Smoke profile- wood vs charcoal vs lump

[Smoke5280]

I really want a stick burner for a couple of reasons but I hope my thinking is correct. As a general rule do stick burners like an offset put out a cleaner smoke profile vs smokers that use charcoal or lump? I hope this isn't over simplifying this and I am familiar with clean heat.

 

[pjtexas1]

That question is really relative. Tastes are different to different people. In my opinion you get more smoke from a stick burner.

 

[WareZdaBeef]

I would think charcoal already red hot and a medium size chunk of wood would provide a cleaner smoke.

 

[Kyle Hasty]

I think straight wood/stick burners put out the most smoke and have the best 'profile'. But lump with chunks ran properly is a close second. Backyard guys make some great Q and comp guys have won plenty burning coal and chunks. I'm a Hasty Bake guy so I'm coals and chunks, always lump.

 

[McSpazatron]

I think it's all in how you run the fire. Its possible to run a stickburner with enough efficiency that you get very little smoke flavor. Sometimes I run my stickburner a little whiter than thin blue smoke in order to increase the smokiness.

If you run charcoal only, its very easy to dial in the amount of smoke by using chips or chunks. If you need to be surgical in the amount of smoke you need, for me it's easier to do that with charcoal. Especially true for chicken.

The one thing that I think a stickburner will give you is high airflow, which really aids in bark formation on briskets and such.

 

[Joe Black]

The best thing about a stick burner is pre-heating the splits. This keeps the temps from diving and the quicker ignition keeps the smoke cleaner. Also, burning wood will produce a purer smoke flavor than charcoal. That's my $0.02 worth.

 

[krex1010]

When it comes to guitars, the saying is "the tone is in the fingers" meaning the equipment only matters so much, which translates to lots of things......stick burners can have a very clean burning fire..but also have the potential for a horribly dirty fire. The pitmaster is the key not the equipment.

 

[OlyQ]

My Assassin is the cleanest burning pit I've owned.

 

[Eujamfh]

Potatoes patotoes....I like both. Smoked meat gets devoured in my house and both fuels have their advantage. I think you can dial in your system with enough practice as others noted to give you what you want. For me...the stick burner is what I like to play with but the charcoal cabinet smoker means I can have brisket at lunch and sleep.

No one has griped about the fuel I use...just when I don't provide the Q on time.

 

[tom b]

II wasn't liking the flavor I was getting from charcoal smoking and yes I know how to run my smokers. So I recently got a stick burner and am loving it...

 

[Smoke5280]

Thanks for all the replies and keep them coming. I own an egg and it runs clean.... maybe too clean for big pieces of meat. I'm looking to add something different to my cooking and before I drop $2600 I want to be confident an offset will offer a different smoke profile than the egg. I'm not going to lie, I love building fires so that's part of it for me.

 

[mrbill]

i'm a believer in thin blue smoke(ie-clean burn) providing the best flavor while minimizing the dirty white and is not entirely dependent on a wood only fire. how this is achieved varies based on your cooker, but i feel it comes down to preheating the wood. for a stick burner, that means putting the splits on or near enough to the firebox so they warm up before being added to the fire, catch faster and burn cleaner throughout a longer duration of heat generation. for charcoal smokers, distributing the chunks throughout the coals will let everything preheat before the fire reaches that point resulting in a very clean burn for the duration of fuel present.

 

[m-fine]

The stick burner definitely gives a different flavor (or range of flavors) which I prefer. The flavor depends on the wood and the pitmaster, but in general I think it gives a smoother cleaner flavor.

My second choice is lump with wood chunks. Again lots of variation for the pitmaster to control.

I am not a big fan of briquettes for smoking. They give off nasty smoke and a harsher flavor when newly ignited, and when using them to smoke, there is a continuous stream of newly lit briquettes. I only use briquettes for longer high temp cooks where I can get them all well lit and let them smoke off before the food is added.

My least favorite smoke is the burning fat drippings smoke, usually from smokers where the fat drips onto the charcoal. That is OK for grilling where the exposure time is limited, but I really dislike it for longer smoking.

 

[McSpazatron]

Thanks for all the replies and keep them coming. I own an egg and it runs clean.... maybe too clean for big pieces of meat. I'm looking to add something different to my cooking and before I drop $2600 I want to be confident an offset will offer a different smoke profile than the egg. I'm not going to lie, I love building fires so that's part of it for me.

I think you are a good candidate for a nice stickburner if you like building and maintaining fires. No other reason needed. Everything else is gravy.

 

[jmellor]

Have you experimented with different techniques to change your flavor profile? Rubs, injections, hot and fast vs slow low...wrapped or not wrapped. Just saying there's a lot that goes into flavor profile beyond the smoke. My bbq tastes better to people off my Lonestar but I also think after years of practice I may have just gotten better at it. But I ultimately went to a stick burner to cook hot and fast w more capacity. Just my two cents for what its worth. Nothing wrong w buying a stick burner because you want to!

 

[Notorious Q.U.E.]

Stickburners are my love. It's labor but it's labor of love. I feel like Flame Boss with charcoal basket after I wrap is a good compromise if I have to get to sleep

 

[IXL]

Thanks for all the replies and keep them coming. I own an egg and it runs clean.... maybe too clean for big pieces of meat. I'm looking to add something different to my cooking and before I drop $2600 I want to be confident an offset will offer a different smoke profile than the egg. I'm not going to lie, I love building fires so that's part of it for me.

We have both BGEs and a horizontal offset. It is quite easy to get plenty of smoke on the offset; it takes a bit more "fire management" to achieve the same results on the ceramics, but it can be done. We discovered that it requires placing many more wood chunks throughout the lump than one would imagine.

As has been stated above, the significantly increased airflow of the offset allows for the formation of terrific bark without even trying, something which has to be worked for on the BGEs.

We greatly enjoy owning and using both styles of cookers, but the offset does require a great deal more hands-on operation...which ain't a bad thing at times. Plus, while that bad-boy is working, we can always toss on a couple or three steaks, grilling them inside the fire box without much loss of heat or magic. Win-win.

And finally, there is the fact that many of my friends problems have been solved during quiet conversations held while several of us were sitting around the smoker, tending the fire on overnight cooks, and cracking seals on a bottle (or two). That has just never happened with the BGEs.

 

[blazinfire]

Sorry if this has been said in a better description I just don't have physical time to read every post.

In one of my older posts when I was learning how to cook with my stick burners and such. Someone stated that when your cooking in a wood burner you have a cleaner burning fire compared to cooking with charcoal/wood chunks. Makes perfect sense as I have a good burning fire in my cooker at all times. Charcoal/wood chunks is just a smoldering fire pretty much but that's how it works.

After running the WSM and stick burners for the past two years I have to say you have a cleaner smoke profile on food when cooking with wood. I don't think there's much difference in smoke exposure between the two.

 

[Rodbolt]

A lot of great info posted on this thread. Some of the, maybe THE best Q came from an offset. Definitely the worst came from an offset, some of it was by me....

Building/maintaining the wood fire, design/airflow in an offset is key but what seldom gets mentioned is the wood itself. The right wood, right stage of cure, right size splits, understanding weather change, how clean etc makes for good food. After years of playing with sticks - I now go for the consistency of lump with chunks that I cut and control the quality of the smoke. I did the same with spits but dang, too much work rotating my stock!

If you buy fresh, regularly, from a competition wood supplier then you are good. Is it the cook or the cooker?

 

[RT]

I think it's all in how you run the fire. Its possible to run a stickburner with enough efficiency that you get very little smoke flavor. Sometimes I run my stickburner a little whiter than thin blue smoke in order to increase the smokiness.

If you run charcoal only, its very easy to dial in the amount of smoke by using chips or chunks. If you need to be surgical in the amount of smoke you need, for me it's easier to do that with charcoal. Especially true for chicken.

The one thing that I think a stickburner will give you is high airflow, which really aids in bark formation on briskets and such.

This hit it, at least for me.