Tip for owners of wood-burning smokers with an offset firebox...

[htismaqe]

Not only will a frozen slab of meat cook slower, but it will also cause the meat around it to cook slower.

It will also cause you to burn (waste) fuel trying to keep the heat up because that cold mass is bringing your temp down.

Another way to offset the heat loss of putting the meat on is to put a couple of fire bricks in the cooking chamber. They absorb heat and stay hot forever. Their mass counteracts the mass of the cold meat.