how much wood.....

Welcome. What are you cooking on now? How long something takes to cook can depend upon a bunch of things like size and especially temperature you are using. If you are cooking around 225-250 brisket can take anywhere from 1-1.5hrs/lb. But they type of cooker also is a factor for time.

I haven't cooked on a Lang or really any stick burner so I can't speak to exactly how much wood, but most guys I've talked to will go through a stick every 45min-1hr. But again that depends on the temp you are cooking at.

Good luck!

......would a woodchuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood??? :mrgreen: Sorry, couldn't pass that up..


In reference to the OP, amount of wood really depends on how much you are willing to pay for and where you can source it from. Plus its a lot of personal preference. For a stick burner, most fellas cook with oak or hickory because it puts off enough BTUs to heat a large cooker. Most fruitwoods, while good for adding flavor, take more wood to maintain proper BTUs to heat the cooker. Efficiency is the name of that game.

Brickhouse_ward said:

Wait for it.......

ok, hey all. new to forums and newish to smoking. Gonna try my hand at bbq brisket and chicken.

how much wood will i need. what kind, how long will it take to smoke briskit/chicken/

purchasing a 48-60 inch Lang Smoker. once i get good, gonna sell my wares...thoughts?

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I feel your enthusiasm, however with all due respect I think you might be putting the cart before the horse a bit here...

The quantity of wood you would go through depends on the kind of rig you have and how you run it. It would be hard to give you a figure... but you can avg 2-4 splits an hour.

Chicken you'll want to do hot and fast. Usually under 3 hours and brisket will be from 12 to 24+ hours low and slow depending on size...

My advise is to just focus on getting a couple good smokes down before you start thinking way down the line... :thumb: However you have come to the right place... Welcome

Cheers

Lang makes a great rig. Just for reference: I use kiln dried hickory splits in my RF offset with a 24"x72" cook chamber, probably close to a Lang. When I say split think of an 8" tree trunk quartered. I usually take 4-6 splits to get the fire started and form a coal bed set (30-45 minutes) then about 2 splits every 1-1/2 hours to maintaing temp. Lately, Ive been doing briskets in about 6 hours in the smoker at 325*, so that would mean about 12-14 splits total, maybe a few more if the weather/wind is crappy. Good luck.

Brickhouse_ward said:

Many more thanks and many more questions answered (Split?....got it) and Phrasty...yes I am thinking ahead...and you are right ..gonna try a few smokes first...probably several. Got to get it down pat.
So i have to cook chick and briskit separately?

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no just pull at differant times

Also if you are thinking about vending and selling food have you done all the research for what it takes to vend legally? Tons of health department hoops to jump through along with all the steps of setting up a business.

dwfisk said:

Lang makes a great rig. Just for reference: I use kiln dried hickory splits in my RF offset with a 24"x72" cook chamber, probably close to a Lang. When I say split think of an 8" tree trunk quartered. I usually take 4-6 splits to get the fire started and form a coal bed set (30-45 minutes) then about 2 splits every 1-1/2 hours to maintaing temp. Lately, Ive been doing briskets in about 6 hours in the smoker at 325*, so that would mean about 12-14 splits total, maybe a few more if the weather/wind is crappy. Good luck.

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^+1
We run at a cooler temp than the above at 325* on our off-set stick burner, but I would agree with 2 splits every 1.5-2hr mark. It depends on the unit you're using and the wood you're using as well. With a pit of that size I would suggest you get something like a Maverick 732 because the temp will vary depending on the exact spot on the rack you're cooking at AND you'll need to monitor that brisket temp without opening the cooker a lot; they take a bit to rebound when they're that large and you're opening to use a thermapen (or something of that sort) to check meat temps.

Good luck!

fnbish said:

Also if you are thinking about vending and selling food have you done all the research for what it takes to vend legally? Tons of health department hoops to jump through along with all the steps of setting up a business.

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What he said!

The local Health Department is the biggest hurdle you have to jump through. Check with them first BEFORE YOU BUY A LARGE PIT TO VEND WITH!! Some HDs require special "certified" cookers to be used to serve the populace. Place on top of that the piles of paper work and permits you must obtain plus just the crap that comes with working under the constant regulation of a government agency.

The beauty (or curse) of starting a food business with the US is that you must follow three sets of laws; local food and business ordinance, state level health and food safety, and of course the federal level with the FDA. In essence, you could have three different health inspected show up to your stand, all at different times, representing a different agency and different level of government regulation. Don't think that the FDA and the federal level of enforcement is the big bad wolf though. The level that will trip you up the most is local ordinances and county health inspectors.

Yay Capitalism!!.....

If I had it to do over again, I'd start with a smaller smoker, stick burner if you like. Work on your technique, 1 brisket / couple chickens at a time. While doing that, get out to comps or shows or whatever, meet folks, make friends, check out their cookers and get a feel for what you like. I can almost promise you that if you short-circuit that process, you'll be wishing you'd bought something entirely different before the first year's up.

I don't want to be rude, but you sound a LONG ways off from selling stuff.

I'd start to practice, learn what the words mean, and get comfortable before even thinking about it. Then research the legal side.

Good luck. This site is full of good information