First 2 Weeks With Off-Set Smoker - 2 Questions?

[Oldhoss]

Well it's been 2 weeks with the New Braunfels I picked up used for 75 bucks. My first cook was drumbsticks and peameal bacon rubbed with paprika and chipolte powder:





I have done 8 cooks so far with mixed results. A few shots of my efforts.

Pork butt and beans:



I start with Bush's Beans and then add bacon. oinions, red peppers, jalapano peppers, sweet peppers, bbq sauce, smoked pork belly, garlic powder, chipolte powder, beer and pinnapple chunks cooked to an internal temp of 160f:



I have some in the fridge right now that I did with a prime rib with which I added in some of the aujus I made as well as a shot of yellow tequila. It tastes awesome - had a buddy tell me he would gladly pay me for more than just the sample I brought in to work.

This is the prime rib I did yesterday....rubbed with a blend of - black, red, white, green, schezwan and chineese long peppers as well as paprika, galic powder, onion powder, a 5 italian herb blend, smoked salt and chipolte powder:





I made a few posts but mostly I have been searching old posts for tips....now I need to pick your guy's brains on a couple issues.

Question 1:

I have some wood I cannot identify.....in a thread I started I was able to identify some of it as red maple and ash. I also have what I think is apple!!! This is it:



I have used it and it smell sweet and is definately some sort of fruit wood.

I also have this wood I cannot identify:



closer:



and a side view:



It smells sweet and has that reddish interior. Dad had a Locus or Locust tree in the backyard that he chopped down. I looked at images on google and found no similarity to what I found there. Anyone find this familiar?

Question 2:

With my smoker I have tried using charcoal from the bag and charcoal I made from the ash and maple. I took the coals from the fireplace and put them in the hotbox. For smoke I have used chunks, chips and small sticks. I have had clean smoke and dirty smoke and have figured out what I need is a smaller fire but I still get dirty smoke sometimes. Yesterday I decided to try sticks. I started off with a little smaller than forearm size sticks but my temps were in the low 400's. And this was with fairly low starting coals left....and this was in -10 or 14f weather. I quickly shifted to smaller sticks:



These are the cherry sticks I made from bought wood. The smoke the cherry sticks provided was hard to keep thin so I am thinking it is not dry enough. The smoke the apple sticks I made was easier to keep thin but even it wanted to get thick at times. With these small sticks I was adding about 1 every 13-18 minutes. I kept the fresh wood and the coals from the previous few pieces near the air intake of the firebox (if it was toward the cooking chamber I got darker smoke). When I closed the air intake further than about a third most of the time I got darker smoke. My internal temp when I got the coals and stick size down got to in the 260-310f range at the cooler side of the cooker. Big question is - Why does so little fire in such cold weather produce such high temps and some dark smoke? What am I doing wrong guys?

[BayoustateBBQ]

first pick looks like apple. Last pick might be plum. I use alot of plum. Fresh cut plum will have almost purple red streaks in it. Brother in law was having a problem with his plum tree not doing well. He cut the whole thing down and gave me all of it. I found out why it wasn't doing good.....grubs. Found them the first split i made. Don't know if many people use plum but it is awesome to smoke with.

[Smokin Patriots]

How are you liking the new cooker?

[Oldhoss]

BayoustateBBQ......I think you have it!!! Dad had a plum tree in the backyard....it threw fruit one year and that was it I think. He wanted to get rid of it and I recal him talking about it. It makes sense that this is what I now have....took a look at a few google images of plum tree bark and it looks bang on. Great help here and I am happy to have some fruit wood. The reddish interior made me think fruitwood but not remembering that plum tree I was stumped. Many thanks indeed. One thing though - This wood was cut down about 3 years ago....Is it overseasoned now???

Smokin Patriots.....I am like a kid after Xmas....a kid who wishes a few more instructions were included with the toy but still having alot of fun.

[BayoustateBBQ]

If it's a bit dry you can always soak it in a barrel of water for a bit so it doesn't burn so hot. I just started using plum and love it

[Oldhoss]

Originally Posted by BayoustateBBQ

If it's a bit dry you can always soak it in a barrel of water for a bit so it doesn't burn so hot. I just started using plum and love it

I was thinking the same thing. The apple and plum wood was older when it was cut and has been in logs for over 2 years.....it is about 2.5 yrs old now. Shoud I be soaking my little splits or the whole log? And for how long? After I soak it should I dry it abit so it can spark up when it hits the coals or leave it wet on the outside? Many thanks for the tips there BayoustateBBQ.

[Bludawg]

This is what I do In my CharGriller YMMV, I dump aboout 3 lbs of lump in the Box and two splits and light it up, This establishes the coal base. I preheat the next split on the top of the firebox. When the pit temp drops 25 deg I add the preheated split and open the intake damper once the split ignites I close it back to where I have it dialed into. The dirty smoke only lasts a min or two and is no big deal. I add 1 split aboout every 45 min. My splits are 3" X 12". I run between 275- 325 on all my cooks 300 is the desired temp.DON"T SOAK YOUR WOOD IT IS A WASTE OF TIME WET WOOD DON"T BURN IT SMOLDERS AND GIVES OFF CREOSOTE( DIRTY SMOKE)

[Yellowhair42]

First pic of wood is apple.Second is cherry.