Love your videos man. Always in depth and you invest ALOT of time that saves us all a ton of time when looking at things in order to improve our BBQing. Keep it up man. One of my favorite BBQ channels on KZfaq.

I have a Oklahoma Joe's longhorn and was having the same issue. Ended up replacing the stack with a 6in diameter one that is about 48in long. Much easier to maintain 240 - 250 temps. Although now it's hard to build a small enough fire to get those lower temps around 225. I always preheat splits in the fire box, makes a big difference in getting them to ignite right away. Great informative video!

I just did a stack extension on my brazos. It doesn’t do much until you close the fire box door, which I always kept wide open without an extension. The increased draw from the taller stack allows your fire to burn with the door closed and decreasing the size of the air intake increases the velocity of the air passing through your fire box, thus becoming a little more like a wind tunnel and the splits catch super fast and you don’t need to add charcoal.

Keeping my lid and firebox leaks sealed as well as insulating the fire box and adding baffle plates have really made my secondhand OK Joe perform unbelievably well this summer. Took 3 years to finally get everything tweaked and learn how to manage a fire, but I’m producing such high quality que and clean smoke at this point that I can’t imagine upgrading to a $2,000+ offset until she just a rusts in two.

Diameter would play a large roll. Cut the old stack out and replace it with a larger diameter exhaust. 4'-6" and 24'-36" long.

OMG Steve your videos get funnier and funnier yet still informative. The piss jug joke made me spit my drink outta my mouth.......funny as shit. Love the bbq channel and your humor.

I can relate to this issue. Thanks for the video. I thought about doing the stack extension. I think I will stick with my dryer elbow pipe in the cook chamber and adjust the flow from the stack vent. On cold and windy days I'll use a welding blanket to keep a even grill temperature.

On my OKIE JOE pit, I removed the factory stack and capped the hole. I replaced it with a 4" Dia pipe that reached to 7' from the ground, and mounted it centered on on the barrel. World of difference. Cooks more like my 350gal pit. Diameter increase is more effective than trying to extend into class D airspace.

Awesome! Great job 👍 I always look forward to your new videos. Keep them coming!

Thank you for making this video. I often wondered what the hype over stack height was about. It looks like my concern about smoke stagnation is realized after 90 inches of extension.

When I run My Horizon offset Smoker I have a side fire in a cheep grill I found on the side side of the road. I shovel in hot coals and pre lit splits. That helps prevent spiking temps and dirty smoke. Also one of the easiest cooks I ever had was in a 30mph wind storm. I think the wind over the stack added to the draw. Good Video. Thanks

This was brilliant, keep it coming 👌🏽

I literally spit my drink out at the piss jug. 😂

wow! science, singing and midriff.. this video had it all! 👍

Solid vid! Wood starts faster when dry and warm with a hot coal bed. I work with a garbage Dyno glo offset and work completely off of wood after my single chimney of coal.

I have the longhorn reverse flow. I just open the fire box lid for a few minutes when I add new wood. I usually try to run mine at 225 and it stays pretty consistent. Usually with new wood added it will climb up to 250 but I’ll just crack the smoke chamber open a hair until I’m back down to 225. I also have a water tray inside on the right hand side by the fire box. Glad I watched this before ordering an extension which I’ll now pass on and just leave it the way it is. I have the felt on my smoke box (burnt off the fire box). Fire box is sealed with high temp silicone when I put it together

Too funny! Love retro the music video and the green screen roller coaster. Like you, my anemometer melted when I used it for my video. Not sure if you’ve seen it, but I’d think so. Great job as always!

I would love to share my stack mods using heavy truck chrome exhaust hardware, sleeves and a trick methode to stabilize the extra length... Love your videos, very through and scientific!

Okay, I have a Oklahoma Joe highland smoker. I also put the high temp sealer around my firebox and also between the firebox and cook chamber.theni put the sealer tape on the cook chamber and drilled a hole on the side of the cook chamber for the temp probe and installed the silicon insert. I also bought the smoker defuzer for inside of the cook chamber. Now what I do differently. The grate for the firebox, I do not use.i use the cooking grate that fits on the top of the firebox, but I place it in the firebox and then the metal box. I use regular charcoal. Since I'm on social security, have to watch every penny. I fill my Oklahoma Joe chimney with charcoal and light the newspaper under it. I let my charcoals get bright red then pour then into the metal box, which is sitting much higher with the grate turned the other way. Then I fill my metal meatloaf pan with water and put two pieces of wood on top of the charcoal. Then I spray Pam on my cooking grates. And close the cook chamber door. Then next to my my fire I place my box on the floor and place my small electric fan on top of the box. Leaving the side door wide open on the firebox. And I open the damper all the way on my chimney. Then once all the white smoke is gone, I wait till the temp gets way up, only because when you open the door the temp will drop. I open my cook chamber door and placey ribs or brisket or pork on the grate and close the cooking chamber door. Now your temp has falling down to around 200 degrees. So you only have to raise it up 25 to 50 degrees. Now I keep an eye on the temp gauge on top of the cook chamber. When it starts to go down, I check the firebox and move the wood around and add only one medium wedge of wood. The woods that I use is Oak, Cherry and Pecan. Those I get for free. Also my metal wood rack sits in my garage. Let's my wood dry out quicker. And each flavor has there own shelve. But one shelve holds all my smoking tools like, the fire chimney, latex gloves, my different rubs, temp probes, knives, and a large cutting board. And I have a friend that has cats, so I use the large plastic tubs for my ashes and one for the water for my pan. Even my charcoal is in two buckets. Everything is semi neatly in my garage, including my smoker. It used to be on the back patio, but once I had to use a wheelchair my neighbor moved it to the garage for me. My smoker sits in front of my John Deere mower. But I control the air flow with my fan, if the fire is burning great, I turn it off. If it's kinda slow, I put it to 1. And when I first put a new price of wood into the firebox I put the fan on 2. Gets the fire going quick. No need to buy a long pipe. I save my money for more ribs, chicken and brisket.

Great video! Keep up the great work!

Great video. I use the extension, a Smoker Mods tuning plate and a water pan to get very consistent 245-250 degree temps. More of the 80's/video game/epic journey into the mists of Avalon thematic music please. Love it!

Great experiment in flow dynamics. Flow and ignition rate are not really measurable due to wood needing be upwards of 1000f to ignite. Warming the wood prior to adding to fire box will ignite quickly, and the add stack will allow to burn clean. Keep it up.

Awesome experiment, I been debating on getting a stack extension. This helps my decision.

I followed your information and added a 36 in long 3in diameter gas pipe as a stack vent extension to my pellet grill. At that height I should increase my exhaust flow about three times. I also added a felt seal on my door. I need to cook a brisket to be sure but I am seeing a much more consistent temperature control. Thanks

Great video! I got baffling plates and a built in water pan that helped a bunch. I can have a way bigger fire without heating up the smoker to high heats. So a lot easier to keep at 250-275. Also I think having a good coal Bed with logs directly on top helps instead of on a rack

I tried this experiment too. I decided to place my GoPro inside the fire box to see exactly how the fire acts. I came back an hour later to discover that someone must have stolen it!

Seeing the Lone Star beer made the video legit.

I used 4" drier duct to pull smoke out of my smoke shack where my reverse flow is by placing it over exhaust stack (3" square). It ran straight up about 4', then made 2 90⁰ turns out past eaves. Even though it was larger than the exhaust stack, the bends inhibited air flow enough to affect the fire.

Hey smoketrails, You’ve got a lot more variables in your experiment that could be preventing you from maintaining good temperature conditions that don’t involve the smokestack. Here are things you should consider: -You live in a colder climate, so you should be keeping the wood that you are going to throw on next warm. Throwing cold wood onto the fire increases the time it takes to ignite -Your smoke box triangle method isn’t that bad, but I feel like using a fire box from Amazon is better for maintaining a wider coal bed. You don’t necessarily want coals stacked on top of eachother. You want them spread out

someone has been watching Project Farm! Great video

Great video!

Your videos are awesome!

Dude good video I am cooking to briskets on mine as I write this.. I extended my stack and I’m happy with it. A thing I learned from Chuds BBQ is the mini leaf blower. Theirs one on Amazon made by Abeden. Complete game changer for me, my temp has been steady the whole time because it’s so easy to control the fire.. just a thought for you.. be good dude!!

This was awesome! Good experiment! That music chime was hilarious- added value to the content for sure.

Interesting. I run an OK Joe Longhorn reverse flow and have about the exact opposite problem when only using splits. My splits tend to burn too hot and fast, and I seem to go through a lot more wood than I should. I usually have to somewhat restrict the air flow to slow down the burn lengths and keep the flow running through the chamber and not backdraft out the firebox. I usually run around 225-250 grate temp. Maybe my splits are just really dry (cherry and some hickory). Tough to call, but interesting view, non-the less. But then again, I started using a Chargriller offset for about 10 years, so my OK Joe seems like a dream comparatively, LOL!

you should try extending the stack from the interior of the smoker. People say by lowering the internal stack to grill level it helps them keep temperatures steady. I have seen a few products for the OK joe available to buy, or what I did was use a 3 inch diameter elbow vent for a dryer. In my experience it didn't do much and was causing smoke to stick around too long along with making my fires a bit more picky. Keep it up. bubble ketchup.

The aftermarket heat plate mod and water pan mod is really awesome

I was fighting the same battle with my Oklahoma Joe... I, by no means, want to take a dump on the OK Joe... I've made some of THE BEST bbq in my life on mine... My buddy Tim and I both started our bbq journey on Masterbuilt electrics. I had a Chargriller Akorn I used exclusively for grilling, and one day I dared try a low slow cook on it, using pizza pans and fire bricks as a makeshift difuser... It was a game changer... My buddy Tim also jumped on board the Akorn train... From there I took my old Chargriller super pro left at my grandparents and added a side box so I could dabble with the stick-burning arts...My buddy Tim followed suit with a cheap chargriller offset he found on marketplace... After I became comfortable with that I bought a new Oklahoma Joe Highland and felt I had reached the top... Well, about two years after I got the OK Joe, my buddy Tim decided to upgrade from his Chargriller. He was torn between an OK Joe and an Old Country Pecos ... He chose the Pecos.. I went over to help him break it in, it was cold, rainy, windy and trying to snow. That smoker held temp and worked like a champ... whereas I would have been really struggling to manage a fire in my OK Joe... several weeks went by and I went over to his place again to hang out and cook... a really windy, freezing cold day... Same thing... that Pecos handled it like a champ... My mind was made up... I went and bought a Pecos and passed on my OK joe to a coworker wanting to get into the stickburning game... I tell you this with 100% honesty... The Pecos runs like a dream, albeit it needs bigger splits to run, as the firebox is almost double the size of the OK joe... Way less risk of temp spikes, way less tending the firebox. The big 6" stack at grate level also seems to do a much better job of transferring heat and keeping things going more smoothly... I did add a small stack extension with black stovepipe, which helped keep a more even, consistent grate temp. If I had it to do over, I'd have probably spent the extra cash and bought the thicker, heavier Brazos, but I live in the South, where it usually doesn't get very cold... I know you're partial to the OK Joe, but Ive experienced your same frustrations, and would highly consider an Old Country Pecos. If you're dead set on keeping the OK Joe, I'd consider building you a small smoking shed. I made one myself, and it's been a lifesaver on cold and rainy days... Keeps me out of the weather and allows me to still cook when the weather is nasty... I'm on Instagram @ChrsGuit and would gladly show you my setup if you want any ideas. Cheers, and thanks for the great videos! I was perfectly content until my buddy was

I just put a box fan in front of my firebox to help the air current. Then I just turn up the speed of the fan to get your splits to light faster. Then back down on low and the temperature is pretty consistent.

I realize this vid is 2yr old, but why does it seem nobody has tried insulting the exhaust stack? Think about fireplace flue pipe, it’s double wall stainless insulated. Having the stack retain its heat will do way more than just adding lengths of pipe that get cold, it’s the heat in the stack that makes the draft, same as when you start a fireplace cold, smoke can back up into the house, but once the flue warms up now you’ve got draft. I’d like to see a comparison adding 1 stack extension, then insulate that same stack with and inch or 2 of fiberglass insulation with a layer of flashing around it. I bet you’d see a better result.

Best mod I did was making it into a reverse flow with 5" exhaust elbow just above grate height and a 3 foot stack

Best method for fire management still seems to be pre drying and warming the wood splits by building the fire near the door and placing a few splits next to the cook chamber (so they don't catch on fire too soon). These pre dried and warmed splits light much quicker when you add them to the fire.

Your on the cutting edge of meat science! Thank you for your contributions! 😂

I just had a 250 gallon smoker built so I just gave away the oklahoma joe like it was nothing lmao.

Dude you’re undercover funny. Makes me laugh.

I just got me an Oklahoma Joe smoker I love all your videos. I've seen the stock extension that you've done have you ever done a baffle plate deflector To see how the temperature stabilizes in the cooking chamber

In construction we have what is known as a bell reducer. With the stack situation one end of reducer would fit factory stack with other end larger for obviously bigger pipe stack extensions. Hope this makes sense.

Great video, if you make a follow up, I'd like to know if it makes a difference if you add a 45° T-junction to the stack to increase airflow. Will the airflow increase in the cooking chamber aswell?

After using my OKJ for a few years, I gave up on splits. I went back to chunks and managing temperature is alot easier. I don't think the firebox is big enough for most store bought splits. Also, the wood needs to be warm before added to the fire. Either resting the wood on top of the firebox, or keeping the fire to one side of the box and dry wood preheating on the other side. Awesome to see your experiments! I gave up on mods and just run it as it is.

"Piss Jug" had me rolling.... "Way of the road boys" RAAAY!

I have the reverse air flow model I live on a farm with ALOT OF TREES. I have a huge supply of would so I never use charcoal just dried wood. Some of it split some is not. I do have a 60 inch extension that I out on just to keep the smoke above face level. I have a family of seven a and weekend can bring 15 to twenty people over. I have every inch of cooking space covered with meat and have three Dutch ovens going for side dishes. I usually just light do chores and feed the fire ad needed. I just star early in the day and have the whole family trained to keep the fires going. It takes patience but damn we eat good.

Awesome video! Why is the coal bed set up in a Vshape? I'd be cutting that out with an angle grinder for a start. I'd also weld the fire box top lid shut. Start the fire with wood stacked vertically then just feed it slowly. With a higher stack if you insulate the extensions you'll get increased air flow. It'd be good to have the data of the grill temp as well. Great video, get the nephew back and keep tweaking. 👍

I use the baffle plate set up on my OK joe, adding those huge steel plates means the temp swings are slower and it needs a bigger fire to get the temps which is beneficial. Combined with always using two water pans and the fire box set up as you have here i dont have much issue with the standard smoke stack. I add a few extra lumps of unlit coal on each side of the split every other split added. This seems to keep feeding the coal bed making the new splits catch more easily. I might experiment with extensions but i am not convinced the data supports them adding much value as most of my cooking is lower temp anyway

Tuck your next split into your firebox away from the coals, to either side of your fire box grate. Preheated splits catch fire much quicker.

bro that song is slappin

Hey Steve - I watched this video a loooong time ago and decided to add an extension way back then. So I bought an 18" extension at Advanced Auto, a tailpipe extension, on sale for $8. I liked it and so bought another. Then another and another, gradually lengthening the stack. And the final one was the one on bbqsmokermods with the damper which I can reach with an old telescoping flag pole from my tailgating days. So now I'm at 90 inches of extension excluding the stock 17" stack. It seems to me it has to do something good if the flow rate doubles with the first extension and comes close to quadrupling with all the extensions, even if the splits don't burst into flame without opening the door. Another advantage is it puts the smoke up high so I can see the color of it easier against the green of my stable roof rather than against the white of my stable wall. One thing I don't think you mentioned directly is ambient temperature. Seems to me that could have an effect since the stack would cool more quickly in winter than in summer. Cold ambient air could promote problems with a long stack relative to summer temps which could have unrealized benefits. I also wonder how much better the fire might have behaved with the charcoal basket you use now - which clearly is a better system than the stock grates or the V shaped grates. Anyway, due to many of the mod suggestions from this channel, my OKJ cooks very nicely now with even temps from right to left and no undeserved temp spikes or drops. Belated thanks for another great video!

I enjoyed your episode. I have found that the draw of the firebox is also about location. As I moved further away from dead air locations near a structure or fence, it improved. I also have the same issues with 225-275 degree fires catching the next split of wood. I was going to experiment with split size as if it was a mega size pellet smoker.

I notice your house is near your exhaust pipe, Houses always have the top of the chimney above the highest roof peak to make them properly draw.

So as an Aerospace eng., before watching the video, the longer stack will slow the airflow, so in theory it will help smoke the protein better. However, this may have unintended consequences like an unhealthy fire. To solve that problem one must make the stack with a larger cross-section.

Glad to see, i'm not the only person with a "Piss Jug"

I have an Oklahoma joe longhorn reverse smoker. When i cook my brisket at low temps I've observed that thinner splits are the only way. It's much easier to control a low temp fire on a large pit vs a smaller pit like mine. The key is active fire. You must always have an active fire or you'll smoke the hell or if whatever your cooking and taste very bitter, especially long cooks. So same length splits but thinner. You're going to have to play with how thin the split should be, but remember surface to mass ratio. A piece of paper will ignite faster than a log. You're also going to have to tend to the fb a hell of a lot more than a 300 degree fire

You should reduce the aperture of the inlet. This will slightly decrease the flow rate due to constriction but increase the velocity of the air hitting the fuel, giving it more Oxy and removing CO2 faster. Also adding insulation to the stack will also increase airflow, since the heat of the air is what powers the flow in the first place.

This was great! I enjoyed the content, and can relate, as I have a Char Griller, which is just as big of a piece of crap as the Oklahoma Joe's. Like you, when trying to cook low and slow, I was struggling with wild temperature swings. Finally, after trial and error, I found solutions that work. First, I bought a charcoal basket from BBQ smoker supply, and I spent the extra bucks for the minion method maze bars. Then, I only lit part of my chimney, and let it follow the trail of unlit briquets through the maze. Then, I got wood chunks, and learned how many to add to raise my temps and get good thin blue smoke, without getting a temp spike. Side note- another tip- I keep a tin can nearby, and if I do add too much wood, I just pull the flaming chunk out, and throw it in the can for a while until my grill calms down. Now, even with my crappy little grill (5050 Duo), I can hold temps right at 225° all day long! Cheers!

Another great experiment thank you I do have a suggestion I found another KZfaqr measured the amount of pellets it took per hour to cook food What does it cost to cook a brisket Let's say a reasonable 12 hours How much of your time how much charcoal and how much wood. I'm not sure to purchase an offset smoker or to get a pellet smoker they each have their drawbacks I hope you can figure something out

I sit splits on top of the firebox to preheat them. Catches quick with clean smake

Dude you're videos keep getting better. What about if the diameter was bigger? Also, do you use tuning plates on your Highland. I have a reverse flow Highland never use the reverse feature. Felt air flow was robbed. Thanks man.

Preheat your splits on top or if you use a fire basket you can put you next split in on the side to preheat the wood so it ignites faster

Just like the chimney on a natural draft water heater, if the stack is too large (diameter or length) it will cool stack temps down enough to condense inside the exhaust. Taller will bring the exit to a different pressure zone giving it draft so higher will give a stronger draft. Aside from maintaining temps I would imagine you would get the cleanest smoke from the tallest stack possible without condensing the exhaust inside the stack

Stack extension for increased O2 + more solid fuel surface area = hotter burn

try the test again with food. if you have faster moving air, it's easier to burn-due i assume to less convection-your food product at the same temps. if avoiding swings and quicker combustion is your goal. just preheat your wood.

Another reason for diminishing returns may be fluid / air friction inside getting stronger.

Seeing how we're in Alberta, hard wood isn't easy to find and it's expensive. We have plenty of spruce, pine and poplar. So I use pine just to get a good fire going and and a bed of coals. Then I throw in small splits of poplar which light fairly quickly and then put the hardwood on top of that. If the hardwood starts to smolder the poplar that's lit will burn the smoke. I keep the fire near the damper to get a ram air effect and the door closed and the damper wide open. I don't have to use charcoal at all and burn an all wood fire.I cooked a brisket once with only poplar and found it didn't really have much effect on taste but was hardly smoky flavor. But in the end it's an Oklahoma Joe's and finicky as heck. It's a full time job...

I am not sure this would apply to the reverse flow Oklahoma Joe smoker though due to the flow but in my case i run everything wide open most of the time and control the temp by controling the fire size , if it spike up -which sometimes you get that really dry split - i open the fire box for 5 to 10 sec then dial the top airflow on the stack down by 1/8th to 1/4 and i keep it for 5 minutes and that usually save my hassle. For the splits to catch , especially if i think it is not that dry , i just use low speed leaf blower for 5 seconds . I have an old bouncy castle blower that i just aim towards my smoker .

came for the stacks, stayed for the song. lol

This is cool for air flow only. Totally disregarding the fact, too much flow takes away from flavor of food. I'll tell you something SIMPLE that'll blow your mind. Take the goofy V shaped rack out of the fire box and put in a flat grate. The V shape keeps all the spilt flat against each other and your air flow mostly goes around the wood. Flat grate give more uniformly THROUGH the wood giving better burn. And run no more than 1 extension on stack. Ideal, stack should be ⅓ the length of cook chamber.

This is JUST the video I've been waiting for! I wanted to put an extension on my OKJoe but worried how to know how tall is too tall. This helped a LOT! Also I started stacking bricks inside my cook chamber about six inches away from the fire box. I go about four inches higher than grate height. The result is amazing. I can build a bigger hotter fire without the cook chamber getting too hot. Maybe that would help with this! Thanks for your videos!

Have you tried using flat bottom V vs. the V you're using in the firebox? It allows you to have a larger coal bed, which I find helps with fire management. I run my joe like that, along with an 18" stack extension.

You should spray your firebox with oil before and after cooks it keeps the rust away and seasons it too.

I wonder if the manufacturers at Oklahoma Joe's See all the modifications out there on KZfaq. I just bought my 1st offset smoker and I would imagine that Oklahoma Joe's has experimented with all these modifications and concluded that the way they manufacture them is she best (perfect stack height, dimensions, exhaust positioning, etc).

Baffle plate + box fan pointed at the fire box = stress free fire management.

Question about the chimney hole on the *inside* of the cooking chamber . . . I'm sure you've seen some people using 3 inch aluminum dryer vent elbows to extend the opening of the chimney closer to the grate level, and other people buying the LavaLocks smoke stack lowering kit which accomplishes the same thing. Have you tried either of these mods to see if it actually directs heat/smoke more downward around the brisket instead of straight up and out the top of the cooking chamber? Does it actually make a difference? Thanks!

A simple sheet of foil over the first coal grate in the cook chamber ( closest to the fire hole ) will make the cooking temperature even from grate to the top of smoker with the Joe's thermometer. Less than a 5 degree difference. Try this before buying plates or stack extensions..

I need a copy of that bbq Jesus photo!

I put a 16 inch of ac duct on & found the draw to allow for a more consistent heat. meaning it was easier to control the cook chamber temps. that seems to be more important than how long it takes new splits to light. fyi, i have found coal beds make the temps too high. i start the fire like i would for a campfire & maintain from there my next experiment is to attach a 4 inch stove pipe around the exhaust hole of the joe to see what that does

That V shaped grate in your firebox. Did you make that or buy it? Mine came with a flat one. Keep up the great videos! Army here too, about to retire :)

Great video, thank you! Here in the UK, I've bought tuning plates and a charcoal basket from a website called Prosmoke, and funny enough they sell a heavy duty 18 inches extension for the OKJ. I guess I now know what my next purchase will be... 🤣 Also, my OKJ leaks smoke a lot, and it looks like the fire box is bending the side of the smoke box... known issues?

All in the name of science 👌🏽

Try pulling the wire rack out and just building the fire on top of a nice layer of ashes. I have good luck with one or two larger splits to hold the coals and then smaller ones to keep the heat up.

I think the V-shaped fire basket may be part of the problem. The coals made from burning wood looked like they were falling through the basket so they weren’t able to be close enough to the new splits to ignite them. Just a thought.

Would love to see a diameter smoke stack test. I did a modification to a cheap smoker(Broil King you need a new designer) and I feel I should have went with a 6" diameter instead of 4".

This got me thinking about the Venturi effect: the diameter of a pipe is reduced which increases the rate of flow. I wonder if this principle could be applied with success to this situation.

Great video! I've been doing the same experimentation on my Char-griller grand champ. Same type of problems as you with the temp spike roller coaster. The difference in the Char-griller and your OK joe is that I have a 5" stack that draws a grate level. Regardless, I added a 20" stack extension and I have great airflow thru the firebox and smoker with that extension. So maybe the 5" stack diameter makes a difference as well. I still have to baby sit the fire every 15 minutes, however. Because like you, I need to keep the fire relatively small to maintain 225-250 temps. After the initial 1/2 chimney of charcoal for startup, I have kept the fire going for over 4 hours just using small splits similar to yours. So I know it can be done, just takes alot of vigilance. Whether we knew it or not, it's what we got when we bought cheaper offsets like your OK joe and my Char-griller. As an aside, I removed the stock baffle on mine and built an Aaron Franklin type baffle that sits on the grate on the firebox side. It also serves as a place for the water pan. For the most part I have pretty even temps across the grate using that baffle, as well as the decent convection thru the smoker that the stack extension provides.

That’s my piss bottle. Ha great Army humor. Loved the experiment keep it up.

I did one extension and it’s great Second my prevailing wind comes out of the west directly into the firebox and out the stack

I tried extending my stack but the missus still goes to the night table. Maybe a bit more prewarming would help. Speaking of which, have you tried putting the splits under the gate to preheat? Great science Steve.

I be curious to know if you replace that stack elbow with another one that went around the little nub and you only extended it say about 30 in but with the diameter of the elbow and stack being maybe about half an inch bigger.

I would like to try a larger diameter stack. Perhaps some exhaust tubing that is the same size as the outside of the connector on the side of the pit with a band style clamp.

@smoketrailsbbq wondering where you get your wood from? looking for bulk cook wood in the gta/toronto area. not sure if that's where you're located. thanks!

Hey, question did you find having a tall stack dispersed smoke at all? I love smoking but now live very close to my neighbor and I'm trying to find ways to make it less smoky for him did you notice this at all?

I plugged some measurements into a bbq calculator and for the size of the okjoe it said it should have a 4 inch diameter stack..would be interesting to modify. I have 2 small children so it may take a while. Lol