Too much airflow?

[HillCountrySmoker]

Howdy!
I have an Old Country Brazos offset that I cook with. I've had it about a year so far, so I'd still consider myself new to smoking. Thanks to the vast knowledge out there, I'd say my learning curve was pretty easy as I'm pretty good at watching and copying people. Not unhappy with my bbq so far at all.

I have the stove pipe extension on there, so the original damper that is on the Brazos is not being used - stack is wide open. I also typically cook with the firebox door slightly open (maybe 1" or so), don't really use the wheel damper on there.
I have a little heat baffle I made and put in there to re-direct the direct heat more upwards, but I'm curious if I have "too much" draft through the cook chamber.
I did some ribs recently and I feel like the surface was drying out pretty good. Lots of folks talk about spritzing their ribs, which I was doing - I'm just wondering if maybe I have too much draft drying them out too soon? I'm still planning to build a new stack end and putting a damper on it so I can cut back the airflow from either stack end or firebox end, so maybe this problem will fix itself once I have that. Just curious on your thoughts, from those with more experience on offset smokers than myself.

 

[Callahan-que]

I doubt air flow is the issue here. I run my Lang with the stack and pinwheels wide open. I control the temps by the size of the fire. Tell us more about your method, pit temps, cooking time and how you determine when your ribs are done.

 

[cayenne]

Water pan?

Howdy!
I have an Old Country Brazos offset that I cook with. I've had it about a year so far, so I'd still consider myself new to smoking. Thanks to the vast knowledge out there, I'd say my learning curve was pretty easy as I'm pretty good at watching and copying people. Not unhappy with my bbq so far at all.

I have the stove pipe extension on there, so the original damper that is on the Brazos is not being used - stack is wide open. I also typically cook with the firebox door slightly open (maybe 1" or so), don't really use the wheel damper on there.
I have a little heat baffle I made and put in there to re-direct the direct heat more upwards, but I'm curious if I have "too much" draft through the cook chamber.
I did some ribs recently and I feel like the surface was drying out pretty good. Lots of folks talk about spritzing their ribs, which I was doing - I'm just wondering if maybe I have too much draft drying them out too soon? I'm still planning to build a new stack end and putting a damper on it so I can cut back the airflow from either stack end or firebox end, so maybe this problem will fix itself once I have that. Just curious on your thoughts, from those with more experience on offset smokers than myself.

Do you have a water pan in there at the firebox end of the cook chamber?

If you have high flow, this helps with the moisture....

I'm a bit new to offsets myself, I just got a new one and it my first exposure to high flow smokers....so far, still learning how to handle it.

I enjoy having a water pan in there....and I do see the outside drying as bark building....and only start to spritz when it starts to get really dry....

I'm still learning too...

Good luck!!

cayenne

 

[HillCountrySmoker]

Cook temps are usually around 225 - 275 depending what I'm doing. On ribs, I started following MadScientist's method (probably not his, but that's where I saw it first) of letting them run about 3-5 hours until they have good color and are starting to get flexible. Once they get there, I'll wrap them in butcher paper and them them go until I can feel a pretty good flex to them. Typical cook time for ribs is around 6 or so hours
My fires I keep closer to the door. I used to run a water pan in there all the time, then for some reason I stopped putting it in there but I am not opposed to going back to it by any means. I can't honestly recall what the difference was between my latest rib cook and when I used to have the water pan, I haven't been cooking as frequently as I used to now that I have a 6 month old. Will try that next time and see if it helps

 

[Callahan-que]

I cook my ribs until a bambo skewer probes tender or they past the bend test when held with a pair or tongs. You can wrap them for a bit and they will basically steam them and they will be juicey and tendener.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

I owned a Brazos. A standard factory Brazos with no mods is a low air flow offset.

Ribs dry out on every cooker I've owned, WSM, Gravity Feed, Franklin offset ............. just put a water pan in the cook chamber and spritz.

The stack extension on your Brazos is increasing the air flow. Just take it off and cook some ribs and see if air flow is your problem. I was one of the first to put an extension on my Brazos and I took it off cause I had to cut down air intake at the firebox. Nothing gained.

The Brazos is a funky cooker due to the baffle between the firebox/cook chamber and then the stack exhausts at grate level. Increasing the air flow moves air/heat under the meats and out the stack.

Then the port between the 6" diameter stack and cook chamber is only 4.5". Creates another bottleneck.

I see people buying these expensive offsets built for high air flow and then they want to close off the stack damper and dirty up the smoke. Heck, you've got that with a standard Brazos.

Mine cooked best with the firebox door closed and the damper 1/2 open. No stack extension. Just get enough air to burn a clean fire. I wanted the air/heat to rise immediately after it went under the baffle.

I should've cut the baffle out. But my thinking was if I open up the firebox end, I also had to open up the stack. Said screw it, and bought a Franklin.