Mario Stargard wrote:
> Well I took the plunge and bought a Charbroil Sierra smoker this summer
> and have thoroughly read the FAQ and lurked on this group to get tips.
> I've done some great ribs, chicken, and even a pork shoulder.
>
> Here's a pictu
> http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/...0_CC_2dffd.jpg

Congrats. I have a Silver Smoker, similar configuration.
I've made a couple of mods; one of which was to extend the
exhaust chimney to the grate level with aluminum flex duct.
Dunno how easy that is with the side-mounted chimney you have,
I haven't seen the inside of that model.

The other mod was to shove a pie tin in the firebox opening,
leaving openings at either side but blocking direct flow.
After this mod, I went from controlling temperature primarily
by managing the fire size to loading much more fuel at once
and managing with the firebox damper.

Leave the exhaust damper wide open. The only reason to
use it ever is to snuff out a fire and save fuel after a
cook; I don't do that so I just removed the exhaust damper.

I describe this in more detail at the Google article
at this link: http://tinyurl.com/3wbas

I primarily use oak lump charcoal for fuel, and will
add one or two chunks of wood that are well-wrapped
in foil and stabbed with a fork for smoke. You can get
a fair of smoke out of the oak lump, so don't go wild with
wood at first (as you've found).

Cheers!
Dana