Another stupid question...

Really don't have a clue what a Brinkman Smokin Pit is. Did a Google search and found the Smokin Pit master. If you have a load of charcoal in it and it's not heating up sound like you need a little more draw (air flow) from one of your dampers. Do what you need to do to get the temp up. Cooking chicken, it's nice to get the temp up to 325-350 for some crispy skin. Whatever you do, if the juices are not running clear, don't eat the chicken. Make sure it's done! Wish there was more I could do. The only stupid question is one not asked

Thanks for the tip. I really do need to get a thermometer. I'm using the kind you put in the oven when cooking a turkey and placed it through an opening in my smoker. I don't think my heat is at 325 maybe closer to 250. I just opened it again and it's almost done. It looks like the wings are done. The juices were running clear on the durmsticks. It actually had a good flavor considering I didn't marinade.

250˚ will definitely get your chicken done but the skin may be rubbery, which is ok. Most like it a bit crispy tho.

Hope all goes well with your cook!

Have a safe & Happy 4th of July & God bless!

But how do I maintain a higher temp? The insturctions said if I need to add more charcoal to leave the door open until the charcoal is burning strong. But that takes about 25 min. Can't I just add more and close the door right away?

Gypsy - in your firebox, is the grate on the bottom? If so, you need to lift that up to get air flow UNDER the charcoal - it will burn much better that way. (an inch or so at least). If you need to add charcoal in the middle of a cook, light them outside the smoker and burn them until grey...then open the firebox on the smoker and throw em in (you can use a charcoal chimney, another grill, fire ring, etc). This is called pre-burning and will help you out a lot. If you dump the charcoal (unlit) straight in the firebox, you can get a lot of nasty tasting smoke, etc from when the charcoal is lighting....there is another method called the minion method, that is used in WSM cookers and thbe charcoal lights so slowly, that you do not need to worry about these nasty tastes...in a log burner, you should pre burn the charcoal though....also, get a thermometer...not sure if yours has one installed or not, but even if it does, I promise you it will be off in temps at least 60-100 degrees....good luck

Edit - if you use LUMP charcoal, you do NOT have to preburn them (lump is natural hardwood with NO fillers). You can just throw them in there...however, lump will burn hotter and quicker then normal kingsford type charcoal...

Shaun

Thank you so much, Shaun! Those were really great tips. I appreciate it.

sure thing...let us know how everything goes..

Shaun

Well, considering I didn't marinade my chicken ...I'd give it a 6. I'm happy it was at least edible. I was surprised at how juicey it was!