up on feeding their pits toothpicks every 20 minutes for the cleanest burn possible.
That was a great fire management video. Very helpful and explaining how to keep a real big cold bad to maintain the temperature and at splits as you go thank you!
Great video ! I cook often on an offset and have a good understanding of how to handle my fire but felt I did learn many things from watching this. Straight to the point also which I loved. Sending good vibes from florida to the UK
Great video, Love your work! I absolutely rip through timber on my pit and fight temp spikes all the way. Never thought of closing gaps in the splits and then changing the orientation of the logs as they burn. Cheers from Brisbane AU 👍👍👍
This is a great video on managing a fire. Just mived up from a cheap offset with charcoal to a 100 gal backyard model. Been struggling get the coal bed built early in the cook but have noticed towards the end things get easier as the bed is stronger. When you said smaller splits for a backyard offset like my 100 gallon did you mean diameter or length?
Great job on explaining the process and logic to your fire management. I'm going to try the turning of the used splits to form a "railroad track" to set your new splits on. Also placing the new splits close together to prevent flame "fire up". Thanks for the tips. Happy New Year from Arlington, TX
New to this and I have been trying to control temp with the new logs and fire not the coal bed. Thanks for clearing that up, I will work on my coal bed. I’ve noticed with kiln dried the wood burns up quicker, is this your experience?
great explanation, but no one ever explains what the temps do if you scoot the fire bed closer to the door or closer to the cook chamber. That effects the temps a lot
Nice insights! I usually leave a gap between my splits in my OC Brazos so I'll certainly try closing that next time. What are your thoughts on putting food on the smoker when you start the fire? Also, my OC Brazos has a shorter stack which uses much less wood than when I use the stack extension. Thoughts on whether I could get away with using the shorter stack to save wood, or is faster airflow more important?
I personally don’t put anything on when I start my fire, as I’m just trying to make a big coalbed, and I don’t want to have to worry about whether my huge fire is going to be burning up the edges of the meat. It’s just a personal thing - I like to go hard on that first stack of wood, then bring the meat in when things have settled down a bit. I would always always opt for the option to have more draw than less. You can always dial it back with the closing up stack if it’s a little too much - you’ll should also use less wood if you restrict some of the airflow to keep the flame at bay. But generally, more airflow the better. It’s easy to dial it back, hard to add it. ( I guess not for you…you could literally attach your stack extension mid cook ha!)
Thanks man! I've noticed more people adding food before lighting the fire (probably thanks to Jirby, ha), so it's great to know where you stand on the topic. I recently started cooks with the short stack with slower airflow to get more smoke flavor with a bit dirtier burn, then add the stack after a few hours. Before, I noticed I wasn't getting much smoke flavor. I think it was drawing too hard, making the flow too fast and clean (even with the damper open merely 15-20%). So far, this has helped with smoke flavor, but I think closing the gap between the splits will help even more. Thanks again for your channel. Smoking BBQ is hard enough, and adding a video on top of it is (in my opinion) a significantly misunderstood and too often underappreciated level of work due to the difficultly in every way. That said, hopefully you can do some updates on your cooking methods since you've grown so much since your last one lol!@@WilsonsBBQ
I have a video on the channel about my pit - go check that out. It does a much better job of explaining it than what I can type. I think the video is called ‘my new 300 gallon offset’
Basically yes! It’s that kiln dried burns to ash way quicker than your typical seasoned wood. As the whole point is to cook with a coal bed, using kiln dried makes it way harder to actually establish and keep your coalbed - as it turns to ash super quick. You may find with some kiln dried, it doesn’t breakdown into coals at all.
@@timodonnell2283 yes air dried but wood needs to be stacked and out of rain as well. Invest in a wood moisture probe so you always know how much moisture is in your wood. I always choose the wood for my cooks based on what I’m cooking and how much smoke I want. I usually aim for about 15% to 18% moisture in the wood
Let me know if this method Is something you’ll try out!
Yes I will try on my TMG volunteer pit on Saturday 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
I’m be trying turning the burnt logs mate. I hadn’t done that before. 👍
Thanks for sharing this method. I got a new 90 gallon offset pit in December and I'm still learning how to manage my fires. Thus far, I've been using a big charcoal chimneys worth of lump coals along with a few splits to start my cooks. It seems to work decent but I do get swings in temp when the splits runout. This typically happens during the early portion of my cooks. As you pointed out, it's likely because my coal bed is probably too weak. The train track method with the 2 wood splits together seems like a great way to keep that low flame we're all after. Looking forward to giving this a go. Thanks again, I've really enjoyed your content lately. Cheers!
@@jhosoi808 how did it go?
Ah mate. This is the best vid I’ve watched on fire management. Closing the gap and rotating the logs before replenishing. That’s what I was definitely NOT doing. Thank you
Glad it helped! Let me know how you get on!!
The best explanation I have heard to date. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Good stuff. I tell people all the time, feed the coal bed, not the fire. 👍
That’s a great way to put it! Cheers Joe
Spot on!
Probably the most useful fire management video that I've seen. I'm going to try this method on my new Midwest Pit! Thanks!!
Thats awesome to hear, thank you! Please let me know how you get on!
It’s very similar method I use on my Midwest pit. So it should work well for you David.
@@robertlamont2611 - Thank you. Do you use the Midwest fire basket or build on the floor of the firebox? Mine is semi-insulated. I've asked Jon about the SmokeyOak style tray.
@@davidbondy8340 the firebox on mine is round, so it’s a rounded floor. I just build the fire on the bottom of the firebox mate.
@@robertlamont2611 - Likewise. My semi-insulated floor is round as well.
Excellent vid Dave, the tip on butting the splits up together to control the flame is very useful indeed. I think we've come full circle when it comes to fire management - there was a point where everyone was getting hung up on feeding their pits toothpicks every 20 minutes for the cleanest burn possible.
That was a great fire management video. Very helpful and explaining how to keep a real big cold bad to maintain the temperature and at splits as you go thank you!
Great video ! I cook often on an offset and have a good understanding of how to handle my fire but felt I did learn many things from watching this. Straight to the point also which I loved. Sending good vibes from florida to the UK
Outstanding video and informative content! It reinforces that offset fire management is really coal bed management. Well done!
Terrific information, this is extremely helpful to a guy like me who is looking to get started in offset cooking. Cheers from Oklahoma!
So glad you're back!
Great video, Love your work! I absolutely rip through timber on my pit and fight temp spikes all the way. Never thought of closing gaps in the splits and then changing the orientation of the logs as they burn. Cheers from Brisbane AU 👍👍👍
Thanks! I appreciate you watching. Let me know how you get on with this method.
Welcome back mate, excited for more videos in the new year! Blessings to you and the Family!
Appreciate it! Hoping to get back on the YT uploads in 2024
Glad to see you back. Great video as always.
Thank you for this ❤
Good stuff. About time someone really took time to explain it.
Great video and have to agree. Coal bed makes the difference on even temps. Keep it up and be safe.
Great video. Simply put. Love it
This is a great video on managing a fire. Just mived up from a cheap offset with charcoal to a 100 gal backyard model. Been struggling get the coal bed built early in the cook but have noticed towards the end things get easier as the bed is stronger. When you said smaller splits for a backyard offset like my 100 gallon did you mean diameter or length?
Great job on explaining the process and logic to your fire management. I'm going to try the turning of the used splits to form a "railroad track" to set your new splits on. Also placing the new splits close together to prevent flame "fire up". Thanks for the tips. Happy New Year from Arlington, TX
Thank’s a lot for watching! Would be great to hear how you get on, and whether the method improves on your current process!
Great video! Is this a method that can be used on an offset smoker like an OK Joe?
I have a 1975 and I'm learning to control the temp swings. Some great info for here, thank you.
Let me know how you get on!
@@WilsonsBBQ That cage you have around your coal bed looks helpful. Are those available anywhere?
Smokey oak barbecue may be able to make you a custom one for your 1975. It’s designed and made by them! Get in touch with Jon@smokeyoakbarbecue.co.uk
Awesome video! Just wondering how do you manage the ash that builds up? Do you just shovel it out into a bucket?
I empty it out after every cook. No need to worry about ash build up during the cook!
Awesome video, I will definitely be trying this method next time, thank you
Let me know how you get on!!
Great video. Thank you
Helpful vide! I will be trying this method next time,Thanks.
New to this and I have been trying to control temp with the new logs and fire not the coal bed. Thanks for clearing that up, I will work on my coal bed. I’ve noticed with kiln dried the wood burns up quicker, is this your experience?
Absolutely. Seasoned wood tends to have a slower cooler burn.
great explanation, but no one ever explains what the temps do if you scoot the fire bed closer to the door or closer to the cook chamber. That effects the temps a lot
Nice insights! I usually leave a gap between my splits in my OC Brazos so I'll certainly try closing that next time. What are your thoughts on putting food on the smoker when you start the fire? Also, my OC Brazos has a shorter stack which uses much less wood than when I use the stack extension. Thoughts on whether I could get away with using the shorter stack to save wood, or is faster airflow more important?
I personally don’t put anything on when I start my fire, as I’m just trying to make a big coalbed, and I don’t want to have to worry about whether my huge fire is going to be burning up the edges of the meat. It’s just a personal thing - I like to go hard on that first stack of wood, then bring the meat in when things have settled down a bit.
I would always always opt for the option to have more draw than less. You can always dial it back with the closing up stack if it’s a little too much - you’ll should also use less wood if you restrict some of the airflow to keep the flame at bay. But generally, more airflow the better. It’s easy to dial it back, hard to add it. ( I guess not for you…you could literally attach your stack extension mid cook ha!)
Thanks man! I've noticed more people adding food before lighting the fire (probably thanks to Jirby, ha), so it's great to know where you stand on the topic.
I recently started cooks with the short stack with slower airflow to get more smoke flavor with a bit dirtier burn, then add the stack after a few hours. Before, I noticed I wasn't getting much smoke flavor. I think it was drawing too hard, making the flow too fast and clean (even with the damper open merely 15-20%). So far, this has helped with smoke flavor, but I think closing the gap between the splits will help even more.
Thanks again for your channel. Smoking BBQ is hard enough, and adding a video on top of it is (in my opinion) a significantly misunderstood and too often underappreciated level of work due to the difficultly in every way. That said, hopefully you can do some updates on your cooking methods since you've grown so much since your last one lol!@@WilsonsBBQ
Looks like a modified version of the jirby method, I like it.
Where can I get a fire rack you have?
What’s that contraption thing you’re using inside your smoker and does it help? Looks like another version of the V basket.
I have a video on the channel about my pit - go check that out. It does a much better job of explaining it than what I can type. I think the video is called ‘my new 300 gallon offset’
Will do, watched that video but I’ll revisit it. Keep up the great content.
You ever going to do a takeaway thing of your food ?
Same thing other people saying. However, better explanation.
You mentioned seasoned wood vs kiln dried, is it that kiln dried burns quicker so harder to manage?
Basically yes! It’s that kiln dried burns to ash way quicker than your typical seasoned wood. As the whole point is to cook with a coal bed, using kiln dried makes it way harder to actually establish and keep your coalbed - as it turns to ash super quick. You may find with some kiln dried, it doesn’t breakdown into coals at all.
Kiln dried wood also provides pretty much no smoke flavour or charcoal.
Cheers folks. Just to close then, seasoned wood is air dried?
@timodonnell2283 that’s right.
@@timodonnell2283 yes air dried but wood needs to be stacked and out of rain as well. Invest in a wood moisture probe so you always know how much moisture is in your wood. I always choose the wood for my cooks based on what I’m cooking and how much smoke I want. I usually aim for about 15% to 18% moisture in the wood
my problem isn't too low of a temp, it's too high. I have so much difficulty stabilizing the temp under 325
Have you tried letting everything burnt down to coals (no flames) and see what temps that gives? Then from there, just add a small split for smoke.
Men you pit is beautiful