I finally learned why my smoker kept dying at hour 6

Last weekend I was doing a brisket for a church cookoff down in Austin and everything was going perfect for the first 5 hours. Then around hour 6 the temp just started dropping like a rock and I couldn't figure out why. I kept checking the vents and adding charcoal but nothing helped. Turns out I had been using a bag of lump charcoal that got left out in the rain and it was basically wet chunks of dirt. I didn't realize until I dumped out the ash pan and found a soggy mess that wouldn't hold a flame. Ended up running to the grocery store at 10 PM for a bag of Kingsford just to finish the cook. The brisket still turned out okay but I learned to check my charcoal supply before the weekend. Has anyone else had a batch of charcoal totally ruin a cook like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.blake14d ago

Honestly I gotta push back on this whole "wet charcoal ruined my cook" thing. Tbh that soggy mess in the ash pan sounds like your smoker was choked for air more than anything. Ngl I think the real problem was you didn't have enough airflow or maybe your firebox was packed too tight. I've used lump charcoal that was a little damp before and it still burned fine once I got the fire going with some newspaper and a chimney starter. People blame their gear too much when the real issue is technique or prep.

the_drew13d agoTop Commenter

Ngl you kinda got me thinking here. I used to be one of those guys who would instantly blame damp charcoal for everything going wrong with a smoke, but you're right about airflow being the bigger factor. Definitely gonna pay more attention to my firebox setup next time instead of just cursing out the bag.

king.eric14d ago

Feels like you're overthinking a bag of charcoal, man.