Ribs last weekend

[Sprocket]

Just now have time to post. I smoked some spare ribs last weekend. They turned out very good after six hours. Did the 3-2-1. My compliments to Tx BBQ Rub. Very tasty! The only problem was the ribs were a little fatty. I noticed the fat before I cooked and tried to trim some off but did not trim near enough. I know now to look for ribs with less fat on the outside. I thought more of it would cook off.
One thing with the new Gator. Spent a little time tuning and seem to have gotten the horizontal to within 5 degress from one end to the other when running empty. When I put the two slabs on in the middle of the grate the temp varied 10 to 15 degrees. When I wrapped them in foil and put them back the temp spread to 35 to 40 degrees. That is bizarre. When I started the fire I only had a couple of pieces of hickory left so I put those on top of two chimneys of charcoal to get the fire going. The pit came up to temp in about an hour-fifteen. After that I just kept adding charcoal chimneys to keep the temp even. It did hold temp very well. Anyone notice any temp difference like that when using wood as opposed to charcoal? Anyone have ideas on what could be causing that? I know that I still need a lot of practice managing my fire but that temp split had me baffled.
I have read a lot of the threads on fire management. What I want to do is get the horizontal running close to even with the vertical. Is this possible and if it is does it mean running a bigger fire? I have a Gator BYCC 40" X 24" horizontal with vertical and 24" X 24' firebox.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[texasbill]

Not unusual to have the temps vary once you added the meat to the pit and that is the reason you tuned it empty. Don't worry about that. You will just need to continue to play with the amount of fuel you are adding to the fire and when to get the cooking at a consistant temp down and that will come with time. The pit will hold good temp and it will be a matter of how much wood or charcoal to add to the pit. I only use wood in my pit but that is my choice and I like the results. Charcoal is a bit different. Keep working and experimenting and it will come together for ya.

Bill