Smoke profile- wood vs charcoal vs lump

[EdF]

Lot's of good practical advice. But here's the deal. Wood is a fuel source and produces smoke and charcoal. You want the smoke, and that's why people add chunks to charcoal fires. Check out what this guy has to say.

http://www.kbq.us/how-wood-burns/

 

[EdF]

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.

Check out kbq.us before you decide.

 

[offshore_SoLA]

ive thought about this for years. In my experience - as bbq folks we don't want super efficient. We strive for a happy medium between starving a fire for air and giving it just enough to burn at the temperature we want and still "smoke."

Eggs..well all the ceramic grills are too damn efficient. Those of you that use them (me included) .. they produce much better results with leaky seals and a flame controller.. at least for "smoking purposes."

FIddling around with this insulated cabinet .. this thing produces stellar results when i shut it nearly down and let the flameboss do all the work stoking the fire. its far from efficient that way... but I don't care about 10 bucks worth of lump charcoal / wood chunks when the end result is stellar meat!

 

[Notorious Q.U.E.]

ive thought about this for years. In my experience - as bbq folks we don't want super efficient. We strive for a happy medium between starving a fire for air and giving it just enough to burn at the temperature we want and still "smoke."

Eggs..well all the ceramic grills are too damn efficient. Those of you that use them (me included) .. they produce much better results with leaky seals and a flame controller.. at least for "smoking purposes."

FIddling around with this insulated cabinet .. this thing produces stellar results when i shut it nearly down and let the flameboss do all the work stoking the fire. its far from efficient that way... but I don't care about 10 bucks worth of lump charcoal / wood chunks when the end result is stellar meat!

+1 on being pleased with Flame Boss! I've used mine on a non-insulated stick burner and I feel like I can nap in the wee hours of the night and not worry anymore, it's a great tool in the toolbox!

 

[Rockinar]

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.

My opinion, a clean burning offset will taste "like bbq". Charcoal will taste like charcoal, lump will be somewhere in the middle. I never noticed how much charcoal tasted like garbage charcoal till I started doing my steaks and burgers over mesquite wood. Its two different worlds. Charcoal to me is now just a fire starter, not a cooking fuel.

 

[Smoke5280]

A lot of great feedback folks, I really appreciate it.

 

[m-fine]

My opinion, a clean burning offset will taste "like bbq". Charcoal will taste like charcoal, lump will be somewhere in the middle. I never noticed how much charcoal tasted like garbage charcoal till I started doing my steaks and burgers over mesquite wood. Its two different worlds. Charcoal to me is now just a fire starter, not a cooking fuel.

Lump IS charcoal. Charcoal briquettes are the factory made charcoal substitute invented as a way to sell industrial waste to consumers. Don't fall for the Kingsford marketing and think that they produce the true charcoal.

 

[sudsandswine]

In my opinion, there's just something about food that comes off a wood fire (direct or indirect) that has some "character" I could never reproduce with a charcoal fueled smoker. I've owned WSM's and ceramic grills for years and turned out some great food (and some bad food, too) but I just felt like I could always "taste" the charcoal - less so with a good quality lump charcoal, but more often than not with briquettes.

It's completely possible it's all in my head but I just feel like the smoldering effect of charcoal transitioning from unlit to lit imparted this subtle flavor I could never get away from. I think my Primo oval grill with really good lump and wood chips dispersed throughout the charcoal was probably the closest to what I was after.

Smoke profile is certainly a personal preference but I hate it when I eat some BBQ and wind up burping up smoke all afternoon. I like just a hint or reminder it's there. To each their own, but being a new stick burner owner and having ran a couple fires now, it seems like they give you a good amount of control over how you want that food to taste. Run a clean fire with little to no smoke and you'll probably get that hint of smoke...if you prefer a touch more, you can use a greener log or adjust the way the fire is burning where it smolders just a tad.

 

[ChrisBarb]

People who complain about a "charcoal" taste, need to step up from the KBB to a good quality brand/type.

 

[Big Swole]

With MY offset vs. my LSG IVC, I tend to get better smoke "taste" from my IVC. I think I've learned that I'm burning TOO clean a fire with my offset (maybe too hot as well) for the smoke "profile" I like to taste.

I need to do some testing on trying to burn a slightly "dirtier" fire in my offset and see if my preferred "taste" can be achieved.

I think I'm just looking for an excuse to sell this OC Brazos and buy the Shirley I want

 

[Big Swole]

Lot's of good practical advice. But here's the deal. Wood is a fuel source and produces smoke and charcoal. You want the smoke, and that's why people add chunks to charcoal fires. Check out what this guy has to say.

http://www.kbq.us/how-wood-burns/

This

"Power control of a wood fire – choking a wood fire to reduce its power produces creosote. This is the grandest conceptual error in barbecue – pit makers design elaborate dampers and throttles, practitioners debate the merits of inlet vs. outlet throttling, novices get frustrated and give up. The only way to make clean smoke from a typical wood fire is to maintain good, hot geometry and control pit temperature by rationing fuel, rather than throttling combustion air."

 

[Big Swole]

IMHO, the Whole point behind "smokers" is to get SMOKE taste!! For those that like very light or hardly any "smoke" flavor, I just don't understand it. Spend all the time / money on charcoal / wood just to get a "hint" of smoke.

When I use a smoker, I want my food to have that very noticeable "smoke" flavor (obviously not bad bitter smoke). I can't really explain or put into words how much I love a good "smoke" flavor!! I can't get enough usually. Maybe I'm the weird one.

btw...I love building / tending a fire, so I really really hope I can learn to get more "smoke" from my offset. But love my IVC for ease of use and sleep.

 

[Ag76]

IMHO, the Whole point behind "smokers" is to get SMOKE taste!! For those that like very light or hardly any "smoke" flavor, I just don't understand it. Spend all the time / money on charcoal / wood just to get a "hint" of smoke.

When I use a smoker, I want my food to have that very noticeable "smoke" flavor (obviously not bad bitter smoke). I can't really explain or put into words how much I love a good "smoke" flavor!! I can't get enough usually. Maybe I'm the weird one.

btw...I love building / tending a fire, so I really really hope I can learn to get more "smoke" from my offset. But love my IVC for ease of use and sleep.

You should be able to get more smoke from your offset by cutting back on the air inflow.

 

[Notorious Q.U.E.]

For me, half the fun of BBQ is tending to a wood fire. It calms and relaxes me. I feel like the food from many smokers tastes great. To yours truly, it's 50% fun of tending a wood fire and 50% joy of eating really good Que--stickburner all the way baby!!

 

[smoke ninja]

IMHO, the Whole point behind "smokers" is to get SMOKE taste!! For those that like very light or hardly any "smoke" flavor, I just don't understand it. Spend all the time / money on charcoal / wood just to get a "hint" of smoke.

When I use a smoker, I want my food to have that very noticeable "smoke" flavor (obviously not bad bitter smoke). I can't really explain or put into words how much I love a good "smoke" flavor!! I can't get enough usually. Maybe I'm the weird one.

btw...I love building / tending a fire, so I really really hope I can learn to get more "smoke" from my offset. But love my IVC for ease of use and sleep.

Smoke smoke smoke.

Only problem is that this is bbq not smoking. Smoke flavor is just a by-product of the bbq process. Its supposed to be in the background

 

[Smoke5280]

For me, half the fun of BBQ is tending to a wood fire. It calms and relaxes me. I feel like the food from many smokers tastes great. To yours truly, it's 50% fun of tending a wood fire and 50% joy of eating really good Que--stickburner all the way baby!!

That's certainly part of me for me as well. When I cook on my egg I tend to sit next to it and stare at the vents and contiplate life even though I don't need too.

 

[EdF]

Yeah, me too. It's the contemplation of whatever that calms and relaxes.

 

[m-fine]

This

"Power control of a wood fire – choking a wood fire to reduce its power produces creosote. This is the grandest conceptual error in barbecue – pit makers design elaborate dampers and throttles, practitioners debate the merits of inlet vs. outlet throttling, novices get frustrated and give up. The only way to make clean smoke from a typical wood fire is to maintain good, hot geometry and control pit temperature by rationing fuel, rather than throttling combustion air."

That description is incomplete and shows a lack of mastery of a stick burner.

Charcoal smokers are fuel rich and light on air. Adjusting the amount of airflow directly controls the temperature. More air, higher temp, less air lower temp. Simple.

A stick burner runs in a lean mode with excess air. Bigger fire makes more heat and smaller fire makes less heat. More excess air means more airflow, faster transfer of heat end to end and more heat going out the chimney. Less excess (still enough to burn clean) airflow means slower transfer of heat and less heat going out the chimney. The cooking temperature and the temperature distribution within the pit will vary with fire size and airflow as there are a near infinite number of balance points between heat generated and heat lost. Not as simple.

 

[pjtexas1]

I love how we debate things that kinda can't be measured exactly. Someone's hint of smoke could be the same as another's heavy smoke. :boxing: only way is to get together and taste.

 

[McSpazatron]

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.

Nicely put. The smoke flavor is a nice benefit to a nice stickburner, but it's only half the story. This kind of cooking is a time committment, but it gives back when you are in the right frame of mind.