Landmann kentucky smoker air leak

[ashish]

so i just bought my first offset smoker last week, set it up and tried to smoke. i could only get instant light bags of charcoal which were £4 each and ended up going through 6 bags which lasted me around 6-7 hours. My problem was that i could only reach a temperature of around 80-100 degrees in the main chamber, it would hit 125 for around 10 mins everytime i lit up a new bag. i only used charcoal brickets and after doing a bit of research maybe i should have had some chunks of wood? I also put in 2 large trays of cold water under the food. I noticed theres alot of gaps in this bbq where the heat can leak from so after doing more research i've read you can seal these with stove rope and silicon seal which i wll be doing soon. I also felt that when i put the soaked chips on the coal that the coal would start to die out

i dont get the point of selling these bbq's when you will only have to spend more time and money on parts for them to work properly

if anyone can give me a bit of advise on what i can do better to keep the coal burning and the heat to stay put in the main chamber i would really appreciate it

thanks in advance

 

[flearider]

i've just got an aldi smoker £59 .. yet i know from the price i will have to get sealing tape .. £10 

you get what you pay for .. now if you paid over £100 id be sending it back 

to be fair you do in the uk have to do a lot of research for a good smoker or build your own ... 

even in the states for something topish of the line it will be £4-500 or more ..

but thats what you need for a good bbq most or the you tubers i look at have 8 or 12 bbq's they use ..

hell of a price to pay .. so we in the uk do what we need to improvise 

[hoogl]

On 4/28/2020 at 5:22 PM, ashish said:

2 large trays of cold water

I always use boiling water as less time/energy is wasted heating the water up. Plus cold water will lower the temp as it may be of big of a (Cold) thermal mass. once the water is hot that issue should disappear. 

Also if you can get a dual probe thermometer. The lid ones are usually inaccurate.

Sounds like a lot of charcoal to go through. Did you have enough airflow for them too catch properly. (sometimes you need to keep door open instead of just vents until it's hot enough) Also I avoid anything instant light, but I realise it's hard at moment to get normal supplies.  

Edited April 29, 2020 by hoogl

[Icefever]

On 4/28/2020 at 5:22 PM, ashish said:

i could only get instant light bags of charcoal

If possible stay away from this stuff....it's not good. Check on line for good charcoal and order it.

 

On 4/28/2020 at 5:22 PM, ashish said:

I also put in 2 large trays of cold water under the food.

Try sand....works the same and there's no need to top it up.

 

Ice.

[ashish]

Thanks for the tips guys

 

found another post on tweaking the smoker up with stove rope, hopefully things will improve

[Icefever]

15 hours ago, ashish said:

Thanks for the tips guys

 

found another post on tweaking the smoker up with stove rope, hopefully things will improve

Keep at it you'll win in the end.👍

 

Ice.

[Paolo]

I bought one 4 years ago , cost well over £200, and I just couldn’t get on with it. Smoke leaks everywhere, it put me off smoking up until now. I’ve just bought a weber original kettle - the one with the one touch cleaner and variable smoke settings £220 and far better for low and slow/ smoking . The landsman look great but imo style over substance and also bits kept dropping off it - handles etc .... sorry probably not what you want to hear. Also I totally agree when you spend good money on something, you shouldn’t have to shell our extra just to get it to function.

[Smokin Monkey]

1 hour ago, Paolo said:

I bought one 4 years ago , cost well over £200, and I just couldn’t get on with it. Smoke leaks everywhere, it put me off smoking up until now. I’ve just bought a weber original kettle - the one with the one touch cleaner and variable smoke settings £220 and far better for low and slow/ smoking . The landsman look great but imo style over substance and also bits kept dropping off it - handles etc .... sorry probably not what you want to hear. Also I totally agree when you spend good money on something, you shouldn’t have to shell our extra just to get it to function.

Don’t apologies for telling the truth, they are one of the hardest things to control, and that’s if they are well made, thick steel and sealed correctly, let alone cheap imports that are flimsy and like a colander!

[Paolo]

1 hour ago, Smokin Monkey said:

Don’t apologies for telling the truth, they are one of the hardest things to control, and that’s if they are well made, thick steel and sealed correctly, let alone cheap imports that are flimsy and like a colander!

Yes your right , what got me is they’re not exactly priced or marketed as a cheap import . 95% of the population would agree 200 is a lot of money for a bbq. I basically gave up on the smoke chamber after 2 attempts and just used it as a grill or indirect for simple stuff like wings thighs or the odd butterflied lamb shoulder , it is ok for that - I still have it - but at it’s price point it’s a bad buy .