Is the Quality Grill a Quality Smoker?

[smokeasaurus]

 I finally used the ash pan and charcoal basket for indirect cooking in the Quality Grill. Used the minion method and had one air-vent about 1/2 way open shooting for a temp around 250.
The charcoal took off and the pit soared to 400......on the meat side


This was just the beginning of the flames!! Luckily the top of the grill didn't get damaged!!
I closed the air intake vent and pit cooled down to 375 
After I calmed down and cooler heads prevailed the problem is that the 24 x 48 lid just rests on the bottom letting air in from all sides. The pit is stitch welded and not all corners match also letting in air. There is absolutely no air control at all and we all know what that means...ya cant lo and slo.
In all fairness this is one great grill and I asked it to do something it was not designed or constructed to do. The extra air vents look nice but are completely non-functional in the overall scheme of things.

Guess I will use the off-set when I want to smoke and use the Quality Grill for grilling. I wanted to have one unit on the patio to do everything but it probably isn't gonna work out that way.

The only smart thing I did was cook a pork-butt so when the coals burn out which will probably be pretty soon I will just finish it up in the oven...don't wanna fire up the off-set this late in the morning.........................

I remember the turtle posted one time on the SOTG site why nobody ever posts about their bad cooks only the good ones...well here ya go turtle  :'(   

[teesquare]

That is commendable of you to share the "less than perfect" stuff with us smoke!

What about building a much, much smaller fire to begin with? WOuld that help you with temp control? Maybe the efficiency of the grill has been so increased that you don't need nearly as much BTU to create the heat you need now? Just a thought....

[smokeasaurus]

I tried a smaller charcoal basket before and I couldn't get the temp up to even 200 due to the length of the pit.  The other problem now is the pit is leaking black smokey water out the left end where the opening is for the ash pan......

[teesquare]

Needs a bottom drain and valve.... And maybe there is a "happy medium" on the size and type of fire building?

[smokeasaurus]

I think I will try not using a charcoal basket...this way the charcoal will be sitting on the charcoal grate which is down lower in the body of the grill...might get the air control I am looking for. Probably start off with 3 lbs of Kingsford then add to it every hour or so. I can still use the ash pan underneath.......I will do a trial run tomorrow after work when I get er cleaned up.
Ain't admitting defeat yet...especially on Memorial Day!! 

[teesquare]

I think you are getting close to tackling the issues - just need to experiment more! Which means cookin' more meat! How terrible could that be?

[smokeasaurus]

Nothing wrong with a bunch of trial and error as long as the end result is edible!!

Come to think of it I will use the charcoal basket....just won't fill it to the top next time!!

Waiting for Lost Arrow to chime in because I think he has cooked this way before and I would like to see what he has to say!

[LostArrow]

Put the wood chunks in the bottom of charcoal basket & cover over with charcoal.
Light only about 10 briquittes.
Start with vents almost closed.

[smokeasaurus]

Do you figure about 3 lbs (1/2 a chimney starter) un-lit LA??

[LostArrow]

Biggest temp spikes come from wood chunks igniting, burying them will help.
Try a basket almost full, light 10 briquittes & put on one end, & shut vents completely.
It's a grill , it wasn't made to be airtight, I think the air leaks will keep it burning fine.
This is a good place to start & we can use the information you get out of that cook to tell us where to go.

[smokeasaurus]

Will do LA!!

[smokeasaurus]

Reached an internal temp of 172 so it is time to foil. Reached this temp in about 5.5 hours. The pit has settled to 300 degrees and wont budge.........kind of did a high heat cook by accident.........

 

[muebe]

Hey smoke how about high temp RTV between the lid and the cooker rim to seal that gap?

Or you can get the fiber glass seal for air tight wood burning stoves...

[smokeasaurus]

Might try that. I think I lit too much charcoal to begin with though.........

[LostArrow]

Muebe has some good ideas !
Once we see where we are baseline, we can seal up some air leaks easily if we need to.