Low and slow "center burnout"

WudEyeDoo · September 2003

When doing a low 'n slow cook, I have always lit the lump in one spot in the center. I figured if I light two or three areas it would be harder to control temp and may not conserve lump as well. [p]The other day, I saw a post where they always light at least 3 areas to avoid center burnout. I assume that means the fire burns only in the center and goes out, leaving all the lump around the outside unburned. Has this happened to others much? Which approach do you think is the most foolproof, all things considered?

mad max beyond eggdome · September 2003

WudEyeDoo,
i've had really good success lighting a single spot, but at the back of the load, not the center. .. if i want pretty much continuous smoke, i place pieces of wood in 3 or 4 spots around the firebox, so that they will burn at various times. . .the fire seems to work its way around the load this way and burn for a nice long time at low temps without going out. . .seems to me that lighting in 3 places will cause the fire to burn faster, but what do i know. . ..

stike · September 2003

WudEyeDoo,
i do 3 spots.... never have a problem holding the temp. as it is, i always let the egg go for an hour or so to let the ceramic and the firebricks come up to temp anyway, so any 'high' temps are long gone.[p]once did a really long cook (24+hours) and i was afraid of burnout, and raher than open the dome, remove the meat, and stir the coals, i took my ash tool and stuck it in thru the lower vent. using the lower lip of the vent as a fulcrum, i levered/jostled the fire grate up-and-down a bit and heard the lump do a bit of a landslide and all fall into the middle, were it burned happily for the entire cook.

CR · September 2003

WudEyeDoo, I have always started my fires with one Webber Cube in the center; never had a problem.

tach18k · September 2003

WudEyeDoo,
while doing my last lo and slo I started in 3 spots, BUT, it always seemed to burn in the center no matter what.

Nessmuk · September 2003

tach18k,
I light 3 spots on the perimeter. Must have something to do with my experience or academic background.[p]No problem with burnout.[p]

TRex · September 2003

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<p />WudEyeDoo,[p]The last low 'n slow I did was an 11 hour brisket cook. I put a handful of lump in the Mini, got it going red hot, then dumped it on the pile of unlit lump in the Medium and spread it out evenly across the surface of the pile. In other words, I used the Mini as a chimney starter.[p]This worked great as far as temp control goes and, as the picture shows, I had plenty of lump left - probably could have gone another 12 hours easily.[p]TRex

Steve-O · September 2003

TRex,
Just out of curiousity - how did you pick up the mini to dump it? That little puppy gets d__n hot in short order!!

Low and slow "center burnout"

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