Using wood only, tips?

thirtydaZe · Oct 30, 2011

Just got a mutha load of oak.

Looking for the best tips/advise cooking and smoking using straight wood with a charcoal starter.

Have 2 chickens going now for a chicken chili my wife wants to make for work.

Would like the doos and donts using straight wood.

This is in an offset smoker btw.

cholloway · Oct 30, 2011

Must have a good bed of embers on the bottom before adding more splits and cooking.
Warm any additional splits on top of the fire box before adding them in. Warm wood begins burning sooner and doesn't smolder as much.

HBMTN · Oct 30, 2011

Small hot open draft fires work best for me. If you load the firebox with too much wood and then have to shut the intake to keep temps from skyrocketing then you are using too much wood. You will learn to feed wood at the proper interval to maintain a steady good coal base with out having the temperature fall and then get unstable. Good Luck

HeSmellsLikeSmoke · Oct 30, 2011

You can also set up a burn pit and then shovel the coals over to te smoker.

WvSmoke · Oct 30, 2011

HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
You can also set up a burn pit and then shovel the coals over to te smoker.

That's what I do, plus add a few chunks with the coals.

thirtydaZe · Oct 30, 2011

A bit concerned with getting to much smoke when new wood added, how should i combat this?

About to find out how i did with chicken but the smoke is my concern.

Boshizzle · Oct 30, 2011

Preheat the wood by sitting it on top of your firebox or, if the firebox on your offset is big enough, just put the next log in the firebox and let it preheat. That's what I do with my Jambo.

WvSmoke · Oct 30, 2011

It all depends on how the wood is added. If allowed to smolder and smoke, it will be stronger. That's why I like the hot coal method. I can add raw wood as I need it for more or less smoke.

landarc · Oct 30, 2011

Keep the splits you intend to use heating on top of the fire box. Or sue a separate firepit. The realy key is having a small hot fire and preheated wood, this cuts down on smoke and gives faster ignition. This avoids oversmoking. Also, load only one or two splits at a time, keeps the fire smaller and hotter.

MilitantSquatter · Oct 30, 2011

you've got a stickburner... If you have a bed of coals, pre-warm the wood as suggested, allow for good air flow and add wood as needed to maintain desired temp, then there is not much more you can do. A stickburner will definitely put out a smokey flavor.. they key is a clean burning fire.

thirtydaZe · Oct 31, 2011

Well, thanks for all the help everyone.

Ultimately, my 2nd attempt with the offset wasn't as favorable as my first go.

A. had trouble getting the temp high enough
B. contrary to what i was afraid of, to much smoke, i hardly had any what so ever.

Good learning experience, I'll do better next time going in with a better idea of how to burn the logs.

BroBBQButcher · Oct 31, 2011

I don't do much all wood smoking but I have learned and been told that bark will cause to much smoke and a bad taste. If you can remove the bark and preheat.

posey's_pork_pit · Oct 31, 2011

landarc said:
Keep the splits you intend to use heating on top of the fire box. Or sue a separate firepit. The realy key is having a small hot fire and preheated wood, this cuts down on smoke and gives faster ignition. This avoids oversmoking. Also, load only one or two splits at a time, keeps the fire smaller and hotter.

+1 as well as what many others have said ~ remember, the goal is thin blue smoke or no smoke at all. Also, if you do it right, you'll be adding wood frequently; from every 30 minutes to every hour. I always leave my fire box door open after adding wood until it is fully inflamed and very little smoke.

Thanks to the brethren for teaching me this invaluable lesson.

thirtydaZe · Oct 31, 2011

posey's_pork_pit said:
+1 as well as what many others have said ~ remember, the goal is thin blue smoke or no smoke at all. Also, if you do it right, you'll be adding wood frequently; from every 30 minutes to every hour. I always leave my fire box door open after adding wood until it is fully inflamed and very little smoke.

Thanks to the brethren for teaching me this invaluable lesson.

I was actually doing that last night.

So, dumb question, in reality i'll be applying smoke for the cook duration? which seems like a lot of smoke.?

posey's_pork_pit · Oct 31, 2011

thirtydaZe said:
I was actually doing that last night.

So, dumb question, in reality i'll be applying smoke for the cook duration? which seems like a lot of smoke.?

Yes, once I get the fire going with briquettes (Stubbs or Trader Joes), it's nothing but wood. Although it may seem like alot of smoke it really isn't as long as it burns clean ~ clear blue or no visible smoke at all. Believe me, once I dialed my cooker in, I began producing the best Q ever!

12 hours of this ^^^^^^

Equals that ^^^^^^^

tburda · Oct 31, 2011

thirtydaZe said:
I was actually doing that last night.

So, dumb question, in reality i'll be applying smoke for the cook duration? which seems like a lot of smoke.?

Yup and a lot of smoke equals an awesome smoke ring :thumb:

thirtydaZe · Oct 31, 2011

You've all been an excellent help, Thanks.

Wish i would have know this stuff before going in last night!

thomasjurisd · Oct 31, 2011

I've got a stick burner and used to only burn sticks. Now I start with a chimney of kingsford and lay sticks on top. I found that this gives me a much better smoke ring on the final product.

Whether you go this route, or pure wood, if you throw a few charcoal briquets in once in a while you'll get a much better smoke ring.

DirtyDirty00 · Oct 31, 2011

follow the advise above and most of all get out there and get ur hands dirty. the only way to truly learn is to do it on your smoker. youll get it in no time!

nucornhusker · Oct 31, 2011

posey's_pork_pit said:
+1 as well as what many others have said ~ remember, the goal is thin blue smoke or no smoke at all. Also, if you do it right, you'll be adding wood frequently; from every 30 minutes to every hour. I always leave my fire box door open after adding wood until it is fully inflamed and very little smoke.

Thanks to the brethren for teaching me this invaluable lesson.

+1 to all of this. This is exactly how I run my cooker.

Last night I used charcoal and then followed with only wood for some ease, and found that to be tougher now that I straight stickburn. Start the fire in the firebox and do as instructed on here.

This is great advice, most of which I had to learn the hard way. Once you learn blue smoke and how to keep it, get ready for some amazing 'Q.

You will have a good jump start. :thumb:

Using wood only, tips?

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