Swapped my offset firebox setup after 12 years, wish I did it sooner

I used to baby my firebox every single cook, adding splits by hand every 45 minutes like clockwork. Last month I finally rigged up a simple gravity feed bin out of scrap metal for about 80 bucks, and now I get 4 solid hours of steady 250 degrees without touching it. The bark on my brisket actually got better because the temp swings went from 40 degrees down to maybe 10. Has anyone else made a similar switch and stuck with it, or did you end up going back to the old way?

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parkerh381mo ago

Hell yeah, congrats on the switch! I did the same thing about 5 years back and honestly the only thing I miss is the ritual of tending it, which sounds crazy but I kinda get it now. Once I dialed in my air intake on the gravity feed, the temp control got so boring that I started messing with charcoal placement to get different smoke profiles, which is a whole new rabbit hole lol. Give it a few cooks and you'll be wondering why you put up with the split feeding for so long. The only time I go back to the offset is when I want that super clean, snappy bark on a turkey or something, but for brisket and pork shoulders the gravity feed wins every time.

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