A: Firstly, adding wood chunks does not affect the temp of the pit. This pit is designed to use charcoal as the only fuel. Once the basket is lit and when you’re ready to cook, add one or two small chunks of seasoned hardwood to the corners of the basket. They should be the size of mandarin orange.

A: None. The meat will not take any more smoke flavour after the first few hours. Adding more wood is unnecessary and wood is like salt and pepper. It is a flavour enhancer. Too much smoke will give you a bitter taste. Less is more.

A: Only use quality hard woods. If you live in the western provinces for example, we suggest local woods such as apple and maple. Or go to your local BBQ store and buy the available wood chunks.

A: Don’t soak your wood. It will make the smoke dirty and sooty. Put dry seasoned wood in just before you put your meat on.

A: As a rule, We cook with lump charcoal. It is far cleaner and really easy to re-light. That having been said, we both use briquettes on occasion. Lump tends to burn hotter and different lump charcoals add differing flavours. Some of our favourites are Maple Leaf Premium, Spring Bok Braai, Blues Hog and Jealous Devil. Whichever becomes your favorite works for you. If you like briquettes, find a brand you like the taste of and stick with it. Buy it when it goes on sale and save money. You’re going to use it anyway.

A: First, spray down the interior of your DrumBo with a light coating of cooking oil spray.Fill your charcoal basket 3/4 full put the last 1/4 in your charcoal chimney.Light the chimney and get it going till when 1/2 the contents are alight and then dump the contents into the charcoal basket.We suggest this so you get to know how your DrumBo works. Play with the valves. Leave the top one open and adjust the temperature by adjusting the intake valves.

Get some chicken wings ready because after you’ve seasoned/ burned in your DrumBo for an hour or so you are going to be hungry. Get those seasoned wings on the grate on the second level. Turn them once or twice and cook them till they have a little crisp on them. Check the temp is above 165F, we prefer 185-195F. Enjoy.

A: Quantities is a hard one to describe. When you start using your DrumBo we suggest using a minimum of half a basket of charcoal and a full chimney because it’s easier to bring it to the 300F operating temp. Once you get the hang of using the DrumBo this way then you can play around using more or less depending on what you’re cooking. Smaller thinner items use less. Bigger thicker items use more is the rule.

A: The DrumBo is specifically designed to ensure it will not run you out of charcoal mid cook. You will not need to add more charcoal or require a door. The DrumBo excels with efficiency with its hot and fast performance providing ample time for you to successfully cook any type food you desire. A full basket in the DrumBo will provide 10 hours of cooking time at 300F.

A: Close all the valves. Ensure the lid is closed too. This is snuffing out the fire.

A: First, shake out all the ash from your basket keeping the old unburnt charcoal in the bottom. Light a full chimney and when fully lit as previously described dump it on top.Open all valves. Leave the lid open for no more than 5 mins. Close the lid and watch the temp climb leaving all valves wide open. Once you achieve 300F start closing the intake valves in stages again watching the temperature.Maintain 300F-325F.Get your food on the grill and get cooking.If the temp should drop, open the lid and watch below the food where you can see the charcoal reigniting. This can take 5-15mins. Close the lid and open the intake valves about an extra 1/4.I know this all sounds fiddly. Unburnt charcoal is fiddly but you’ll get the hang of it. Remember you can easily get rid of excess charcoal by leaving it to burn out and you can cook tomorrow’s lunch on it while you do it. If you are using less charcoal in your basket to cook wings, use a full chimney to get them going. This gives you a hotter briefer burn and let the charcoal burn out afterward. just keep temps below 325F.