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View Full Version : Question for the Backwoods smoker guys


garzanium
02-13-2013, 03:33 PM
Alright folks- im going to be pulling the trigger on a new smoker soon(More than likely- BWS Party). Of the limited amount of smoking I have done with my stickburner- im already tired of tending to the fire every hour or so and the fluctuation in temps. The offset is now gone.

That said...I do love the taste my smoker produced; which brings me to my question...
Running a Backwoods or similar smoker- will using smaller chunks of wood produce the same taste as cooking on a stick burner? If one ran a Backwoods dry next to an offset smoker and cooked the same meat with the same seasoning- would one be able to tell the difference? Yes I know tenderness and moisture will change- my concern is SMOKED flavor.

Basically im trying to avoid the taste of something cooked in an oven with a bit of wood flavor to it:mrgreen:

Thoughts?

Bamabuzzard
02-13-2013, 03:35 PM
You have nothing to worry about in the smoke flavor department. You impart as much or as little smoke flavor using the BWS Party unit as you want.

cpw
02-13-2013, 03:57 PM
I think there's a texture difference between food cooked on our Lang vs food cooked on the backwoods, but definitely not a smoke flavor difference. Plus, if you're going to run the backwoods dry, I think you minimize the texture difference.

gtr
02-13-2013, 04:01 PM
I got a Chubby last summer (thanks Gainesville Jaycees! :clap2:) and was pleasantly surprised at the smoke flavor I got from cooking on it. Seems to me the bark is softer, but I'm gonna start fooling around with running it dry, putting other things in the water pan, etc.

garzanium
02-13-2013, 04:15 PM
Thats the info I was looking for(and what I wanted to hear too lol)

[QUOTE=gtr;2366545]Seems to me the bark is softer[QUOTE]

Thats exactly what I would expect from running one with water. I do plan on running sand in it rather than water. Love the idea of the flexibility though.

Tempting to think there is a new Party within 50 miles from me:becky:Once I have the cash saved up...may make the jump to a Pitmaker or Fatboy.

John Bowen
02-13-2013, 04:15 PM
I just bought a new “Party” this past December and I am still learning it – I enjoy cooking on it very much. I have been cooking on a Tucker Cooker for several years and wanted something smaller for smaller cooks. It was a pain to set up the Tucker for a couple of Ribs.

I have cooked with both water and with sand so far and the smoke flavor is a bit more “richer” than when I cook on my Tucker. I also set the fire box up the same and when I used water the smoke flavor stood out more to me. Those in my family say they can’t tell any difference. I have only cooked about 7 times with it so I am still learning it.

I also recommend you order yours with the heat diverter.

SchatzSea
02-13-2013, 06:18 PM
My stickburning experience is somewhat limited (cheap offset brinkman with the usual mods). I can turn out good food on both, but for my time/money I REALLY enjoy cooking my Backwoods. The water aspect is a little bit of a pain, and I don't know scientifically if the moist cooking environment improves the product, but it does work to stabalize temps and the food turns out awesome so I'll go with it!

+1 on getting the heat diverter. You'll probably want casters if you move it much, but you can get very nice ones cheaper than Backwoods charges. I can't recall offhand where I ordered mine, but PM me if interested and I'll look.

BTW, if you don't have a local Backwoods dealer, give Andy Bangs a call. He did a great job helping me get hooked up with mine, and he's a Brethren.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Sent from my Incredible (2) Droid

Hcs
02-13-2013, 06:29 PM
I purchased a g2 chubby being delivered tommorow between 12-4. I have cooked on an electric,offset,uds,and weber kettle. Out of all of them I personally like the weber better than any I've had before. I'll let you know the status of the backwoods!

Puckstopper
02-13-2013, 06:32 PM
Love my Fatboy! Smoke flavor has been great. I havent tried running her dry but i dont have any issues with the way food is coming out using water.

Red Valley BBQ
02-13-2013, 06:37 PM
If you run a backwoods with no water in it you run the risk of uncontrollable high temps. These cookers were designed to run with water in them. If you are concerned about soft texture with a water cooker, maybe you should look into a pellet smoker. It is a much dryer environment and you will be able to get the same texture as in your offset.

garzanium
02-13-2013, 10:01 PM
If you run a backwoods with no water in it you run the risk of uncontrollable high temps. These cookers were designed to run with water in them. If you are concerned about soft texture with a water cooker, maybe you should look into a pellet smoker. It is a much dryer environment and you will be able to get the same texture as in your offset.

good call-makes sense. Will get it then cook,then adjust accordingly. Now I just need to get it:becky:

no offense to those who run pellets smokers...but nah...not my thing at all!

Fireburd
02-14-2013, 04:39 AM
There are work arounds for the soft bark issue but it will take some time learning your smoker first. If you want a harder bark always cook on a higher rack as that is where the higher temps are. Another thing I do is let the water boil off towards the end when my coals are losing their heat. what that does is let the cooker ramp up but not lose control since you aren't running a full basket of coals. Mine will hit 350-400 and ill run that for a bit at the end depending on what my cut is. That tends to firm up that soft bark everyone talks about. As a bonus you cook off the water which dries ouy the interior of the smoker. If you haven't read already ill let you know the bws have a rust issue if you don't take care of it. Metal + moisture is a bad combo which is ironic since that is exactly what this smoker is. So if you put it in storage with moisture still inside you run the risk of rusting. so by draining the water or cooking it off and letting the heat ramp up you make a drier environment for storage. Wouldmt trade my BWS for anything so I wish you all the best with yours.

jacksedona
02-14-2013, 04:48 AM
i hope you are water logging your chunks of wood the day before you smoke . i waterlog one big chunk of hikory in a cup of water ,it lasts for hours


http://thebarbecuemaster.net

Trumpstylz
02-14-2013, 05:58 AM
I've never cooked on this style of smoker. Are there any vault/cabinet/gravity feed smokers that are not designed with a water pan?

cpw
02-14-2013, 07:14 AM
I've never cooked on this style of smoker. Are there any vault/cabinet/gravity feed smokers that are not designed with a water pan?

I'm pretty sure most of the gravity fed smokers (stumps, rebel, superior, etc) are all dry cookers.

Deep South
02-14-2013, 07:18 AM
Yep, all dry smokers but I bet more than one person has thrown a water pan in one for testing.

jmoney7269
02-14-2013, 08:06 AM
If you run a backwoods with no water in it you run the risk of uncontrollable high temps. These cookers were designed to run with water in them. If you are concerned about soft texture with a water cooker, maybe you should look into a pellet smoker.

Bludawg said in a thread a few days ago that if water must be used to calm a unruly pit, then it's just not designed right. You should be able to run whatever temp you want without water, you just gotta manage your fire right. I have seen so many people complain about Pitmakers BBQ vault running Hott when ran dry, but I can run mine 225-450 dry any day of the the week. Those insulated verticals smokers operate totally different than a typical pit to where you warm it it and maintain it. I have had the best luck Hittin mine with a weed burner for 10 min, filling my pan with lump and just lighting 1 corner and allowing 1 hr to stabilize with 100% exhaust open and 25% intake and it settles perfect @275. If a backwoods is sealed properly, it should operate In a similar manner. If your just using coals to preheat, throttle your intake way back once you get 50 deg below your target cook temp, it will overshoot just a little but once you add cold meat, it will be dead on. If you let your cooker preheat with coals till you reach your desired temp and throttle it back, you will easily overshoot grate temps by 100 deg.

Longo1908
02-14-2013, 10:09 AM
I have a BWS Extended Party. I got it about a month ago. I'm still learning it but it seems to maintain a temp with no problem. I fill it with water and leave all the dampers open. It's been taking about an hour to hit 250 but when it does I close the 2 floor dampers to about 1/8 an inch and it cooks steady at about 250. My problem is actually too much smoke flavor. I'm still experimenting to get just the right amount. And as far as the bark I just leave it on the top rack until the bark sets and haven't had a problem.