Pro Smoke Temp Problems

[gwickert]

Hi All,

Recently bought a pro smoke offset from BBQs galore.

When I cook I generally get a chimney of lump coal going and tip it into the FB. When they are nice and hot, I place a reasonably large sized split of timbre on. The splits are from aromawood - if anyone has heard of them - for reference. I then try to keep to wood burning only, and only add more lump if my coal bed is dwindling. I'm trying to do as 'pure' bbq as I can.

My issue: to get the ember surface area nice and large + hot enough for my wood, it makes the temps way too high with the FB lid closed. Easily 325+ at grate height.

This means two things:
1. I have to keep the FB lid propped open and I lose my nice blue smoke
2. I also have to mess with the fire constantly which isn't ideal.

I'm wondering if anyone has a similar situation could provide some pointers. One thing I'm looking at is putting some plating in to insulate the FB from the CC. This is pretty intrusive though so I'm wondering if you guys can provide some wisdom to help me tame this thing.

I suppose another option is to just cut my wood up more, have smaller fires, and add more fuel more often. This might not be a bad idea but I'm keen on longer burning splits so I don't have to concentrate on the fire 24/7.

Cheers!

Glen.

[gwickert]

Update:

Played a bit more with the heat plates in the cook chamber and had better results. Also split down my wood a little more. Still a little hard to tame at times but getting better!

Any suggestions still welcome.

Glen.