Ditto

I have a question, is it normal for my char griller smoker to b hot on top and cold on bottom when smoking a brisket?

@@goodvibes8077 I have never experienced that. I wonder if its bumecause lack of airflow. Or lack of heat. When i smoke the meat is always on the highest rack as well

@@goodvibes8077 in the cook chamber yes , in the firebox no.

You should check out the Oklahoma Joes Highland. It’s made of thicker steel than the Char Griller brand smokers. I got one not too long ago and it’s awesome. It’s about 200lbs, so assembling it by yourself can be a pain, but other than that it’s great.

@@adampringle6867 Love my Oaklahoma Joe, with a few modifications, its amazing!

Thanks. I've been watching a lot of videos, getting ready for my fist attempt and almost all of them say leave the smoke stack and vent wide open at all times. But all of them were showing the use of wood. Wish me luck!

😅

Just got my first side by side for Father’s Day today and have been watching some of your videos. Question- in this video he said no peeking but a minute later said that if your meet stalls to wrap it in foil.. do you wrap before you smoke to prevent stall or do you peek and then wrap in foil?

@@chief5981 that's a good question. If you're going to wrap something in foil, you got to do it much later in the cook. If you wrap it in foil right from the start, the foil will block the meat from absorbing the smoky flavor. It's also true that you want to refrain from peeking. Keep the lid down will maximize the effectiveness of your rig. How do you know when to wrap? Use a thermometer that you can install into the meat, preferably that sounds a signal to a remote or to your cell phone. I use a Thermopro. I'll leave a link to a video that you might find helpful at the bottom of this message. There is also a link in the description of that video to one of the wireless thermometers I use. Thanks! Hope that helps! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j7STnZhosrmoeGw.html

@@TonyToneBBQ perfect! Yes that helps. I was hoping to smoke something on Father’s Day but my smoker arrived damaged. By the time I got it exchanged it was too late in the day. Going to season it this week and smoke something this weekend. I don’t have many hobbies so I look for to this. See you on your channel.

Checking to see who asked

Spend a few bucks more and get a smoker made of heavier guage metal.

I just took my 1st Chargrille offset to the land fill for the same reason...it rusted thru...I replaced it with an Old Country Wrangler... 3/16 real steel.

@@wearingsa that is pretty impressive steel. I just did a quick Google search. It looks impressive. Congrats

@@wearingsa sorry I didn't get a notification of your comment. I got one from a comment that I made from someone else. Weird

Awesome!

Or just throw this away and get a different smoker

Baffles make a huge difference

You are welcome!

please tell us how the cook went. IF you were following this advice I'd be really curious if you had a clean tasting cook

Who is smoking meat with "charcoal only". It's not one or the other. I mean, in my small amount of research on this topic, you're smoking wood on top of lump charcoal. And by your advice, that's contrary to what I've researched. For backyard bbqs.

My coworker who’s been grilling forever told me just today to keep the damper cracked. Not wide open because that would make the meat cook too fast.

@@curtiswhiteheadjr1322 It really depends on what you're going for. Smoking in the way you described would be similar to smoking with a Weber Smoky Mountain where you're just letting the wood smolder. You use a lot less wood that way, but IMO the flavor turns out more like bacon or hot dogs in your meat. This is caused by what a lot of BBQ folks call "dirty" smoke. What you want is full combustion of the wood for better flavor (a.k.a. live fire cooking). You can only get this by having an actual fire in the firebox, and you can only have an actual fire if you have a lot more oxygen. When I use mine, not only do I have the vents wide open, but I have to pull the firebox drawer out an inch or so to get enough air.

@@mikeselltgmail thanks for breaking it down for me. I will definitely put these methods in play at my next Q.

I was just contemplating doing this exact same thing with my sidebox. Glad to hear it apparently works good. 😎

Can you share the link to the video you watched? Sounds helpful. Thanks.

Will you share link to the video you watched? Thanks.

Not great info..do not listed to this guy unless you never plan on having good bbq

@@jeremyvalenzuela889 it worked for me and everything turned out great

Why doesn't the smoke stack have a pointy hood cap on it? Should I add one?

EXACTLY, why make it confusing. SO many are going to hear that wrong.

I guess they would be, wouldnt they...

😂😂

Nah, you forgot to carry the 1

What kind of gasket did you use

Brisket is on my list to try. I did my first Picanha the other day. I tried a new charcoal briquette and it just sat there at 225 for 90 minutes using 4 of the briquette things and they looked good for at least another 2-3 hours when I took it off to sear it. Link below for them. smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087ZKKYBZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Smoking is really dependent on what works for you. At Char-Griller HQ, there are a dozen different ways people set their dampers.

I just assembled mine yesterday, don't feel bad because no one teaches this.

@@astrofrk - It ended up going together, but unless I mixed up a couple of bolts, the bolts that hold the warming rack to the lid ended up being too short. I had to run to Home Depot and get some longer ones. Other than that, after I seasoned it well, I tossed a whole chicken on it to make use of the still-hot coals from seasoning, and left it in there for 2.5 hrs. The internal temp wasn't good since the coals were half spent when the chicken started, so I popped it in the oven for an additional 1.5 hrs and it was amazing! It absorbed a lot of flavor from the grill and wasn't dried out at all. So far, I like this unit.

🤣🤣🤣

They sell shit smokers so to make people think they are good they promote the idea of "more smoke is better"....even if it's dirty. Cause that's all their grills can do

@@chrisbarnes9134 fr lmao

How often do you add fuel?

Costs min 3500+. The point, i didnt know what i was doing, wanted something to learn on that wouldnt break the bank. This was it and it turned out to be a bloody good investment. I cooked on it at least 3 times/wk often more, it lived outside uncovered inwind and rain and down the road from the beach. My only teachers wre bbq pitmasters and eventually flavourize by ray lampe. I really didnt mess much up and everyone loved coming round for a barbie. We recently moved to sydney so i left it behind, put it on the side of the road and it disappeared in5 mins rust and all. Now i got th bigger better 1500$ offset one which is actually harder to use, go figure

Hey there! We actually addressed this exact concern in our new Grand Champ!

@@Char-Griller thanks for the info ! about the grand champ,gotta check one out at HOME DEPOT.The reviews on this Grand champ are pretty good ! THANKS!!!

You do realize that you are doing the exact same thing as people leave stack wide open and adjust at firebox....

@@chrisbarnes9134 that and the stack isn’t a proper stack. It’s not near the grate at all. I’ve experimented and my best luck has been building huge fires with the stack and firebox dampers opened to max and keeping the ash cleaned from under the firebox grate to allow better airflow. When temp spikes happen that usually means an incoming flow of bad thick white smoke so while I vent that out by opening the lid I’m dropping the temp back down to where I want it. The thin metal offers no insulation so it’s not a huge deal to open the lid on these as they heat back up very quickly and just act as heat syncs. These aren’t the type of smokers you can set the dampers to specific spots and they magically just maintain the desired temp for an hour or two. The firebox is just too small for that and the metal is just too thin. These require constant attention and different methods than better quality smokers. I love my cheap little smoker it has made me and my family very happy but it’s a lot of work. I watch videos before a smoke just for answers and tips etc. and I’m slowly learning there are no tips or conventional methods… just work your butt off for a few hours and you’ll have something good to feed people as a result.

Well if you own a char griller like me, it doesn't matter because it leaks out the sides back and front anyway. Smoke stack probably matters more when you have a really good seal...

@@TheFoyer13 Hahaha! That's true, I have the Smokin Champ and I've done videos on this topic. I've got my sealed up nicely using Lava Lock Smoker Gasket and High Temp RTV. Sealing up the smoker makes a huge difference in temp management and smoke quality.

@@TheFoyer13 get some smoker gasket for the lid and lava lock for around the fire box and smoke stack. These cheaper smokers are very difficult to use I found. Keeping the temp where you want it and good clean smoke is a constant battle throughout the entire cook. I thought this could be a fun and relaxing way to make delicious food while having an excuse to sit outside for hours and drink beer. I was very wrong. It is fun and I do drink beer but it is not relaxing staring at your ink bird app and back to the smoke stack and throwing more chunks in and opening the cook chamber to vent bad smoke then back to your ink bird app then back to the fire box then venting then back to the app then back to the…. You get the point.

@@jayquick6520 I tried all the quirks mentioned above and my chargriller still leaks smoke from every faucet of the grill. The seal eventually burned off, and I’m left with openings in the grill as well. I plan on getting another grill, one that’s more dependable and durable, any recommendations?

@@fortheloveofmoney1752 Old Country smokers are great but I’m probably just biased because that’s the brand of smoker Aaron Franklin used when he was just getting started. Oklahoma Joe’s are another good brand but they still suffer from leaking. They have larger fire boxes and thicker metal than the cheaper ones. Easier and more consistent smokes on them. Can’t go wrong with pretty much any model of the two brands. Also if the felt gasket burnt off your smoker then I would assume you’re grilling directly on it. Be careful doing that. The heat will burn your finish off and the chamber base will begin to rust.

That's a great idea! We will take it to our engineering team.

If you only knew how I modified mine. Thee side box is now my main bbq.

Smokestack and the inlet are both open a quarter of the way

@@Char-Griller 😁 I was just playing with the fact that they both mean the same thing. As an aside, I just bought the offset part to add to my dual fuel. Gonna cook something this weekend.

YES, YOU CAN❗ I HAVE DONE THIS. YOU MAY WAS TO BLOCK OFF THE FIREBOX WITH STEEL OR BRICKS TO KEEP FROM LOSING HEAT.

That’s how I do it since I don’t have the offset.

Yes I often add 4 or 5 hot coals upstairs when adding to the fire box

Yes. I have one and I do.

Keep doing that, this advice is awful and goes against every pitmasters rule of thumb. Go look up Aaron Franklins videos and see

Don't not listen to this video this is why their smokers suck cause they got idiots like this guy making them

So max air flow throughout?

I HAVE A $1300.00 KLOSE SMOKER. I'VE HAD TO MAKE MODS TO IT AS WELL. (TUNING PLATES, ETC.) IT'S JUST THE NATURE OF THE BEAST. SUCK IT UP❗ BY THE WAY, I HAVE A CHARGRILLER SMOKER, AS WELL . AND I LOVE IT‼️

I love my unit before the modification and now it even better.

I agree, mr Yorkie. Better off building a UDS than trying to cook on one of these headaches.

Same. Make sure you have a thermometer on or near the far side of the grill, opposite the firebox to get a better reading.

@@MrMnelson1523 I have 3 regular ones and 3 probes so its basically on life support for temp readings lol

@@MrMnelson1523 I'm gonna get rid of it and just get a weber smokey mountain

Did you try putting a tuning plate? I did and it worked pretty well. Now I have an old Brinmann that is basically the same thing. It works good if your using wood but if you are using charcoal then get a charcoal basket. My WSM 18.5 is alot more efficient so if I'm using charcoal then I simply use the WSM.

@@nievesgeorge77 I do have a tuning plate in it as well. and a charcoal basket, I use a few wood chunks n that's it. I wouldn't do just wood in it

You should be able to get it from Lowes, Home Depot and Amazon!

Hey there! If you shoot an email to abigailknox@chargriller.com we can help!

I’m fairly new to smoking and resisting peeking the first few times was difficult 🤣

@@diceman199 You have to commit to the burn and trust the process. No peeking!

@@jjjppp9133 I know....i'm getting better..... left the salmon for 2 hours without peeking last weekend :-)

180° for about 30-45 min.. depending on crust thickness..

@@bertpittman19811 do u use this chargriller I heard paint bubbles.

His grills are great but there’s a lot of people who can’t afford them.

@@aaronwilson8698 Allen built me a grill 4' x 2' hexagonal out of 1/4" plate w/ 2 grill racks, a coal rack, 4" detachable smokestack, and a thermometer for 700. the "custom" shops in the midwest where I live were hemmin and hawin if they could do the job for 2000.

Bill the replacement fire box is made poorly. The first time you use it. The paint on the top of the fire box will come off. I'm thinking it's made in china

Char-Griller I don’t have one, how can I get one? Thanks,

thorntonater I believe everything is made in China 🤷‍♂️

Hey T.J! Some smoke leaking out is okay. You will still get great smokey flavor in your food. You can always add some felt gaskets as a quick and easy solution!

@@Char-Griller and just where the hell in Perth western Australia do you get it hmmm

That’s what I’m thinking 🤔 And I think splits would be cheaper than charcoal.

Yeah we refer to these as stick burners. I start the fire with charcoal but use splits thereafter.

You can use either. I use charcoal briquettes when I’m hot smoking salmon as it’s easier to keep the temp in the sweet spot with just a 8-10 briquettes. Lump wood charcoal if I need more heat and some wood for smoke. Splits of smoke wood are fairly expensive in the UK so charcoal actually comes out a bit cheaper for us

I hear that Char Griller bought out Oklahoma Joe.

@@pangelo4023 char broil bought okj

dooder I got the Bronco; it’s a beast!

@@pangelo4023 can't go wrong with the bronco. I got the pro and actually prefer it over my 22" and 18" wsm. Thats saying a lot.

D's Que Backyard BBQ I got the regular Bronco and regret not going with the Pro.

Half hour?? No way, 10min max has got to be good enough I'm hungry lol.

It's funny you mention that because I just got an email from Chargriller today about how important it is to let the meat rest.

Said the mortician......lol

Agree

@@mrtrashforkick9931 Wrong, thumbs down are from people who have smokers that are actually good. These things are bottom of the barrel!

I've had my char griller for about 2 years now. Great grill but they need to be brushed down and painted with a better high temp paint. If you use it 2 to 3 times a week like I do the paint will cook off. Also the sheet metal they use is very thin so it gets hot easy ( hince the paint problem). For a offset I can't complain about it's cooking abilities if you know what your doing.

Whenever I don’t wrap a brisket or pork butt, it takes longer.

You're close... but you aren't 100% right

@@dracolyth What did he say that's wrong?

They are cheap. No offense but why in the world would you consider one of these for catering? These aren’t meant for that. It’s a cheap way for people to bbq at home. I bought mine on sale last year for $99 and put $15 into it with gaskets and sealant and a temp probe gromet. It still sucks lol. Painstakingly made a lot of good bbq on it but will be upgrading next summer.

I disagree.... Wanna experience a cheap constructed griller/smoker.? Just buy any model of Weber, or any cheaply made knock off. I have one of the biggest models of Char Griller with attached smoker, plus turned around and bought an extra smoker unit to use as a more portable Griller to carry in the trunk of the car. Absolutely perfect. Construction is second to none, like they were made from oil pipeline stock... and very well made. Other brands, when compared to Char Griller, simply draw a vacuum. They suck. Thomas... 81, Navy Vietnam Veteran, and watch Steve Reichlen on TV.

Don't worry about the paint, mine did the same. Put some olive oil over those spots every other cook, the meat your cooking is why you bought it not the paint.

@@MrMnelson1523 RUST kills a fire box. That's why it was replaced. MADE IN CHINA

ON ANY SMOKER OR GRILL, I ALWAYS APPLY COOKING OIL OR CRISCO TO SEASON IT, EVERY TIME. THAT SEASONS IT LIKE A CAST IRON PAN, SO IT DOESN'T RUST.

That happens to all fire boxes of all smokers

I bought one YEARS ago so they may be made differently now. My firebox did need painting from time to time but it held up for years. I have a 2k+ lb trailer and the paint on the firebox needs to be touched out periodically. I shoot for once a year to keep surface rust from going crazy. The main thing is getting the ashes out right after they cool. This will help premature rusting on the inside. All metal when heated over and over will eventually wear through. It just depends on how hot the fire and how thick the metal. Regardless happy Queing!