Offset Smoker Barbeque with Charcoal - Easy temperature control
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2021
- I dare you to try this! If you struggle with temperature management on long cooks using wood in your offset smoker, this video will save you a TON of pain. Charcoal burns clean for HOURS and as long as you're not using lighter fluid to start it, charcoal produces some amazing barbeque flavor you'll love! This is true backyard barbeque that YOU can do. No fancy equipment, no GIANT pitmaster smoker that most people aren't working with. Just an inexpensive but quality Char Griller Smokin Champ, a bag of Kingsford and a pair of tongs. With these tools, practice and some patience you won't find barbecue anywhere that's as good as what you can create in your own back yard.
Thank you for the detailed info about temp management, you really know how to explain all the process step by step , the best for you .
Thanks Arturo! Best to you too!
Waiting on that new video pops got my smoker earlier than expected. came in yesterday. Seasoned it and tomorrow I’m sealing it with the gasket thanks to your video. Can’t wait for my first cook . Your videos help greatly 💪💪💪
That's awesome! I'm excited for you! Just be patient learning how to work that fire. Nothing is more important than getting a hang of work in that fire. My regular job has been crazy lately, but I'll be getting some new stuff up soon. Thank you!
Those look awesome! Great video and very informative, thanks for sharing!
Hey Brian! Thanks for you comment! I'm glad you found my video informative. Have fun!
Hey Tony! I just bought my offset smoker yesterday. I didn’t know it would be hard for me to grill anything and manage the temperature. I’m learning a lot from your video so thank you!!
Awesome! I'm glad to hear that! Make sure you're subscribed, there's a lot on my channel on the basics of running these rigs and I tend to put a lot of that information into every video I make. Working on a whole pig right now! Thanks for watching!
Yea going to smoke something this weekend. My 1sr smoke so probably just doing some chicken or ribs. Got to figure out how to keep clean smoke and even temp. Just got to do it,been wanting a smoker for years
Thank you so much for your clear and easy set up with the smoker. I’m a newbie to smoking and struggled a few times. I’m feeling confident that I can do this now. Also I bought the thermo T20 so all good . Take care !
Awesome! You're welcome, and I'm glad my video helped. Make sure you're subscribed and check my channel, I've got lots of videos that I tend to focus on the basics like fire management. Thanks for watching and I appreciate your comment!
I was wondering if this was possible. Gonna definitely try it! Thanks for the video!!
I think you'll you'll love it. Thanks for watching and good luck!
Thanks for the awesome video! Doing this for Xmas lunch!
My pleasure! Sounds like an awesome Christmas. Thanks for watching!
Thanks, great video. I will try this.
loved the video thank you so muchfinally looking to get my very first smoker and am a total novice and this was a huge help
You're welcome Cody! I'm glad my video was helpful!
Once again your the go to BBQ Pit master. Thank you sir for your services.
Thanks again Joshua! I don't consider myself a "pit master" though. I feel like it's just about understanding and developing relationship with the fire. Always learning. Always working on improving. Thanks again and smoke on!
He's not bbqing. He's just making an outside oven. He ain't smoking any meat
I really enjoyed your video. nice, calm, slow, relaxed like smoking should be but effective. Getting a new used smoker delivered today and can't wait to get smoking.
Thank you Crypto! Congrats on the smoker! Just in time for some chill Fall barbeque. Enjoy!
The video was very helpful. Thank you.
Thanks Chris! I appreciate your comment!
Fantastic information! You are a bbq hero!
Wow! To be considered a hero by Spider-Man... That's an honor! Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Make sure you subscribed! Got some good stuff coming. Thanks!
hey Tony I just bought an offset and this video is just what I needed thank you
That's cool my friend! Congrats! I'm glad my video was helpful. Good times ahead!
im a new subscriber and new to offset smokin. really appreciate ur videos
Thank you so much! I hope it's going well!
Same here I brought a weber kettle as my first charcoal bbq and I would use chunks in there for low n slow cooking, I use to have this bbq pumping white smoke like a steam train 😅 then I learnt chips are better in the kettle using a minion method, clean blue smoke made everything taste absolutely amazing.
Owned the Char-griller smoking champ for 2 years now, couldn't figure out how to run just wood in it till I found this channel, thank you for all your content you're awsome dude
I'm glad my channel helped! Thank you! I just acquired an old Weber Kettle with the house I just bought. Needs a little clean up but it will be fun making some videos using that too.
You're welcome! Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
I really like the way you show every step front start to finish. I have a Oklahoma Joe Offset. I can keep a fire with the firebox door open. But as soon as I close it, my fire goes out. It's aggravating. So I cook with it open lol. But after watching your videos I have learned a lot about how not to do the things I've been doing, thanks!
Hey Joseph! Thanks for your comment and I'm glad my video was helpful. I've been paying attention to what others struggle with and I'm trying to provide good answers. More videos coming soon. Thanks for watching!
I have the same offset smoker. I got some tuning plates for it, a fire basket, and a stack extension and it cooks like a champ.
I love it! It's amazing how great these things work when you've got the right skills.
Do you mind sharing where you got them? I'm looking to do the same on my Competition Pro
@@KingShaka_daGreat Sure! You can order it at the link below. These are 16.5-inches long, which fit the lenght of my firebox perfectly, but they are too wide. You will need to cut 3 or 4 rows off the side to make the grate a litte more narrrow.
16.5-inch Cast Iron Grate (2-pack)
amzn.to/3BRMZzo
Will be trying this the next time I grill just got my new smoker I’ve only done one grill so far and the brisket was a bit dry think the temperature got a bit out of hand. Your my go to guy for offset bbq videos, thanks
Thanks Daniel! Yeah, brisket can be tricky. Running charcoal or lump coal should be easier to keep that temp in the zone. Let me know how your next one goes. I really appreciate your comment and thanks for watching my videos!
I got my notification you just loaded a video!!! Ribs!!!
These were some of the tastiest ribs I've ever cooked too. Thanks for watching!
I have an offset similar to this one, going to try this out with some wood chunks the next time I fire it up 👍
Awesome! Just be careful with the wood chunks. If you choke off the air, wood chunks will smolder and you'll get dirty smoke.
Good stuff & thorough
Thank you!
A timely video, I did 2 racks of spare ribs & 2 tri-tips yesterday. They came out according to my neighbor, "excellent". Your video provided excellent information and confirmed my overall experience. As you mentioned, I was horrible at first, I cooked with a lot of white smoke, used a lot of wood, and never had a great finished product. After much trial & error, I finally, as you said, learned my grill, used more charcoal, and figured out my fire management. Things I picked up from watching 1. the use of added probes in the pit. 2. open the firebox when adding more charcoal - allowing the white smoke not to enter the cooking area 3. it is ok to drop temp during this process. I have a question - I use the Char-Griller Texas Trio, with offset, the grilling area is smaller since the other half of the pit allows me to use propane. My question is, do you find the need to increase the fire/temp of the fire when you have a lot of meat on the grill? I wonder this since I started with ribs and then added the tri-tip, I kept the gauge at 250 it just seems to heat the meat slower. Thanks, I look forward to viewing more of your videos.
Awesome! I'm glad my video was helpful! To answer your question, no I don't increase temp when more meat is in the chamber, but I do make sure to manage the arrangement and I'll rotate as needed. I'll put thicker cuts closer to the fire box, turning as needed and rotating to help keep cooking right.
Thanks for watching and I appreciate your question!
How do you get the smoke flavor when using this method. Also I would have loved to see the cut and eat on the final product
This man just stays putting out bangers!
Thanks again Fabricio! I appreciate you. Smoke on!
@@TonyToneBBQ 7:15 7:15 🎉kol😢p😮😢😊😊😊😅😮😊😊😢😊 pp🎉😊 7:15
@@TonyToneBBQ l
@@TonyToneBBQ 😊 7:15 😂🎉😮😅😊😅
@@TonyToneBBQ 😢😅😅lo😅🎉😊l😊
Gr8 Video, thoroughly enjoyed. I'm cooking 4 Tomahawk Steaks for Christmas 🎄. I plan on using Hickory & Charcoal for fuel. So I'll be starting out with a half of chimney of charcoal instead of a full chimney, then once ignited I'll add my wood, I had small splits but after watching most of your fire management videos, I'll cut them on half, looking to hold my temp @ 250 degrees until I get an internal temp of 135, then I'll let them rest & crank up my Char Griller up to 600 degrees and sear.
Hey David! Man, that sounds like one hell of a plan! I'm getting hungy just thinking of those Tomahawks! I'll leave a link at the end of this to a vidoe I recently uploaded where I did the process you're talking about, but with a Prime Rib. Might be helpful if you haven't seen it yet. Best of luck on your cook and Merry Christmas!
czcams.com/video/02UK9mgePjI/video.html
@@TonyToneBBQ Thank you so so very much I'll check out your video right now, thanks again 👍🤝🙏💪👏!
@@TonyToneBBQ Just got finished watching your video, the ebbs & flows of being a husband & father 😁. I've never cooked with both my dampers wide open, this will be a 1st for me, but I'm going to trust the process, start earlier than I was going to get some clean smoke going over my Tomahawks, I'll keep you posted thanks again, going to go back & rewatch to get the finer points down pact!
@@davidmorrison4416 sounds good David! I hope this goes great for you! Let me know. Thanks!
@@TonyToneBBQ I sure will
Thank you.
You're welcome!
I think this is ok if you want that grilled flavor profile,but the offset smoker was intended to produce smoke flavored bbq so if you're wanting that low and slow smokehouse style flavor meat then charcoal isnt going to work for that,but I think it is good for the backyard grill style..Its also a good starting point to allow newbies to get comfortable with the convection characteristics of an offset..A charcoal that I think would work well for this method is Jealous Devil's competition log charcoal..It has a long burn to it like briquettes without the amount of ash that briquettes produce..
One of the cool things about offset smokers, there are so many opinions for different flavor profile. I appreciate your comments and thanks for watching!
Very good and useful thank you 👌. Is it possible to use the main barrel as a grill putting some charcoal in it instead of in the burning box ?
You're very welcome and thanks for watching! Yes, the Smokin Champ and a few other models are designed for that purpose. They come with the charcoal grate for the main cooking chamber. Just don't put coals directly on the bottom of the main cooking chamber. You have to use a charcoal grate. It works great for a direct heat Grill in this way.
If you add a tip top temp to your rig your temp control will be completely controlled with what you're doing, like no variation at all👍
Yes, that's a great tip! I haven't tried one of those, mostly because I'm usually smoking with wood, but I hear they work very well. I'll have to pick one up. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Tony! Just subscribed today. Wondering if you can do this method with lump charcoal or does it have to be regular charcoal?
Hey! Thanks for subscribing! That's a really great question. I'm my experience, I find that this method work most consistently with charcoal, but it's hit and miss with lump coal. I suspect this is because of a major difference is lump coal quality between brands and even within the same bag. So far, I haven't found a lump coal product in any retail store that I'd ever want to use again. I have found some "restaurant professional grade" lump coal that's awesome and this method does work well with it. So if you wanna try it with lump, make sure it's the good stuff. One more tip... The good stuff burns hot, burns long, burns clean and it doesn't spark. Thanks watching and thanks for your question!
How many bags of charcoal did you use?
Question, if you were cooking only pork ribs, would the cook time be less than six hours at 250? Perhaps 4-5 maybe?
Good question! For me, 6 hours seems to be the magic number, especially on pork ribs. Maybe less with baby back ribs though. At 6 hours, the meat becomes tender and most of the fat renders out. I don't like my ribs with a lot of fat in the meat.
Just found your channel. Great stuff. Have you tried using just charcoal in the Grand Champ?
Thank you! Yes, in fact I'm smoking a Boston butt with just charcoal right now. Using the charcoal basket that came with the Grand Champ, filled to about 75%, over 2 hours so far without having to add anything. Works great! Been so busy with work lately that haven't had time to make any videos but this is one I would definitely like to do. Thanks for watching!
Can I use this technique with traditional charcoal also or would I need briquettes as traditional charcoal tends to burn fast?
Makes sense to choke it actually the more I think about it.
Good question! Yes, I've used this method with charcoal briquettes like Kingsford and also with lump coal, my favorite being jealous devil. Either one of these should be just fine. You can control the heat by opening and closing the vents for a longer burn, just don't mix in any natural wood. If you burn natural wood, you'll need to keep the vents wide open to prevent the wood from smoking and smoldering. Thanks for watching!
have you tried the hot and fast method using charcoal in your offset? i would imagine if you used like 2 chimney stacks of B and B charcoal you could get 400 degrees in that smoker. curious if you have tried it
Great question! Yes, I have several times before I added The Judge to my collection. Still do now and then. Recently did a reverse sear on a Prime Rib where I let the fat drip into un-lit coals below, then lit the coals to finish. I find that 1 chimney of coals is enough. Also did a video on it. Link below. Thanks for watching!
czcams.com/video/SGSTdtgbuEE/video.html
Do you notice a flavor difference in using splits, vs this and woodchips?
Can you use lump charcoal like fogo and still get that smokey wood flavor on your meat?
Hey Bruce! Thanks for the question! Does lump coal produce the same smokey wood flavor? No, it really doesn't. Lump coal is a great product in general but it's wood that has already been burned down. In the process of burning down the wood, most of the product that produces flavor gets burned away with it. But don't take my word for it. I suggest you experiment. I'd cook up a slab of St. Louis Syle ribs using nothing but natural wood. Then, within a few days I'd cook up another slab using Lump Coal. I think you'll notice a difference. I'd also offer one word of warning. If you're not good at using natural wood yet, I'd practice and get that down first. The benefit of using Lump Coal is that it's much easier to work with. You can control temp by closing off the vents if you're using lump coal, for the same reason you don't get the same flavor. If you're using natural wood, you need to keep the vents wide open and control temp and smoke quality by using the appropriate amount and size of wood splits. I cover this topic extensively on my channel so if you would like some tips, please visit. Thank you!
I enjoyed your video Tony very informative 👍, but just one thing no slice and taste 😋
Thank you! Yeah, I should have included that part. It's probably anxious to put the camera down and start eating. Lol
I have the exact same grill and was wondering if I could use a water pan with this?
Yeah, absolutely! I normally use one of those 4x8 bread pans and I place it in the main cooking chamber right next to the opening you the fire box. If I fill it up, it's usually empty in 5 to 6 hours.
I bought an offset smoker recently and tried a brisket and maintain consistent temps was really hard. I had swings of 50F when adding splits. My WSM on the other hand holds temp really consistent for hours even with wood chunks in it. Your method seems really good to holding temp, but in ordered to get at least a little smoke flavor do your recommend chunks as opposed to splits…would that give off less white smoke??
Preheating the splits by placing them off to the side of the box or on top is how you do it. Once the wood is preheated it will instantly ignite once added to the fire thus eliminating the smoldering
Great video mate. I'm in the middle of a cook on the C Griller Competition Pro and have been piling on lump charcoal (heatbeads) every 15 - 30mins, temps going up and down. I normally cook my low and slow on the weber kettle with heatbead briquettes with no major issues and dial in on temp. This vid is interesting as it's essentially transferring the same principle over between bbq kits. I've noticed the Lump charcoal burns a little dirtier - would you stick to briquettes or same principle with lump charcoal. (I don't use wood for cooking)
Thanks Scott! That's a good question you've asked. My preference is Lump Coal, but I find charcoal briquettes to be more consistent between brands. Lump Coal, in my opinion, creates a taste more like burning wood, but only if you can find a really good product and that can be difficult. I'd recommend searching out and experimenting with different Lump Coal brands until you find one that burns cleanly and lasts a long time. If you don't have good resources for that, I'd stick to charcoal, but I do encourage you to experiment with natural wood, which produces the absolute best flavor, is the least expensive and actually really easy to use, once you figure it out that is. I hope that helps and thanks for watching!
@@TonyToneBBQ Thanks Tony. it's a tricky one, would love to use natural wood but there is an issue with the smoke. I live in an apartment complex so need to keep the smoke pollution on the down low. Good tip about experimenting lump coals, will test out some more. Thanks again!
Hey Tony, I have the Chargriller Competition Pro. Pretty much the same smoker as yours. Do you know of a charcoal basket that would fit out firebox? Everything I see on Amazon says it's for the Oklahoma Joe.
My smokers isn't here so I'm unable to take measurements at this time
@@KingShaka_daGreat I haven't found one that I'm sure would fit easily through the lid and inside, but I did find a solution that has been working perfectly for me. Have you seen my visit on how to seal an offset smoker? If not, check out the tip I give at the end and let me know what you think
czcams.com/video/Z3Mnl-HHrgs/video.html
@@TonyToneBBQ yes I did. I saw it about a month after I sealed mine. I have all the checks in the box.
The charcoal basket seems like it will make fire management and clean up earlier. It just seems like so many accessories are geared towards the OKJ
@@KingShaka_daGreat yeah, you're right about that. Char Griller doesn't seem to be as popular. That cast iron grate I use in my fire box instead of the one that came with it if awesome though. If you're still using the original grade, you should definitely consider switching to the bigger grate like in my video. I dump about two chimney full of charcoal briquettes in my firebox on that cast iron great and I'm good for at least 4 hours without needing to add more and I've done 14 hour Cooks without having to dump the firebox.
can you add wood chunks at some point for flavour?
Yes, it would be best to add the chunks at the beginning with the initial load of charcoal. Just make sure they burn down enough to wear they are not smoldering and creating a bunch of dirty white smoke. The meat will absorb the smoke flavor during the first hours of cooking.
Great video. What books do you recommend.
Thank you! One of my favorite books, "MEAT, the Ultimate Cookbook" by Keith Sarasin, I found in a really cool little store while visiting the area of San Luis Obispo, California. The store is called Amber Creek Collections in Arroyo Grande (website below). I also like Rodney Scott's book. Honestly,I haven't found a book that does a great job teaching the art of smoking all that well. Seems like it's one of those things you have to learn from experience and by working with someone with experience. Here's that link to Amber Creek ... Thanks for watching!
www.ambercreekcollections.com/
At last ! Someone who uses a smokers like a majority of people do .
Thanks Jean!
Thank you for this video, I'm learning so much from your channel. I am new to this, so this might be a stupid question, but when using a charcoal fire, would it be ok to periodically throw flavoured wood chips on to the charcoal, like I would do in my direct smoker?
Hey Shaun! Not a stupid question, great question! My experience, throwing flavored wood chips on charcoal usually doesn't make a noticeable difference, but if you do it often and with a lot of wood chips and if you keep the air flow choked off enough to where they don't flame up, I have noticed a heavier smoke flavor. It's just not the smoke flavor that I prefer, it's more of a dirty smoke flavor. It doesn't hurt to try though. I'd say go for it and see what you notice. My philosophy is to explore. Get good at doing it one way, then try adding something new to the technique and see how it works out. It's just as important to know how to make barbecue that you don't like, as it is how to make barbecue that you do like. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching!
@@TonyToneBBQ Thanks so much for the response Tony
@@shaunjayes8842 my pleasure, Shaun!
Sometimes my temp burns too hot and when I close my vents and try to choke it it does nothing. It’ll be going way past 300 when I’m trying to keep it at 225. I guess my next attempt I’m not gonna use a full chimney just a half and see what happens
If closing the vents has no effect, you must have an air leak. Too much air is being drawn into the firebox. Can you see smoke coming out from under the lid in places other than the smoke stack? If so, that's the problem. You should be able to burn a big fire and literally choke it down to nothing just by closing the exhaust and closing the intake. I would check for leaks and use smoker gasket to seal up as best you can. A little smoke leak is okay, but the least amount possible is the best. Hope that helps!
I'm considering doing a cook where I start with wood then finish with charcoal. I'm done a 12hr wood with wood. Then I thought about it. Why did I do that if it's said that protein usually stops taking in smoke at around 165 degrees. I have the Chargriller competition pro btw
Hey Shaka, you're absolutely correct. At a certain point in your cook, the meat stops taking on any additional smoke flavor. I like to do a 50/50. Starting off with wood and then replacing the wood with charcoal at a certain point. Charcoal will burn at a consistent temperature for a longer period of time which cuts down on firebox maintenance and allows me to relax a little more. I just am careful to make sure that the wood is burnt down to a small pile of coals, and then I add a chimney and a half of lit charcoal. Once the charcoal is in and burning nicely, you can choke down the airflow to maintain a steady low temp without creating bad smoke, because charcoal doesn't make the bad smoke. Give it a shot on your next cook. I think you'll love it!
@@TonyToneBBQ greatly appreciated
@@KingShaka_daGreat my pleasure my friend!
Meet will continue to absorb the smoke flavor but not at the rate when you first put your meat on the grill..
Wait I am confused… I saw lots of vids where they put a piece of wood for flavor on top of the coals … which give that smoke and flavor … but you don’t open the lid for it to be fully lit … you just leave it to smolder … in your case you said to not choke the airflow when using wood … could you please help me understand?
Hi Loay! Yes, that's correct. I do not recommend choking off the airflow when burning wood. The smoke that is created from smoldering wood is not the best type of smoke for flavor. Instead it coats the food with a bitter ashy flavor. It's something you will have to experiment with to realize fully. I recommend cooking something like a rack of ribs with charcoal only, and then next time use the smoldering wood, and then next time use wood only burned cleanly and try the differences. Thanks for watching!
I wish I had watched this yesterday before buying 50lbs of wood. I could have just bought a couple big bags of Kingsford and a bit of wood here and there for flavor
Awe damn, I hope that 50lbs of wood didn't set you back too much. You might want to check with local firewood distributors. The good ones sell cooking-grade firewood to resturants and they'll usually sell to individuals as well. I get a 10 cubic feet of oak, which doesn't sound like much but it's enought to fill the trunk of a large car, for 30 bucks and it's enough to last for sevearl months. Way cheaper than buying the logs from hardware store and much better quality too. Thanks for watching!
@@TonyToneBBQ Hi Tony I was able to pick up 50lbs for 50.00 I but from a local guy who sells to restaurants out here in Toronto he threw an extra 10lbs of sugar maple for free but after watching your video we’re used charcoal and the other one were you used hickory and coal have me some ideas on how to use a mix of wood and charcoal .
@@philtyrich1 sounds good! It's a lot fun trying out different woods. Enjoy!
@@TonyToneBBQ I'm looking forward to trying out a few combinations with the coal and different types of wood I picked up. I wanted to ask you if that dryer vent hose I see people attaching to the inside of their smoker is necessary .
@@philtyrich1 I don't the dryer vent is necessary. I'm fact, most of the mods I see don't would make air flow worse. Heat rises and if the exhaust is too close to the level of the fire, the air flow will be slower and you'll get more dirty smoke.
Do u still get that smokey flavor I guess one can add chunks of wood here and there
Charcoal definitely doesn't produce the same flavor as burning natural wood. Adding a chunk of wood here and there I'll give you a temperature spike but that shouldn't hurt, I'd say go ahead and give it a try and see what you think. Thanks for watching!
I have almost the same grill. But, I seem to have an issue that my cooking chamber does not get over 225, even if I have a mound of charcoal and all the vents open. I'm the process of rigging a fan to a PID controller to turn on and blow air slowly at the firebox vent holes when the temp in the cooking chamber falls below a set point.
Hey Dave! Thank you for watching and I appreciate your comment. You should check and make sure smoker is as sealed up as possible. The more air leaking from under the lid, the more difficult it is to get the temperature up and maintain. You should be able to dump two chimney full of charcoal in that burn box and keep your temperature at 350 if you want to, but if air is leaking out it's really tough. There is a video on my channel about how to seal an offset smoker that might be helpful. Hope that helps!
@@TonyToneBBQ I actually did seal it following your steps. The right side, I welded a narrow piece of steel as a shelf.
@@davecundiff3663 nice! If wind is still affecting, I'd throw up some kind of wall to block it. It's great that you can weld. Handy skill to have.
You need to use wood to raise temperature
Hey I just came across this video I'm in front of my little offset for the first time.
A friend said not to use those kingsford charcoal so I bought lump.
Will get the ones you're using for next time as it looks so much easier.
Hey Mikey! Thanks for your comment! Some good charcoal is a great way to get started with using an offset smoker. I prefer burning small splits of wood, but charcoal is way easier to manage the heat and get used to working one of these things. Have fun my friend!
@@TonyToneBBQ thanks for the reply.
I abandoned my cook yesterday after six hours as the temp wanted to hover around 210-220 and not the 250 I was shooting for.
The offset I used I cleaned up and re painted but there is a quarter inch gap in the door to the cook chamber..could that be the culprit for not maintaining a hotter temp? I put in a ton of charcoal and no matter what I did it would get to 250 for ten minutes and then go back down to that 210 mark
@@TonyToneBBQ I should have said I abandoned the off set and finished off in my little four rack bradley lol
@@mikeyvisser8740 hey Mikey! You were so close! But yes, that gap could most definitely be the problem. You really need to keep that heat in. I recommend sealing up, as best you can, that lid. Link below that should help. Keep me posted!
czcams.com/video/Z3Mnl-HHrgs/video.html
@@TonyToneBBQ thanks for the link.
I think that would fix some of the problem but the lid to the fire box and especially the cook chamber are curved so it would be hard to fill in the gaps completely.
Another thing is this is a very old char broil smoker..when it was still made with wooden handles and the metal of the boxes is paper thin.
I was listening to your video but I didn't hear you say anything about thin blue smoke.
I've heard that if you can see thin blue smoke that means your temperature is nearly right on your firebed . when you really get your temperature fine-tuned you nearly can not see that thin blue smoke..
Your pork and beef ribs look excellent but were you spritzing them with a liquid that we didn't see on the video so the meat wouldn't dry out too soon ? I'm going to give that process a try.
I have a cooking chamber like you do but no firebox but I was thinking I could start my charcoal fire on one end of the cooking chamber and then on the other end I have a great that is higher so it will catch the smoke as it's on its way out through the stack.. could that set up I have with my cooking chamber act like a offset smoker? I've used offset smokers for 35 years and got excellent barbecue but changed over to a pellet smoker and was severely dissatisfied with the flavor of white smoke even cooking low and slow at 130° chamber temperature and no peeking while it was smoking with the rack of ribs in there for 5 hours with mesquite wood with a screaming hot small bed of mesquite and never got any mesquite flavor on my pork ribs at all.. couldn't even tell the ribs were ever near a smoker...
So I was wondering if fogo charcoal would work with the larger size real wood for those longer Cooks without the white smoke but the blue smoke is is still there but you just can't see it because it's that thin...
But thin blue smoke is no indication that you will get that smokey wood flavor on your meat because that happened to me and no the wood was not over seasoned it was chunks in a bag that I bought from a grocery store and no they didn't look weathered and cracked like they had been sitting out in the weather forever..
So will my offset makeshift barbecue cooking chamber give results like a official offset smoker using lump charcoal which has the benefit of invisible blue smoke ???
this is the first time I've ever heard the concept of using charcoal to smoke with like you're using an offset smoker and I really like the idea of being able to slow the fire down with your vents..
Excellent video dude
I'm going to create another experiment.. I will create a fire with some long burning lump charcoal like fogo and once I get my small coal bed will play seasoned chunk mesquite blocks on top of the bed that were preheated to bypass that white smoke stage to give my barbecued chicken what it is missing from charcoal , the flavor in the lignans of the wood of the added mesquite wood to the fire .. maybe after doing a little juggling I'll get that combination right and get that flavor on the barbecue...
I actually did create thin blue smoke one day in my cooking chamber using pit boss charcoal blend pellets but there was no Smoky flavor on the pork ribs but the color was excellent and tender...
There must be something about having your fire separate from your cooking chamber maybe it helps to act like a heat sink and dissipate the extra heat that isn't needed at the moment..
I'm learning to build the fire right up against the door on my firebox to get the heat as far away from the cooking chamber as possible,..
Question , when preheating your firewood that produces your flavor can you get it too hot or does that have any effect when the wood starts producing blue smoke and holding onto that Smoky flavor ???
Hey Bruce! You've got a lot of great questions in that comment. I'd like to refer you to one of my latest videos. I'll leave a link at the end of my response. Do I spritz? I usually do not, but if I do it's usually because I'm adding a particular flavor to whatever I'm cooking. The video I referred to is a good example of not spritzing. About the thin blue smoke... Thin blue smoke really only applies to buring natural wood. The stuff the creates flavor is already burned out of lump coal and charcoal briquettes have a flavor of their own as well. The benefit of using charcoal or lump coal is that they are easy to work with and way easier to control temp than when you're burning wood. This is something that I also cover in the video I'm referring you to. As for using a charcoal grill as an offset, it's tricky but it's possible and it will take some personal ingenuity. As you'll see in the video, controling temperature and maintaining smoke quality is acheived by maximizing natural airflow and using appropriate amounts and sizes of wood splits. Because of this, you'll need to feed wood to your fire. If you have to lift your lid and maybe lift a grate every 20 minutes to accomplish this, it's going to be extremely difficult to have a successful cook. Also, your fire needs to be far enough away from your meat to prevent it from cooking too fast or unevenly. My recommendation would be to invest in another offset smoker. Some of them, like the one you'll see in my video, can also be used for direct heat grilling. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks for watching!
@@TonyToneBBQ I'm going to try the charcoal trick in and offset sort of situation but just using the cook chamber from an offset smoker that has no firebox working but instead I will start a small coal bed on one end of my cook chamberwith a wreck on the other end of the cook chamber at a higher level right before it goes out to smoke stack.. going to place mesquite chunks on the cool bed and try for that coveted blue smoke ...
@@brucerogers3253 sounds good! Just remember to be patient and make sure your happy with your fire before you add meat to the grill. Also, if you can put a temp prob on the cooking grate so you know what the temp is right where your meat is, that would be helpful. Heat rises so closer to the stack, higher the heat. Have fun!
Thanks 4 the e tips...i just bought one of these. I did my 1st cook last weekend a pork butt, it was a 9 and half hour cook. I went through a ton of charcoal, but it was a cold pittsburgh Saturday and it was me outside with some beer and baby sitting the smoker constant temp spikes/drops...i struggled with it but its a learning curve...im sure ill get better ad time goes on. My question is do you think a water pan is beneficial or not needed? Ive seen some people say it adds moisture and keeps a spike down others say you don't need..any thoughts?
Hey Todd! Thanks for watching! I appreciate you comments and the question. Cold beer and 9 hour smoke sounds like a great day. Personally, I rarely run a water pan but if it's really cold out, a water pan, especially a really big one, can help keep your temp more consistent. I've added boiling water to a large pan and it help. Cold water will need to heat up before there is any benefit. You might notice a slight difference in your bark, but you really gotta give it a shot with and without to see for yourself. Another thing you can do when you're burning charcoal is, try adding more to start with. Double it if you can. I usually with two full-chimney of charcoal, and choke down the airflow on both ends to keep the temp from getting too high. You can't really do this if your fire grate is too small so if you have the same smoker, or one similar, see if you can find a cast-iron grate that is slightly bigger. You can find some options on my Amazon page, I'll leave a link below. You just need a little more surface area and another inch or so of space below for better airflow. Hope that helps! www.amazon.com/shop/tonytonebbq
@TonyToneBBQ
Thank you, sir, for the tip... I plan on trial and error with this but while I'm learning I do appreciate the videos. I'll check out the Amazon page. Thanks man...
@@toddkerestes594 you're welcome! Anything else comes up, please feel free to ask. I'm happy to help! Thanks!
Great video
Thank you!
Hey Tony, based on your experience what’s better “independent smoker or this style?” Also is it safe to use charcoal in the big area where on the typical grill charcoal would be? Or is it exclusive to the Side smoke pit?
Hey Joey! Thanks for watching and thanks for the questions. They both do a great job, buy my preference is the offset smoker. I like that I can put something as big as a 35 pound whole pig in it and it's still relatively affordable. I also like that some, like the Char-Griller Grand Champ XD, actually come with a charcoal grate for direct heat cooking in the main chamber, so that answers your second question. I hope that helps!
@@TonyToneBBQ thanks for the good response! I enjoyed your video and because of your informative response will definitely be subscribing!! I’m looking forward to getting mine I’ll probably start at an entry level one for around 120$.
@@GlazeBlox you're welcome and sounds good! One more tip, the biggest issue you'll faced on a intro model is smoke leaking out from under the lid. That makes temperature control and consistency very difficult. Look up my video on how to seal an offset smoker. It will help a lot! Have fun and keep me posted!
Do you smoke brisket this way too?
If so,if you dont open the lid to look do you not spritz?
Great question! I don't spritz brisket. I just let it go. Thanks!
@@TonyToneBBQ perfect thank you
@@mikeyvisser8740 you're welcome!
I just bought an offset. I'm curious without using any wood do you get a smoky flavor and a smoke ring?
Congratulations on your purchase! Everything you burn is going to have a flavor if it's own. Charcoal does have a flavor. For example if you were to just burn natural gas for heat versus burning charcoal, you are going to notice a difference. Burning real wood however, produces the most flavor. The difference between burning wood and burning charcoal is night and day. Burning wood takes some practice and skill though, because if you don't burn it the right way, the smoke from wood could make the food taste overly smoky and bitter. The wood needs to burn fully and cleanly producing a smoke that is bluish and more difficult to see coming out of the stack. Charcoal is a great way to start and lump coal is even better. Just be careful trying to burn wood and charcoal at the same time, because you could end up with temperatures that are too high. Then you'll be tempted to choke the air which will cause the wood to smolder and create that bitter flavor. I recommend starting your fire with a small bed of lump coal, getting your smoker up temperature, then adding small splits of wood for the rest of the cook to maintain the proper temperature. Keeping the vents wide open the entire time and control the temperature by limiting the size of the splits going in to the box. This just takes some practice. If you had a piece of wood that's too big, or too many, the temperature will be too high. The splits of what I normally use are about the size of a beer can. Help that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions!
@TonyTone BBQ thank you for the detailed response and help. I'm going to try that technique, it's similar to what I've always done. I had your same grill without the firebox. When I wanted ribs i would normally indirect grill, building the fire with charcoal then adding soaked wood. I think this method creates the thick white smoke but I never had a bitter flavor, I'm assuming because the shorter cooking time 2-3 hours for st. Louis ribs. Thanks again.
@@jonathandaniel5680 You're welcome! Let me know how it goes. Thanks again!
Could you add wood chunks to that cook?
You could, I'd be careful not to add to much. Because you have to keep the airflow choked down, natural wood will smolder. A little smoke from a smoldering chunk of wood might not be too bad but too much of that might give you a nasty flavor. Personally, I don't add wood chunks when I'm cooking with charcoal. I also prefer burning wood, which is more work than using charcoal but the flavor difference is incredible and worth it. Thanks for the question!
Hey bud I am 64 yrs old I am still learning on the grill !!!!!!! I can make home made bread r biscuits ❤ but u can cook bread on the grill. 😊😊😊😊😊
That's right! You can! You can cook just about anything if you get good at managing the fire. Thanks for your comment!
BBQ
Thanks for watching Chester!
Thats one thing about an offset. You can cook like a wsm. But wsm cant cook like an offset😊
Do you get Smokey taste with this method
Great question! The flavor changes with whatever you burn. Charcoal is very low in flavor, and definitely down not produce the smokey flavor you'll get by burning sticks of wood, but it's a great place to start if you're new to using an offset smoker. Thanks for asking!
@@TonyToneBBQ What if I did it the way you did and just drop in some wood chunks periodically??
@@convilcali nothing wrong with giving it a try. You'll probably see a spike in temp each time you toss in a chunk of wood, but that might not be an issue depending on how long. A lot of this is trial and error and what it really comes down to is... what you like. I'd say try adding the chunks and see if you like the result.
Topic begins at 9 minutes
Thanks for watching!
Thought you cook with smoke not heat hence the name smoker
Yeah, I get it. The term "smoker" is almost misleading. Meat needs heat to cook. The smoke just adds flavor, but even that is misleading because it's not "smoke" that you want to taste. The flavor comes from chemicals from burning wood that are absorbed into the meat. This is why a rack of ribs cooked in a smoker burning cherry wood will taste different from a rack of ribs cooked in a smoker buring oak wood. But if you don't burn the wood properly, you won't notice the difference as much. Smoldering wood leaves a thick layer of soot on the meat that has a bitter taste. Wood that burns hot and clean leaves great flavor. But, this video is about cooking with charcoal which has a flavor all of its own! There are so many options. What are you cooking in and what do you burn?
That's just indirect cooking..... Like you could do in a kettle
It sure is! Just a lot more room in an offset
I’m sorry, but that ain’t smoking my guy. That looks more like grill’n lol. That meat looks toast. If your smoking u need to set that meat to very far end of the pit not on top of the Vent. Ur still learning 😅
I can’t believe you’re going off the gauge that comes with that smoker. The char-griller smoking champ is a mediocre smoker at best, ask me how I know. I’ve added lava lock sealer because it leaks like a sieve, baffle plate, new temp gauges at grate level, extended the smoke stack to the grate, and built a homemade fire basket .
Hahaha Jimmie MacD! Did you even watch the video? Be honest. Hahaha! Just wondering because you didn't notice the two Temp Probes attached to the grates, the two wireless thermometers and the part where I talked about monitoring temp at grate level. It’s all good though. I appreciate you watching what you did and I appreciate your comment! By the way, does your Smokin’ Champ still leak like a sieve? Mine doesn’t leak at all. In fact, I posted a video on how I sealed it with Lava Lock Gasket and RTV. Sounds like you’ve gone through a lot of trouble modifying your smoker. I haven’t found that to be necessary. How’s it working for you now? And of course I have to ask (because you said not to)… How do you know the Smokin’ Champ is mediocre at best?
This video is crazy my dude..u not smoking no meat. That's a oven 😂..u wild this one he said matter of fact u don't see no smoke lol that's because u not smoking. I hope u got more wisdom in the world of grilling
You obviously don't know anything about smoking. If you have tons of smoke rolling out of your rig, I'm glad I don't have to eat any of your crap.
lol FR. I second that 😅 he ain’t no where near smoking 😂
If you two think you need to have smoke rolling out of your smoker to smoke meat, I'm glad I don't have to eat your bitter coresote soaked food.
Don’t get sassy…we just saying it’s too clean
You are 6 hours in and that is your first beer?
Hahaha! Someone else noticed that too. It was an odd thing for sure. I guess I was just busy with other things, since I wasn't having to tend the fire very much.
@@TonyToneBBQ ha ha! Just busting on ya man! Great video!
@@sdwpolowed haha! Thanks man! I appreciate it!
No offence. But i drink nothing with death skeletons on it. Just sayin. Bless you man
You gonna drink or cook
Both, preferably
U got to use wood to smoke !! ur baking this one !! Smokin around 150 to 200 degrees with smoke u can't smoke with charcoal ❤ but u do what u think amen jesus ❤❤❤❤
You know, that's a great idea for a video. I've actually done tests where I've compared food cooked in an offset smoker burning charcoal, vs food cooked in an oven at the same temp for the same amount of time and the difference is incredible. Everything that burns gives off smoke, regardless of visibility. The difference is the flavor. Burning splits of wood produces a different flavor than burning charcoal briquettes and both produce a different flavor and texture than cooking in an oven. Having said that, the real purpose of this video is to help folks get comfortable cooking with an offset smoker. It's a lot easier to cook with an offset smoker when burning charcoal than it is burning splits of wood. Thanks for your comment and for the great idea!
Your just grilling, not smoking. You have to use some wood to say your smoking 😅
Hi! Thanks for your comment. Everything you burn creates smoke. Some things just create smoke that tastes better than other things. Charcoal is a great way to get used to using an offset smoker, although the flavor isn't a amazing as burning Oak or Hickory, but it's a lot easier to manage and you still get the benefit of slow cooking meat at low temperature from indirect heat provided by burning fuel. Thanks for watching!
To me you are defeating the purpose of using an offset smoker. If you're only cooking with the heat of charcoal the charcoal brings very little flavor to the food without smoke, hence the purpose of wood. One might simply cook this in my oven in my kitchen, don't get the purpose of not using wood.
Hey Bob! Offsets can be challenging to new users, and many give up after a couple tries. You're absolutely correct that wood brings awesome flavor that charcoal does not, but charcoal is great for practice and still way better than using an oven, IMHO. Thanks for watching and I appreciate your comment! Check out my other videos if you get a chance. Most of what I do is using wood. Smoke on!
Thanks for the quick reply, glad you seen my side of things. I will check out some of your other videos ASAP
@@bobrosenberg893 absolutely Bob! If all goes according to plan, I'll be recording a pulled pork video this weekend and loading it up a few days after. Just using Oak. Thanks again!
@@TonyToneBBQ looking forward to that, I will keep an eye out.
@@bobrosenberg893 thanks!
I'm Sorry. You purchased a large "SMOKER" barbeque Designed for doing multiple Racks and briskets & ETC over a long cook w/smoke being introduced as needed. Short answer here If you want to use straight Charcoal save the money and Go buy a Weber kettle!!!
Weber kettles are great tools but most offsets can handle a lot more meat, but learning how to use one can be difficult sometimes. Using charcoal is a great way to get used to using one, with the benefit of a lot more room. Thanks for watching!
Your not smoking any meat. Which that is what an offset smoker is for. If I wanted an outside oven I would buy an electric oven and put it on my patio. You need to quit saying your smoking meat when all you are doing is putting it in an oven.
An Offset Smoker is a device designed to burn fuel in a firebox that is attached to a cooking chamber, allowing the gasses that are released from the burning fuel to pass through and heat the cooking chamber, thus cooking the food in the chamber while infusing the food with compounds from the burning material. Although charcoal may not have the same flavor of Oak or any other natural hardwood, it does have a flavor that is different from natural gas or the heat created from an average kitchen oven. The offset smoker in this video is designed to burn charcoal, lump coal and/or wood, all of which create gasses ie smoke. For those getting familiar with the use of an Offset Smoker, charcoal is a great choice. Experts may not need this video. Perhaps that's you. Thanks for watching and I appreciate your comment,
Those look awesome! Great video and very informative, thanks for sharing!
My pleasure Brian! Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment!