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I bought CG and SB a couple of years ago but did not assemble it until last summer. Not too much luck last year, but I did not make any mods. A few weeks ago I started to go into severe BBQ withdrawal (I have not gotten to Texas or S. Oklahoma for a couple years) so began doing research again on evening out the cooking chamber(CC) temp. Last year all I saw for the stack mod was people rolling flashing, requiring removal of the warming rack. This year I found people using the 3" flex vent leaving the warming rack in. Check.
Last year I do not remember anyone talking about flipping over the CC charcoal tray. That looked like a good start on a CC baffle setup, rested the tray on the firebox bolts.
I was ready to try the CC mods, but had to figure out some way to get longer, more even burns in the FB. A lot of people either were using the basket from Lowe's or were making their own out of expanded metal. The problem I saw after I made a prototype out of cardboard to check dimensions was that the biggest I could get through the door easily was about 12 1/2" x 13 1/2 x 5". That would rest on top of the angle pieces that locate the ash door. But that left a lot of room around the charcoal basket, about 2" on each end, and 1" or so front and back. So I looked at the opening with the firebox out and measured. A grate 13" wide and 17 1/2 long would fit in that same location and be supported near the CC end by the curvature of the FB. I then thought about the chrome adjustable universal "Rock Grate" that is featured in one of the CG mod postings here, where he actually mounts it in the ash drawer. Since that is about 17" long and can be adjusted to 12 1/2" wide, I decided to buy one and try it without a basket. The way I mounted it I can remove the ash drawer during a burn to dump ash if I need to on a very long burn. Meanwhile, while looking at basket designs, I came across the Klose firebasket and ones inspired by it. I called a sheet metal shop that would fab one for me for ~$80 bucks, but decided to try something first. I wanted to know if the Klose baffles would really slow down the spread of the burn in the charcoal. So I bought 2 sheets of about 22 ga. steel, 6"x18" and folded each one into a narrow V by hand, then turned out 1" on each end away from the point of the V to create 2 V baffles with 1" spacing on the open end, but with 2 1" flanges that make each baffle 3" wide on the open end to make them stand up easily on the chrome grate. Each baffle projects about 8" into the 13" deep FB and the point of each baffle was spaced so that the point of the baffle closest to the CC is about 5 1/2" from the CC with the foot of the baffle as close to the firedoor as possible. The second baffle was placed with its foot against the back of the FB with the point about halfway between the left baffle point and the right end of the FB. The lid from one of those iron wood chip boxes was used to keep coal or ash from fowling the inlet vent.
I then loaded about 13 lb of charcoal, lit the left end closest to the CC and firedoor, let it burn down to white ash, then closed the firedoor, leaving the intake damper and stack damper both open. Within less than an hour of initial light oven thermos in CC were ~300 deg.. Closed down FB damper completely and brought CC thermos down to 220 or so, then opened about 1/4 way. With very little manipulation got 7 hrs. at between 220-250, but did add about 3 lb unlit charcoal at about 5 hrs.. At 8 hrs. CC was still at 180 or so, closed it down for my bedtime. During most of the burn the thermo in the firedoor (my mod) registered ~650 deg or so. I did blister much of the paint on the firebox. I will just season it with oil I guess.
No meat on the test burn. Forgot to mention, I moved the thermos around and the grate temps in the CC were within 10-20 deg. Sunday, time for some meat, chicken and full rack of ribs. Moved the unit farther from the house and dislodged the inverted CC charcoal pan about 1" from FB. Did not notice until everything all fired up so did not want to change it. It did not make much diff in evenness from left to right. Grill ready to cook in about 45 min. from light. Took off chicken at 165deg internal temp at about 3 hrs. Ribs bend at 3 1/2, take off at 4 hrs., no foiling. Eat chicken the next two nights and ribs the 4 after that. Total burn time for Sunday 6 1/2 hours, with almost 6 between 220-250. Did not add any charcoal after light.
By adding charcoal, I think I could keep this going for about 12 hrs easy, adding 2-3 lbs of unlit every 2 or 3 hrs.. I will probably try that next weekend. Tomorrow I am doing a beef shoulder roast and 2 rack of baby backs. Want to get some more practice before I take a chance on ruining a brisket. I also got a Maverick ET73 to replace the oven thermos so I do not have to open to check the temps. I did notice while using the oven thermos that the stock dome thermo was strongly correlated with the oven thermos: 220 on the ovens was 150 on the dome, 250 on the ovens was 175 on the dome.
So, my question is, would I be able get a better or longer burn with a firebasket of smaller size? What disadvantages would there be to just continuing with what I have?
Thanks for any experience or suggestions anyone has.
Last year I do not remember anyone talking about flipping over the CC charcoal tray. That looked like a good start on a CC baffle setup, rested the tray on the firebox bolts.
I was ready to try the CC mods, but had to figure out some way to get longer, more even burns in the FB. A lot of people either were using the basket from Lowe's or were making their own out of expanded metal. The problem I saw after I made a prototype out of cardboard to check dimensions was that the biggest I could get through the door easily was about 12 1/2" x 13 1/2 x 5". That would rest on top of the angle pieces that locate the ash door. But that left a lot of room around the charcoal basket, about 2" on each end, and 1" or so front and back. So I looked at the opening with the firebox out and measured. A grate 13" wide and 17 1/2 long would fit in that same location and be supported near the CC end by the curvature of the FB. I then thought about the chrome adjustable universal "Rock Grate" that is featured in one of the CG mod postings here, where he actually mounts it in the ash drawer. Since that is about 17" long and can be adjusted to 12 1/2" wide, I decided to buy one and try it without a basket. The way I mounted it I can remove the ash drawer during a burn to dump ash if I need to on a very long burn. Meanwhile, while looking at basket designs, I came across the Klose firebasket and ones inspired by it. I called a sheet metal shop that would fab one for me for ~$80 bucks, but decided to try something first. I wanted to know if the Klose baffles would really slow down the spread of the burn in the charcoal. So I bought 2 sheets of about 22 ga. steel, 6"x18" and folded each one into a narrow V by hand, then turned out 1" on each end away from the point of the V to create 2 V baffles with 1" spacing on the open end, but with 2 1" flanges that make each baffle 3" wide on the open end to make them stand up easily on the chrome grate. Each baffle projects about 8" into the 13" deep FB and the point of each baffle was spaced so that the point of the baffle closest to the CC is about 5 1/2" from the CC with the foot of the baffle as close to the firedoor as possible. The second baffle was placed with its foot against the back of the FB with the point about halfway between the left baffle point and the right end of the FB. The lid from one of those iron wood chip boxes was used to keep coal or ash from fowling the inlet vent.
I then loaded about 13 lb of charcoal, lit the left end closest to the CC and firedoor, let it burn down to white ash, then closed the firedoor, leaving the intake damper and stack damper both open. Within less than an hour of initial light oven thermos in CC were ~300 deg.. Closed down FB damper completely and brought CC thermos down to 220 or so, then opened about 1/4 way. With very little manipulation got 7 hrs. at between 220-250, but did add about 3 lb unlit charcoal at about 5 hrs.. At 8 hrs. CC was still at 180 or so, closed it down for my bedtime. During most of the burn the thermo in the firedoor (my mod) registered ~650 deg or so. I did blister much of the paint on the firebox. I will just season it with oil I guess.
No meat on the test burn. Forgot to mention, I moved the thermos around and the grate temps in the CC were within 10-20 deg. Sunday, time for some meat, chicken and full rack of ribs. Moved the unit farther from the house and dislodged the inverted CC charcoal pan about 1" from FB. Did not notice until everything all fired up so did not want to change it. It did not make much diff in evenness from left to right. Grill ready to cook in about 45 min. from light. Took off chicken at 165deg internal temp at about 3 hrs. Ribs bend at 3 1/2, take off at 4 hrs., no foiling. Eat chicken the next two nights and ribs the 4 after that. Total burn time for Sunday 6 1/2 hours, with almost 6 between 220-250. Did not add any charcoal after light.
By adding charcoal, I think I could keep this going for about 12 hrs easy, adding 2-3 lbs of unlit every 2 or 3 hrs.. I will probably try that next weekend. Tomorrow I am doing a beef shoulder roast and 2 rack of baby backs. Want to get some more practice before I take a chance on ruining a brisket. I also got a Maverick ET73 to replace the oven thermos so I do not have to open to check the temps. I did notice while using the oven thermos that the stock dome thermo was strongly correlated with the oven thermos: 220 on the ovens was 150 on the dome, 250 on the ovens was 175 on the dome.
So, my question is, would I be able get a better or longer burn with a firebasket of smaller size? What disadvantages would there be to just continuing with what I have?
Thanks for any experience or suggestions anyone has.
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