Thanks for all the congrats and tips - good stuff.
Question on temp control. In the past I've run my cooker at about 250, If I target that initially on the Lang, how open will I need to leave my dampers? I know I'll have to play around with it, but should I expect to leave them fully open, halfway, etc? Any thoughts from those with experience?
Need or want?
To run between 200 and 300 give or take, I start the fire with all four dampers wide open, but then when it settles I MAY partially close the two closest to the smoke chamber up to say 80% closed. closing them down will reduce the fanning of the flames and also reduce the heat leaving the chimney. You will burn less wood but whether your temps edge hotter or cooler will depend on other factors. Adjusting the vents will impact your end to end, and top to bottom spreads as well as fuel consumption more directly than temperature. You don't want to try to control the temp by starving it for air. That is a charcoal technique.
My exhaust is always wide open.
To start, you not only need to bring all that steel up to temp, but you also need to build up a coal bed. You can shorten the process by starting with a chimney full of charcoal and then add a few splits on top, or start with more wood and a weed burner.
The key to a nice even stable cook with a stick burner is to maintain a coal bed. That may mean adding wood well before you see the temp drop. That is OK. Adding a stick to a bed of coals also means it will ignite faster and cleaner and not risk "bad smoke". I find it will take a lot of wood to get started and build the bed, but much less to maintain it. Perhaps 4-6 splits to get going and then maybe as little as one per hour after that (30-60 minutes per split) so a short cook for ribs may see as much as half the fuel used at startup. Except I usually build up the fire at the end with a big wood load. I like to get the temp to 450-550 after the meat is off to get the grease to smoke off and then I do the steam clean once the smoke becomes thin again. Anything left after that usually scrapes off easily.
When I add a split I often leave the firebox door open for 30 seconds to a couple of minutes to help it catch and let some of the extra smoke spill out. This is also a great time to check on your meat, as when the fire box door is open, less smoke will hit your face when you open the cooking chamber doors.
Use your trailer nose jack to adjust the angle of the smoker. It impacts temps spread and if or how the drippings drain.
If the fire gets away from you, open the firebox door. Spraying the top (and sides?) of the firebox and near end of the smoker with a hose will also bring temps down fast.
If you lose the coal bed or the fire goes out, don't be afraid to use another chimney of charcoal, a weed burner or other aggressive techniques to get going again. If there is some dirty startup smoke during this process leave the firebox door open and may open the smoke chamber. 30 minutes of cold temps wont ruin or really even hurt your cook. 30 minutes of creosote and nasty smoke can ruin your cook.
Guests often like to keep opening the smoker to look at cooking meat or even try to pull off pieces. A 12 gauge with shells loaded with rock salt is an effective deterrent.
I am sure there is more, but I am having a hard time thinking, so ask more questions as they come up.
