Modifying and tuning my Char-griller

Go away!

Go Nats and O's!

BTW. Nice job last season, Sox!

Hey there fellow char-grillers, I have a few comments and questions.

First off, if you want to find something that fits the ring for collecting drippings on the char griller try a Campbell's soup can. They're a perfect fit for them and have a big enough opening to avoid a mess.

My main question is this: Has anyone else had a problem with uneven heat across the cooking grate while using the SFB? I did a Santa Maria Tri-tip on Sunday and was surprised to see that the left side was much less done than the right. I assume a heat-baffle might alleviate the problem but then I'd have to take the thing off everytime I decide to grill some steaks or burgers wouldn't I?

Does anyone here use a rotissierie with their Char-Griller? It seems that knocking out the holes for mounting it would result in a fairly significant loss of heat. I also seem to be losing a lot of smoke through the holes just under where the SFB and the main body meet. Has anyone plugged those? I was thinking about making some easily detachable covers for the knock-outs for the rotissierie. Anyone have any luck with something like this?

First, welcome to the board. Think you'll find a great bunch of folks here.

Thanks for the tip on the Cambells can.

For heat distribution, check out the Chargriller Family thread. The first post in that thread has lots of info to help get you started. There are a number of options people have used without going to a permanently mounted baffle. For example, one option is to turn the main chamber charcoal pan upside down. Hang it between the grate and the opening to the SFB.

I've just recently received the rotiss and knocked out the holes. Aluminum foil will cover the openings when the spit isn't in use. For a more permanent solution, the first thing I'm going to try is aluminum duct tape. Put on the tape, then close the lid over the mounted spit. The tape should conform to the size of the spit. If this doesn't work, will go to plan B.

Sounds like the charcoal ignitor plugs for the SFB have been knocked out for some reason. FWIW, I had to knock out the plugs on mine to install the ignitor. Temporary solution again is to use foil to cover the openings. My best suggestion, however, is to order the ignitor from Chargriller to fill those holes. It's relatively inexpensive and can come in handy as a gas assist as well as it's original purpose.

Hope some of this helps.
Longmill

welcome aboard SemperRob
I don't worry about the smaller holes. I don't feel the heat loss is enough to be of concern. I have noticed the same left right variance as you but I just typically rotate my food. The baffle at the firebox opening mod is primarilly to keep that immeadiate area from running very hot. I use a water try and get the same effect with the added bonus of some stabilization. These CG are fun because there are so many thing you can do to them or you can do nothing at all and still do great.
Hope you stick around and join the fun.

Welcome to the board semperrob!

You'll find a lot of folks experienced the same type of temperature differences you have. There are a couple of mods to help even things out. But don't feel like the CharGriller is the problem. Uneven temperatures are inherent to smaller smokers made from thinner metals and practically everyone with a back yard residential smoker deals with this issue. Extending the smoke stack to grate level, inverting the charcoal pan like a tuning plate, and adding a baffle to the firebox opening all do a small part in leveling out temperatures across the board. The Bandera like mine has dozens of mods available to help it along.

Hey Fellow Chargrillers

I'm new on here, but I've had my grill for about a month now, and have used it as often as possible since I got it assembled and seasoned. I've had several grills over the years but this is my first that is also a true smoker (I have the SuperPro with Sidefire Box. So far, I am extremely pleased with it's performance and am still amazed by the relatively low price.

Some of you have been commenting on the grill grates in the sidefire box. I looked on the Chargriller website and they have cast iron grates available for it at a cost of $14.95. I was planning on using the steel grate for coals when I'm smoking and replace it with the cast iron when I want to use the sidefire box as a small grill.

Ive had my CG just over 3 mos now. I've never had probs maintaining 225 on the temp gauge or at grate level right below. It does, like most smokers without mods, have temp differences. The closer to the smoke box, the hotter and vice versa. This has been easily fixed with the use of two water pans along the bottom grate. Line the first one up right at the opening of the fire box. You should be fine. As for the coals smothering out. All I did was get an adjustable grate from the hardware store. It fits nicely on the lips that hold the coal try in and the bolts that extend in from the main chamber. No problems. Your fire isn't too high up and you can dump ash whenever you think you need to. Hope this also helps

Welcome to the board kiltedcook!

Doc1680 wrote:

Ive had my CG just over 3 mos now. I've never had probs maintaining 225 on the temp gauge or at grate level right below. It does, like most smokers without mods, have temp differences. The closer to the smoke box, the hotter and vice versa. This has been easily fixed with the use of two water pans along the bottom grate. Line the first one up right at the opening of the fire box. You should be fine. As for the coals smothering out. All I did was get an adjustable grate from the hardware store. It fits nicely on the lips that hold the coal try in and the bolts that extend in from the main chamber. No problems. Your fire isn't too high up and you can dump ash whenever you think you need to. Hope this also helps

I just made a similar mod by clipping one rod off of the cooking grate. It fits perfectly on the bolts in the side firebox. I then take the U shaped grate from the charcoal tray and lay it accross the cooking grate as a bowl for the charcoal. The raised ends help keep the charcoal from rolling into the main chamber if I get too aggressive when dumping in fresh coals. (Happens quite a bit when you get involved in a game or a good cigar and you forget to reload the coals.)

I noticed after assembling my Super Pro with SFB that there were a few small knock-outs. I've heard that some use the one on the left for a temp probe. Has anyone tried or considered using the small hole on the front of the firebox for monitoring firebox temps? The hole will accept a standard after-market gauge. I'm curious to know if there is any benefit to knowing what the temp in the firebox is??

I just attached my new SFB to my Super Pro and after a 5 hour smoke of 4 racks of spare ribs and 2 lbs of bratwurst, I noticed 2 things:

1. When using the main chamber for fire and meat, although I only had half the square footage, it was easy to adjust the temp and maintain an ideal 225-275 throughout a 5-6 hour cook. With the SFB, I was pegged at 150-200 most of the time. I had the paint bubbling on the SFB, but the main chamber was hard to get past that range. (and yes, I removed the knockout on the main before attaching the SFB).

2. There was quite a temp difference between the grate closest to the SFB and the left side of the main chamber. Has anyone one rigged up a baffle to help keep the heat more even throughout the main chamber?

Thanks, looking forward to your answers.

Howdy bullfroh.

1.: Did you have a therrmometer inside the CG ? The Chargriller thermo is really not worth being called a thermometer.

2.: You can turn the charcoal pan upside down and move it towards the firebox opening, leaving just a 1/4 inch hole. That way, temps are way better all over the grates. Taking the chimney down to grate level also helps a lot.

DM

Thx for the tips. I have some Q coming up and will try the trick with the charcoal pan. I have seen the mod of moving the chimney closer to the grates and will look into that as well.

I'll post again with results!

Hey there Kilted Cook. How about a haggis on the CG recipe. My Campbell ancestors would feel mighty proud looking down and seeing me smoking a haggis.

Hey Don Marco, I definitely need to get a better thermometer that gives me accurate grill-level temp. Can you recommend a good one?