The Red Box Smoker is an insulated water smoker that (IMHO) cooks the best pork butt, ribs and pork steak known to man! With Water this cooker will easily maintain 225-240 for up to 5 hours on a full pan of charcoal.
Start with a full lit chimney of coals and a full pan of water. Add as much unlit charcoal as you can along with a few wood chunks when you add the firebox to the cooker

Do not let it run out of water or your temps will spike and the fat in the water pan will burn

To cook without water we have developed a dry heat diffuser that allows for more direct heat or reverse flow heat depending on the angle of the blades on the diffuser. You must use less than 20 briquettes to maintain a safe manageable cooking temp. When you remove the water pan you are removing the heat sink.

For Dry/High heat cooking we recommend:
5-8 briquettes for up to 225
8-12 briquettes for up to 300
12-18 for up to 425

Any more than that will result in overheating and melted gaskets. We sell a high temp gasket kit that will allow you to continue to cook at high temps without problems.

The paint will burn off on the divider between the firebox and cooking chamber when you cook above 250 without water.