Hey guys! New to the forum and new literally got my kit and put it together yesterday so dont beat me up to bad for asking questions im sure most of you have already answered... I searched on the search and i've managed to find bits and pieces to the questions i have... Again i have not cooked on my beast yet but will be this weekend and breaking it in well with a nice fatty... My smoker before this was an offset so the drum world is new to me ... Question i have is how are you guys setting your charcoal basket up to get the longest burns? From what i have gathered it sounds the best approach is fill the basket and dump about half a chimney on top... Second question is, if needed, whats the easiest way to add charcoal during a cook? Thanks
Long burns/ refueling
- Thread starter duddy55
- Start date
Every drum cooks a little different so YMMV. I fill up my basket with charcoal & 2-4 chunks of wood mixed in. I only light about a dozen briqs. I like to let the drum come up to temp slowly so I don't overshoot. It is a lot easier & quicker to bring temps up a little than to bring them down. When they are burning good, I dump them in the middle of the basket. I start with my intakes open all the way. As temps begin to climb, I start closing down the airflow. I start at about 215*. My drum likes to run at 255-265*. It will generally take about 20 mins to stabilize at in that range. I then wait until I see thin, blue smoke instead of thick white smoke. Generally this is another 10-15 mins. I put the meat on & get the lid closed as quickly as I can. I have been able to run 12+ hours on one basket without reloading.
There isn't really a easy way to add fuel to any drum. We use a can that can hold a few pounds and dump it in with the racks removed. Cover the drum wait a few minutes. Then put the racks /food back on. Now will you need more then the cook time of 12 plus hours you can get on a full load? Not often. We found the drum cooks a little quicker then other cookers like a WSM.
jetmek
New member
I was able to run my drum at 250 for 17 hours without adding any fuel and still had a little charcoal left! It was June and it was really hot, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with the great burn time. But I think it probably would have burned close to 20 hours if I would have let it just burn itself out of charcoal. These drums are fantastic!