maintaining 160 fire

bennynac · Joined: 31 May 2007 Posts: 7

Any tip on how to maintain a fire at 160 or less? When the food is not in the smoker, I've thrown water on the coals, and this seems to work in the short run. However, this just doesnt seem right.

I'm trying to smoke salmon.

Thanks

Thomas P. · BBQ Pro Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 596 Location: Texas

You don't try to make your fire lighter.

You move your food further away from your fire. This is why upright/horizontal hybrid smokers were built the way they were. The temp in the horizontal barrel can be kept at 250 while the upright section stays lower at 160ish
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Big Tom · Posted: Jun 20 2007 Post subject:

Smaller fire or longer distance for the food from the fire.
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JimH · Posted: Jun 22 2007 Post subject:

When I smoke bacon I use the size of the fire to limit the temp in my smoker.

BigOrson · Posted: Jun 22 2007 Post subject:

Why not use a hotplate, a cast-iron skillet and some chips inside a box that has had dowel rods inserted through it to form racks?

I've seen Alton Brown do that on his show and it seemed to work perfectly.