smoking without using any wood for flavor

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Big slick

is one Smokin' Farker
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So i was thinking about trying to use my WSM on some chicken only instead of using wood chunks for smoke i was going to to use just straight charcoal. I want the low and slow tenderness but no smokey flavor. The reason for thsi is that i want to do some BBQ for my parents but my mom does not like the smokey flavor of BBQ. Has anyone ever done this? Have you gotten good results from this? Will the meat be boring and lacking? I figured that yes there will be something missing from the meat (smoke) but as long as i am using a good rub all the other flavors should still be there right??
 
You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what you have in mind is called grilling, not smoking.:doh: It should be alright, Smoke can overpower chicken easily.
 
Should be fine just consider it slow roasting, keep the temps up though.
 
Yes you can get great results using just straight charcoal. No problems just rub and cook it will still be great :thumb:
 
^^^ Also, rare that anyone cooks chicken low n slow. Grill it.

Your choice on the smoke or no smoke. It's just grilled chicken, afterall...

The BBQ thing for parents if mom doesn't like the smoke flavor: 'ya cant please
everyone all the time. My dad LOVES grilled ribs with sauce literally burned on them. For him, the faster/hotter, the better. The meat is tough as nails, full of fat, gristly, and burned sauce. I wish him the best. I LOVE barbecue, low n slow. We're just
different is all.

I suggest doing a butt for barbecue and then having a few grilled chicken breasts on the side for mom.
 
expatpig said:
You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what you have in mind is called grilling, not smoking.
Click to expand...

Actually I think there is a big difference in low and slow BBQ vs. grilling, about 300 degrees.

Slick, what you want to do is completely fine, it should yield a flavorful and tender product, season or brine as you normally would, but cook with no flavor wood. Just make sure to give the chicken a little high heat finish to avoid the rubbery skin.
 
I put chicken in my original post but that was a mistake. I really meant just meat in general (Brisket, pulled pork, ribs...)

Thanks for the comments everyone.
 
Might as well cook it in the oven. Seriously. If there's no need/desire for smoke, the just apply your rub and/or injection(s) and put it in the over at your desired temperature. It'll work just fine.
 
Lake Dogs said:
My dad LOVES grilled ribs with sauce literally burned on them. For him, the faster/hotter, the better. The meat is tough as nails, full of fat, gristly, and burned sauce. I wish him the best. I LOVE barbecue, low n slow. We're just
different is all.

I suggest doing a butt for barbecue and then having a few grilled chicken breasts on the side for mom.
Click to expand...


Bless his heart my wife has an uncle just like your dad. I can't stand when we eat over at his house and he does ribs without any other options to pick from, like hamburgers, chicken etc. He'll get out there on the gas grill which is cranked up hotter than the pits of hell. He's normally still cooking when we get there so naturally the men gravitate outside around the grill while he cooks.

All the time he's torching the ribs he's letting us know that "This is how I do ribs. I don't see how anyone sits there for 5 hours and cooks ribs. There just as good doing them on the grill like this and actually I like them better." About that time he cakes on another layer of commercial, thick bbq sauce on there and closes the lid to the grill. Then continues to tell us how what a waste of time doing them low and slow are blah, blah, blah.

But I never have the heart to tell him that his wife (my wife's aunt) has told me on several occassions how she wishes he would learn to do them like I do mine. :becky:
 
Last edited:
Dont meant to hijack, but I grew up thinking I HATED barbecue. Come to find out I
only hate the way my dad grills what he calls barbecue, and it's not barbecue at all...
Ends up, I LOVE barbecue. I absolutely LOVE ribs cooked low n slow so as to render
all the fat properly, moist, tender, seasoned so that it compliments the flavor of the
meat rather than replace the meat flavor (mask it). That's the other thing. My father
(and mother, come to find out), when he talks about the best barbecue, is always
talking about the sauce. It could be on cardboard, but the sauce is to die for. That's
fine, but I've learned that the perfectly done barbecue doesn't need sauce.

Honestly, I couldn't have imagined it from my beginnings... This, now thanks to good
friends and one in particular who hooked me up with competition barbecue.

Sorry, back on subject:

OVEN, in the oven. Good consistent heat, no need to spend the money and effort
on the fire/charcoal. Hit it with your rub and let 'er go.
 
I've done this before, and using hardwood lump charcoal will still give it some flavor w/o the smoke.
 
FBA contest in '08, forgot to put wood in the WSM for chicken..........got 1st.

Kept it out on purpose the next time or 3 and was in the top 10 each time.


All that just to say, what others have said, you will still get some smoke flavor from the charcoal.
 
You will still have a great flavor from the charcoal even without any wood, just using lump or briquettes. I would recomend lump though. My girl doesn't care for a lot of smoke flavor either, so I know where you're coming from. A good rub is the key, to sum it up in two words: Plowboys Yardbird.
 
I can't really argue because i have only bought rubs from Simply Marvelous but their season all rub is out of this world on poultry. I have heard a lot of people rave about Plowboys Yardbird rub though. I'll have to give it a try one day.
 
Lake Dogs said:
Might as well cook it in the oven. Seriously. If there's no need/desire for smoke, the just apply your rub and/or injection(s) and put it in the over at your desired temperature. It'll work just fine.
Click to expand...

I was thinking more like steaming. If bland is what you're after, that way you might even be able to reduce the meat flavor.
 
And there's always the good old trusty crock pot. Actually, I was serious about the
oven. If he has no desire for smoke flavor, then go with the oven. Save the money
and headaches of fire control... It's also a good way (yes, in the oven) to work on
times, temps, etc. as you're working on fire control issues...
 
Poach or boil on the stovetop to ensure no smoke flavoring (or any other off tastes) in the final product:roll:
 
I can't imagine someone not liking chicken like I've been cooking on the kettles lately:

Dry brine, a little seasoning (low or no salt) after light oiling, roasted (indirect) at 350* or thereabouts with it's feet to the fire, just one cherry wood chunk on a chimneys worth of hot blue bag K. Just tell her the cherry wood wasn't enough to "smoke" the chicken. It was for "presentation" only, since it makes the birds real pretty even with no sauce.
 
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