How does a vertical-loading charcoal chute not burn up?

[danek]

I've been looking at self-feeding charcoal smokers and can't quite wrap my head around this:

My understanding is that the fire is burning at the bottom of a vertical chute. If you build a fire in the firepot and dump of bunch of unburned charcoal on top of it, how does it not just burn up the whole chute in an enclosed bonfire?

Does the simple act of restricting airflow cause 100% of the oxygen to be burned in the first couple of inches of the stack of fuel and therefore the fire can't spread?

When you light the fire originally, does the chute have to be completely empty, and only once the fire is going and airflow restricted do you then load the chute?

I appologize for my ignorance, thank you for helping me out.

 

[Jim]

Well once you close up the smoker you have a controlled fire, the chute is airtight. I fill mine up with unlit charcoal and use a propane torch to start the fire, takes 3 minutes. you are only going to have 2 inches or so of lighted coals in the chute. It works whatever the reason.

 

[JPM]

I think it is kind of like the Minion method. By restricting the airflow, the fire gradually spreads and gives you a long, slow controlled burn. If you want to read more about the Minion method, go to www.virtualweberbullet.com.

 

[danek]

That site gave me nothing - it even returned 0 results when the word 'minion' was searched for.

 

[JPM]

That site gave me nothing - it even returned 0 results when the word 'minion' was searched for.

Yeah, I just tried it and got the 0 results message too. But if you go to "Operating Tips & Mods" and then "Firing Up Your Weber Bullet", it explains the Minion Method in detail.