? on lo & slo fire building

Pick

I've had my large BGE for a little over a month now, and on my first low & slow I did 4 butts, for 16 hours, the only mistake I made was not building a big enough fire or having enough lump, for the last few weeks or so I have been picking out the big pieces of lump every time I cook in anticipaiton for this weekend's lo & slo. I think one of my big mistakes is that I think that all of my lump needs to be burning in order to start working on my temp and before putting meat on. So my question is shouldn't I be concentrating on just starting a good fire right in the center of my lump and then close the lid, adjust temp, and let the fire burn to the outside of the lump over the night. Please keep in mind that I don't have the Guru yet. So am I on the right track? Thanks in advance to everyone this site is really a big help to young and new eggers like myself, Later Jason

BlueSmoke

Pick,
I think you're on the right track - establish your fire and stabilize the temp. Particularly when you're doing low and slow indirect, it doesn't matter much how widespread the fire.[p]That said, if I'm doing hot and fast grilling, I often stir the coals to maximize hot coals on the entire surface.[p](disclaimer: the foregoing is my opinion and only my opinion - if somebody does it differently that's fine by me)[p]HTH
Ken

stike

Pick,
load that sucker up to the fire ring at least, or more.[p]after a few carefully built fires you will join those of us on the dark side who look around quickly to make sure no one's watching, and then just pour from the bag.[p]elder ward's method is the definitive way to go your first few times out.[p]if i am being craeful, i make sure the biggest chunks are low in the firebox, and i also make sure to keep some medium and small chunks in thee too, to help the fire bridge gaps as it migrates around. you can't really get all the mup going and then hope to be at 250 or so.[p]just start it dwead center or near the back, and shut the lid (with everything in there but the meat).[p]that'll be a low fire which you can keep at your desired temp. when the fire is established (1/2 hour, 1 hour, whatever), put the meat on and DO NOT readjust the temp. it'll fall for a while as the meat is now a heat sink. plus, you just dumped some nice 250 air from the dome. it'll come back up to temp in a short while.[p]i am a chip vs. chunk guy. i mix chips all the way throughout the lumop, because i never know where the fire is going to wander and i want smoke throughout if i can.[p]smoke stops forming the smoke ring when the meat hits 140, but it DOES flavor the meat throughout the cook.

Sigmore

stike, Gitcha one of those Long Rangers and you'll be a chunk man again. You can roll that wood from the top to add a nice puff to the meat every so often. Also helps to scrape the lump off the insides of the fire ring late in the cook. It was just what I needed " he says as he pours lump from the bag".

chuckls

Pick,[p]Great pointers coming in. Here's a link to my pointers:[p]Chuck
[ul][li]Low and Slow Temp Control[/ul]