I am rather new to smoking but have been using a cheap brinkman smoker until I got this beast. I knew I wanted this for a long time but didn't have the funds to secure one. I have a few questions...
I just cleaned the bottom out of charcoal and it was wet as I didn't have it covered. I put the OEM cover on and it had a strap looking thing hanging from the bottom, what is it?
How much charcoal is typically lit at first to get it up to that 225-250 temperature? I tried the snake method but not sure I put enough charcoal to maintain temp more than 5 hours, any idea? I started it by putting in a chimney of full coals, not enough?
What's the best way to maintain temp.. start with a ton of lit coals and damper it down to starve oxygen, or smaller amounts of fully lit charcoal and keep replenishing?
Help..