re: Anyone else firing up the smoker in the COLD for X-mas Eve Night?

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A charcoal/gas fire burns at a certain temp regardless of outside circumstances, it's simple straight math really.

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Yes but the smoker loses heat quicker at cold temperatures than it does at hot temperatures. The fire burns at the same temperature but the heat retention of the smoker changes.

You can use a lot less fuel in the summer than you do for the same cook in the winter.

I smoked 20lbs of cured pork belly this am. I started out on my refurbed Oklahoma Joe (built a much larger firebox after I picked it up off the road). I was surprised at how long it took to get it up to temp but once I had a good coal bed going it held temp surprisingly well.

I would suggest anyone planning to use an offset tonight or tomorrow that doesn’t have a lot of experience in the cold they should add some extra time to their plan.