Vertical smoker how much charcoal

This involves filling the charcoal ring with unlit briquettes, and then lighting a small number of briquettes around 20 , and pouring them over the top. This method is great because the temperature will slowly rise while you are getting everything else ready , and you can dial in the temperature with the air vents. If you are using a classic Kettle style grill, the charcoal snake method is a great alternative setup. This involves placing a double semicircle of charcoal briquettes around the inside of your smoker, creating a line of charcoal two briquettes deep, and two wide.

You then place your wood chunks on top of the charcoal and light one end of the snake using briquets started in your chimney starter. The charcoal will burn along the line, keeping a low and steady temperature, ideal for smoking. This combination of high heat and short cooking time can leave you with a lot of partially burned coals. By comparison, briquettes can contain additives like cornstarch, borax, limestone, and they do produce more ash, but they burn more consistently and are cheaper than lump charcoal.

As we mentioned earlier, not only is a charcoal chimney the best way to measure your charcoal, its also the best way to light it. Using a chimney starter, your coals can be lit and ready to cook in as little as minutes. However, using our advice and a chimney charcoal starter, you should be well on your way to finding the right ratio for you. Do you have any suggested charcoal amounts for different types of cooking, or maybe a perfect set up for a particular grill or smoker?

A properly cooked turkey with all the trimmings is a true sight to behold. Lay out unlit briquets in a single row around the edge of your grill, then add a second and third layer of briquets above them.

Add wood chips or chunks along the line of coals for that extra smoky taste. Place a foil pan with hot water in the center of the snake. Then light about six or eight briquets in a chimney. When ready, pile all of the lit coals at the head of the charcoal snake. The coals will burn slowly down the line for hours on end. Wait a few minutes, then add your meat for a long, slow smoke. If you need more time, you can always add more briquets to the end of the snake.

The burn-down method is a great way to cook slow and low if you own a smoker. Fill the charcoal bed with unlit coals and add only a few lit coals to the very top. The coals on top will slowly light those below them and burn down slowly over time. Most dedicated smokers have a water pan built in.

The water pan creates a hot, moist environment, which is critical for smoking. More importantly, the water pan retains heat and helps stabilize temperatures to avoid the sometimes-dramatic fluctuations that happen when smoking on a kettle.

Luckily, setting up a two-zone grill is simple to do: When transferring lit coals into the grill, pile them on one side of the grill only. After setting up the top grill grates, you'll place your food on the opposite side of the grill, where it'll slow-cook through indirect heat, keeping the grill covered to maintain an even, low temperature. BBQ expert Meathead Goldwyn suggests leaving the exhaust damper open all the way throughout the grilling process, and controlling the temperature by adjusting the intake damper.

As he points out on his website , "Playing with both vents at once is like trying to control the speed of your car by using both the gas pedal and the brake at once. First, take a reading on your thermometer about 5 minutes after adding the lit charcoals to one side of the grill.

Every 5 minutes, check on the temperature and take note of where it stabilizes. Too low? Leave the access door open for 5 minutes to let the air ignite the coals. If you use briquettes, pre-light them in a chimney starter to burn off the chemical aroma.

Remember, the heat will be higher here than at the level of the cooking grates. Some people use hinged three-panel windscreens; others find a location in the lee downwind side of their house or garage.

On a related note, if high wind is a factor, close any vents that face it and use the vent s on the opposite side to control your fire. Add cool water when preheating the smoker sometimes, the smoker runs hotter when it is first fired up, and the cool water tames the flame , or hot water when the cook is underway to avoid temperature drops.

Do not soak wood pellets or they will disintegrate. Monitor temperatures in the dome by inserting the probe of a good-quality oven thermometer through one of the top vents.

Dab or spray with fireproof paint. Remember, heat rises.