Finally- seasoning new Shirley underway

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chet8888

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All the advice was dead on. I didn't build near a big enough fire the last time. Now I'm about 1 hour in since start up and temps are pegged at 250. Still learning when and how many splits to add to keep it there, but I'm loving learning how to manage this. My plan is to go 3 hours on the main, then reconfigure the dampers to fire just the warmer for 3 hours. If everyone in my house can get healthy then I'll do the ribs and chickens (and fattie) tomorrow. Realistically today is probably just going to be about seasoning. Thanks to everyone for the advice and help! A few pics now, and I will update as we go.

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I don't have a wood pile like BBQ Freak yet, but I am working on it!

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TBS!

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I know. I know :) Also, whoever it was (sorry I forgot) that had the idea of warming the next split on the back of the fire basket so it would be ready was a genius! Well, just about everyone on this blog is!

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I have my Smoke therm in the middle of the lower grate and the river country gauges are closer to the top cooking grate. Look at the variance between all three spots. Maybe 10 degrees? Wow. And I still have no idea what I'm doing! I guess you could say these Shirley cookers are "jam up" machines!

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Whoa. Had a piece of wood that must have been damp or unseasoned because the temps dropped to 200. Hit it with heat gun and it got back going and OVERSHOOT! Rocking at 325 now. Whoops


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That thing is beautiful. Quick question, what's up with the fan? Trying to keep the smoky smell out of the house?
 
hachi-roku_fan said:
That thing is beautiful. Quick question, what's up with the fan? Trying to keep the smoky smell out of the house?
Click to expand...



That's exactly right. I have 2 fresh air intake vents for the furnace in a closet in the basement that are right near there. Plus the main level windows are right above there. Last weekend during the smoldering small fire fail the entire house smelled like smoke. Today has been much better. Partially the fan, probably partially because I built a better fire.


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One last update. I finished the three hours on the main chamber and shut the main stack and opened up the cc to Warmer damper. Interestingly enough all equalized at 225. Pretty awesome. But not quite hot enough for cooking the oil- so I inserted the baffle block. Was that smart to stick my arm through the firebox? Probably not but I did it with no singed hairs! Now the warmer is rocking at 250-270 and I'll have to see what cook chamber is at.


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Sounds like you are figuring things out.... one observation is that wood does not look very well seasoned... hence Take the chainsaw and cut it into at least four pieces per stick.....
 
Nobody has a wood pile like freak. And if they do they don't have wood chunks that take up more space in the garage than a car.
 
Damn, you're making me jealous. I was originally supposed to pick mine up today but something came up and I had to change the date. Now I will be visiting the fine boys at SF 3 weeks from today - can't wait. The only problem is I will get back here in CT on Monday 13MAR, and fly to Patagonia for a hiking trip on Tuesday the 14th. Won't get to do anything other than drool over it for at least two weeks after parking it in the garage.
 
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