Completely new to Slow and Low

[myki]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to smoking and have a couple of questions. I've been lurking for a while and am super excited to finally give this a try :becky:. I recently acquired a chargriller duo 5500. I have created a baffle and used a cookie sheet with freshly drilled holes to direct the heat/smoke. My questions are: 1. Do you soak your wood chips before using them? 2. Do you wait till the charcoal is white before adding wood? 3. What do you do if the fire/heat goes out? 4. Any suggestions on my first Q?
Thanks for the help!
Mike

[Bludawg]

Use Chunks not chips don't soak
I don't use Charcoal in my smoker I burn sticks Would you burn regular gas in a Corvette?
If the fire goes out it's your fault sort of difficult to make BBQ without one
First cook Pork Butt.
275 is the new 225

[myki]

Gotcha. Looked up Chris Lilly's Pork Butt recipe and will use sticks instead of charcoal. As far as the fire, I know not to let it go out. LOL! I mis-typed. Any tips on keeping the temps consistent when adding wood? My worry is the temp going down as the fire burns and spiking up when adding wood. From what I've gathered lurking, open vents to heat up and close vents to decrease heat. Sound right? Is it the same with the smokestack on top or should I keep it open at all times? Again, thanks for the help and sorry if these are ridiculous questions!

[Bluesman]

For your first smoke keep it ssimple.
1.) No injections...ZERO
2.) Find a rub you like the taste of and DON'T overdo it
3.) Keep top vent full open throughout entire cook
4.) use a few small chunks of apple and or cherry, more is not better
5.) Wait until the colas have lit the wood and you have a nice thin blue smoke
6.) Add the meat
7.) cook until a wooden skewer probes through EVERYWERE like Buttah
8.) Double wrap in foil, put in a warm cooler and cover with a towel
9.) it can sit int he cooler for up to 6 hours, pull it out at 2
10.) Pull the pork and seperate from the fat
11.) Add some rub to the pulled pork, again taste as you go
11.) Get a bun and enjoy

These are the basics. On your next one add something if you want, like an injection or change rubs and so on. Keep the first one simple, it gives you a basis for everything else. Now cook and have fun..............CHEERS

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

I would be wary of using sticks in a unit designed for charcoal, especially for your first time.

[mawil1013]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to smoking and have a couple of questions. I've been lurking for a while and am super excited to finally give this a try :becky:. I recently acquired a chargriller duo 5500. I have created a baffle and used a cookie sheet with freshly drilled holes to direct the heat/smoke. My questions are: 1. Do you soak your wood chips before using them? 2. Do you wait till the charcoal is white before adding wood? 3. What do you do if the fire/heat goes out? 4. Any suggestions on my first Q?
Thanks for the help!
Mike

Does yours have the optional 'side box'?

[flyingbassman5]

I would be wary of using sticks in a unit designed for charcoal, especially for your first time.

Agreed. Start with charcoal until you learn the basics of fire management. Wood is great and adds great flavor but can be a bit tough to manage if you've never done it before. Plus keep the stick burning for the stick burners. Cheap offsets are designed for charcoal. If you want to burn straight wood get a Lang. You wouldn't burn super premium in a 4 banger Civic, would you?

[Bludawg]

Agreed. Start with charcoal until you learn the basics of fire management. Wood is great and adds great flavor but can be a bit tough to manage if you've never done it before. Plus keep the stick burning for the stick burners. Cheap offsets are designed for charcoal. If you want to burn straight wood get a Lang. You wouldn't burn super premium in a 4 banger Civic, would you?I hate to disagree my CG runs on sticks and is easier to control on post oak than it is on Charcoal.With the mods he has done it will cook like a dream Mine has been done in much the same way. If you learn on wood
you can cook with anything. When cooking on a Stick burner you cook in a Zone Shoot for +/- 25 deg IE 275 - 325 250 - 300

BluesMan offers great advice:thumb:

[Bluebird]

Welcome to the forum.

[caseydog]

Gotcha. Looked up Chris Lilly's Pork Butt recipe and will use sticks instead of charcoal. As far as the fire, I know not to let it go out. LOL! I mis-typed. Any tips on keeping the temps consistent when adding wood? My worry is the temp going down as the fire burns and spiking up when adding wood. From what I've gathered lurking, open vents to heat up and close vents to decrease heat. Sound right? Is it the same with the smokestack on top or should I keep it open at all times? Again, thanks for the help and sorry if these are ridiculous questions!

1. try to just use your intake vents to control temperature.

2. Don't start cooking until you have a good bed of hot coals, and the smoke coming out of the chimney is thin. Thick, white smoke is not tasty smoke. Once you get a good bed of coals, add wood a LITTLE at a time. If you toss a bunch in, you will get thick, white smoke -- you are sort of smothering your coals. One stick at a time will allow that new wood to get up to an efficient burn quickly.

Noobs (including me back in the day) tend to think a lot of billowy smoke is a good thing. It is counter-intuitive, but you don't want to SEE a lot of smoke. When your wood is burning efficiently, there will not be much visible smoke.

Pork butt is pretty forgiving, so it is a good noob smoke.

Good luck!

CD

[code3rrt]

WElcome aboard, sounds like you have all the advice you need above.

[myki]

Thanks for the advice guys. It does have the optional side box. Bludawg - did you seal your CR? I saw a mod using oven rope. Bluebird - Thanks, been lurking on the massive UDS thread for months, it just keeps growing! Can't wait to get started! - Bluesman - my favorite part of your reply is taste as you go! :-D:-D

[mawil1013]

Thanks for the advice guys. It does have the optional side box. Bludawg - did you seal your CR? I saw a mod using oven rope. Bluebird - Thanks, been lurking on the massive UDS thread for months, it just keeps growing! Can't wait to get started! - Bluesman - my favorite part of your reply is taste as you go! :-D:-D

When I had an offset cooker, I'd make a bed of hot coals in the offset, then lay two split (small) logs about 2 inches apart running length wise, on top the coals. As the split wood burned down, they added to the base of original coals then if I needed to, I would add two more split wood pieces. By controlling the draft I managed to keep flames very small. You won't need to use wood chunks nor chips with a real wood fire. :thumb:

[Bludawg]

Thanks for the advice guys. It does have the optional side box. Bludawg - did you seal your CR? I saw a mod using oven rope. Bluebird - Thanks, been lurking on the massive UDS thread for months, it just keeps growing! Can't wait to get started! - Bluesman - my favorite part of your reply is taste as you go! :-D:-DI welded up a frame out of 1" AI and bolted it in the top through the sides of the lid.

[flyingbassman5]

I hate to disagree my CG runs on sticks and is easier to control on post oak than it is on Charcoal.With the mods he has done it will cook like a dream Mine has been done in much the same way. If you learn on wood
you can cook with anything. When cooking on a Stick burner you cook in a Zone Shoot for +/- 25 deg IE 275 - 325 250 - 300

BluesMan offers great advice
Each to his own. I've just found that in my charbroil silver wood is harder to fight to keep temps consistent. I love cooking with wood cause it adds true BBQ flavor by my offset just doesn't like it. Oh well! If it works for him awesome! If not, charcoal is nothing to be ashamed of.:thumb:

[Gig'em99]

I've got a chargriller with the offset option too. Burns wood just fine.

Set your fire box vent about half way, and control temp with the top vent. It'll work just fine. It may be smaller but it works like a big one.

Charcoal vs wood? Who cares as long as your food is great! Good luck!

[columbia1]

You can also put a pan of water in, right where the smoke enters the cook chamber, the water will help stabilize your temps and even out the spikes.