Thinking of buying a stick burner
 

This year I am looking into upgrading my trusty ProQ Excel 20 for a Lang/Jambo. But cannot get my head around how you cannot over smoke your meat if your heat is only wood? Can someone tell me how you would avoid this?

Kind regards

Invicta

It's all about fire management. I've had a Lang and Jambo, Lang is a good cooker, Jambo is a great cooker. About impossible to over smoke using a Jambo...well maybe if you had absolutely no idea what you were doing and in that case you have no business wasting your money on one.

Love my Jambo, dry wood, small fire equals not much smoke in my experience. Others more experienced on here will probably have more in depth advice......

Lang 48 here. Stick burners require a LOT more air to work right and so you have a live fire burning with a high air flow which does not produce very much smoke. A drum, WSM or any other charcoal cooker uses a smoldering fire and a restricted airflow, much easier to over-smoke with one of these.

^^^^^ This

Lang 60 here. I can only dream of a Jambo. If I feel my wood is not as dry as it should be or if it's just a bad fire day I will wrap after a period of time not only to get the tenderness I want but to keep the smoke at bay. the only time I have had problems with too much smoke is on smaller pieces of meat like chicken. It just takes practice to learn your smoker. I cooked with a chargriller smoker for a couple of years and it was OK but I love my stick burner. I wouldn't trade it for anything, well maybe a Jambo.

Thank you already for the positive feedback. All of your advice is appreciated

Regards

Invicta

competed on one (stick burner) for the first time this weekend, while not a Lang or Jambo it was an insulated firebox. I have to say with the minimal amout of wood used to cook IBCA, 3 meats, there is no way I could have "oversmoked" it.

Before I started competing I purchsed my wood from the sporting goods or grocery stores in the big bags, lots of ugly looking logs and smoke. Since I have an offset on order, I purchased from a reputable wood supplier who said it was seasoned for 1.5 years. I certainly noticed the difference.

Good luck in your decision!

Lang user here - multiple sizes.

What they said. ^^^^ Stickburners require a few fire management techniques.
1. Working a small, hot fire.
2. Using properly dried wood as fuel.
3. Plenty of air flow (intake/exhaust) to keep the fire burning clean.
4. Feeding the fire on a frequent basis.

Using the combination will leave a barely visible Thin Blue Smoke - the goal of the objective.

The second best way to prevent too much smoke is to wrap your meat with butcher paper. When it looks and has the best color you are looking for, wrap. Add some juice of any sort to help braise and tenderize also. Granted, not all meats will require wrapping, as most will not be on the smoker for long periods to get oversmoked.
The first way to prevent oversmoking is fire management, maintaining that nice, clean burning fire. It takes practice but you will get it.