Position of vent

[1Bigg_ER]

20 minutes is way too long. 10 minutes without the lid and 10 minutes with lid on should give you close to perfect lighting.

[Chief Mac]

Cooked again tonight, and made sure to let the chimney-started briquettes burn 20 minutes (with lid open) after being dumped on the charcoal basket. Wow, did they get hot! See the pic, below. What a thorough heat-up!

We were just cooking pizza, not doing a long cook with hanging meat, so they lasted long enough. After two hours, though, the PBC was slowly falling down through 300 degrees.

I'm concerned this procedure ignites too many briquettes, too fast, for a cook of several hours - that they would be mostly spent after only 2-3 hours. Should I be concerned, and try the 10-minutes-lid-off / 10-minutes-lid-on method next time?

Bart
In your picture of the coals in the basket, I see what appears to be aluminum foil. Is that foil and where do you have that positioned?
CM

[Bart57266]

Yes, it's foil, and it is in the very bottom of the drum, as flat as possible. I just wanted an easy way to remove the ashes.

I was careful not to block the air intake, and not to leave it wrinkled, where it would block the airflow under the charcoal basket. Also, I just started using it. It wasn't even in there during the cooks I referred to in my initial post for this thread.

[Chief Mac]

Yes, it's foil, and it is in the very bottom of the drum, as flat as possible. I just wanted an easy way to remove the ashes.

I was careful not to block the air intake, and not to leave it wrinkled, where it would block the airflow under the charcoal basket. Also, I just started using it. It wasn't even in there during the cooks I referred to in my initial post for this thread.

Bart
I went back and looked at the pictures I have of my setup using foil and my set up looks even worse than yours. But it is an illusion, It looks like the foil is wrapped around the outside of the charcoal basket and partially up the side walls of the basket. So that is not an issue. I did put a pizza pan under my charcoal basket, with a raised lip around the pan. I was not having good luck lifting the foil and preventing ash from dumping all over. The pan has very little flex so I can grasp the pan and the basket together and lift them together as long as I am careful around rack pins. If I am not careful I have a real mess to clean. 


The charcoal basket fits in the pan and the short legs or feet of the basket keep it elevated enough that the pan lip does not effect the air flow.
CM