It's hard to say for sure but just going by the pictures it doesn't look like your fire is burning very well. Is your wood well seasoned and dry ? Also it will help a lot to get your fire up off of the bottom of the FB, just a simple grate for the wood to set on will make a big difference.
You can see the difference that getting the fire up so that you have good airflow makes. I was cooking at 250 degrees with this fire and I designed my pit with the smokerbuilder pit calculator.
Thanks! I burned it out yesterday with my fire grate in. I saw a video of someone suggesting not using a fire grate and burning right on bottom of FB. His reasoning was the coals do not fall through grate. That didnt work for me.
I put the grate back in today and now look. Nice fire. Now to figure out how she burns and temp control.
Glad to hear that you figured it out! I believe that a picture that is taken with your phone turned sideways post in the correct position but if taken with your phone up and down it posts on its side.
Also, remember it is the burned down coals that supply the majority of the heat for you. The flame itself is relatively cool, by comparison. You always need to keep some coals going by loading enough wood in early enough to burn down.
We use the charcoal to ‘create’ the coal bed then allow the wood the maintain it. I have always had better luck with fairly small (full length) splits as they burn down to coals faster than a fat chunk does.