Guide

ADDING FOOD AND
ADJUSTING HEAT
1 Arrange your food on the grill.
Place food on the racks in the cooking
chamber. If you like, put cold meat directly
into the smoker without bringing it to room
temperature first since it will absorb more
smoke when it’s cold. Close the lid of the
cooking chamber.
2 Add charcoal to the firebox.
If you need to maintain the heat in the
smoker or increase the temperature, add
unlit charcoal to the firebox. Use a grill hoe
to scoot the spent coals to one side to make
room for half a chimney full of unlit charcoal
on the other side. You’ll need to check the
temperature and firebox every 30 minutes or
so to ensure that the fire is still burning.
3 Increase the heat in the smoker.
If the temperature inside the cooking
chamber is dropping and you’ve added unlit
charcoal, add a log of wood to the firebox.
Open the air intake vent on the side of the
firebox to increase the fire. For an extreme
increase in temperature, you can also open
the chimney vent. Close the vents as soon
as the smoker is at the right temperature.
Keep an eye on the smoker temperature
while the vents are open. The temperature
should increase substantially within 2 to 3
minutes.
4 Reduce the temperature in the smoker.
If the temperature inside the cooking
chamber is getting too hot, ensure that the
vents are closed. If the temperature is still
high, open the cooking chamber lid for a
minute. This will help drop the temperature
quickly.