Done with the stick burners

This post has been great to follow. I have not been persuaded to sell my stick burner. It is the process that I love to do, always has been for me. The process goes way back for me to when we would pull a pig off the feed floor and smoke it for friends. The food and the gathering were nice but the enjoyment really was the over night hanging out with the skeleton crew. Now that I am retired the long cooks come more often.
 
excellent thread to read.

I enjoy all the various ways I can cook meat, all at different times, and all for different reasons.

'It takes all kinds' - My Grandma Iris
 
I am new on this forum, but have frequented it numerous times over the past couple of years. I am just a backyard enthusiast and my only cooker is an 18.5 WSM. I am responding to this post, because I have often thought I would like to have a stick burner, but my determination to make good bbq on what I already own (18.5 WSM) has kept me plugging on with it. I wanted to get away from briquettes and the Minion method and just go with lump charcoal.
My method in the WSM is top and bottom vents fully open, and use lump charcoal which gives me a clean burn (nice blue smoke) and add my smoke wood in small chunks, not large chunks to the lump charcoal bed. I prefabbed a smaller diameter charcoal ring to keep my lump grouped together for better burning. I light 1/2 chimney of lump initially with a small wood chunk on bottom and one on top of the lump. when my coals are ignited and burning good they go into the smaller diameter ring. My temps run about 250 to 275 degrees. I add prelit lump and a prelit chunk of smoke wood periodically thru the door to hold these temps. This method gets the smoke flavor and smoke ring I desire. I am just using lump charcoal as my heat source. It needs fuel added periodically just like a sticky burner. My substitute for a stick burner. Thank You
 
bcm1947 said:
I am new on this forum, but have frequented it numerous times over the past couple of years. I am just a backyard enthusiast and my only cooker is an 18.5 WSM. I am responding to this post, because I have often thought I would like to have a stick burner, but my determination to make good bbq on what I already own (18.5 WSM) has kept me plugging on with it. I wanted to get away from briquettes and the Minion method and just go with lump charcoal.
My method in the WSM is top and bottom vents fully open, and use lump charcoal which gives me a clean burn (nice blue smoke) and add my smoke wood in small chunks, not large chunks to the lump charcoal bed. I prefabbed a smaller diameter charcoal ring to keep my lump grouped together for better burning. I light 1/2 chimney of lump initially with a small wood chunk on bottom and one on top of the lump. when my coals are ignited and burning good they go into the smaller diameter ring. My temps run about 250 to 275 degrees. I add prelit lump and a prelit chunk of smoke wood periodically thru the door to hold these temps. This method gets the smoke flavor and smoke ring I desire. I am just using lump charcoal as my heat source. It needs fuel added periodically just like a sticky burner. My substitute for a stick burner. Thank You
Click to expand...

Interesting approach!
 
I have a small Chargriller cheap offset smoker at home. It is very labor intensive to maintain temperature control. I end up using hardwood chunks about the size of two fists and just monitoring it continuously. It is fun when I have time and I get pretty good results. About once a year I do a large cook for a group of people at church. We rent a Bubba grill (250g I think)and cook about 45 racks of ribs. I am amazed at how stable the temperatures are on the Bubba grill. It needs very little input. It turns out some great BBQ with pretty consistent smoke. I would love to buy one for home use someday!
Mike
 
I use white oak and hickory for smoking wood mostly. That clean burn I get with the vents fully open and the lump for a heat source, pretty much alleviates the white smoke. I had problems at first keeping my temps down, but now that i've learned how much lump to light each time I add charcoal, my results have improved. Just trying to get what I believe tastes more like bbq cooked on a stick burner without having a stick burner. I do mostly pulled pork for my family and church friends.
 
i am very surprised that so many are burning separate fires of lump just to add to their charcoal cookers. not that it is wrong but i just did not realize people did this. i learn new stuff here all the time. :thumb:
 
Personally I love that stick burning takes all of the extra attention. To me it makes BBQ an active thing rather than just set it and forget it. I like managing a fire AND the flavor that comes with it. I see where you're coming from though it's not easy, and if you cant tell the flavor difference I could see where it would be tough to keep struggling.
 
Aaron Franklin talks about the importance of good air flow in bbq pits. He keeps his pit drafting good with that blue smoke coming out the stack. That's why I keep all my vents wide open and just add enough already lit lump charcoal to the smoker to keep a good bed of coals working for me. It burns very clean.
 
BUILD A UDS!!!!


(well chit, someone had ta say it:becky:)
 
70monte said:
You are correct. The Akorn is not ceramic, it is metal.
Click to expand...

thanks for clarifying that

ElQueTraz said:
I think Gravity Feeds produce some of the cleanest blue smoke there is. If you like light smoke flavor, these do the trick. IMO
Click to expand...

thanks.

One Drop said:
My understanding is that charcoal is almost 100% carbon, it's called char.

When wood burns with more oxygen present, it creates char, which continues to burn, and also volatile gases, which at certain temperatures impart different more or less desirable flavours to the meat that is exposed to it.

Those embers burning still have some volatile gases present to impart flavour to the meat, the burning char does impart flavour ss well, but far less, and less complex.

So charcoal is a purer form of carbon than embers from burning logs.
Click to expand...

copy. this is something I definitely would like to try out to compare. I can see how there may be some additional flavor components in wood embers vs lump embers.

bonz50 said:
Karau: "The key point is that wood is not a fuel, it is a fuel source. When wood is heated, it decomposes into two fuels: charcoal (a solid fuel that burns in a surface oxidation) and smoke (a gaseous fuel that either burns as flame or escapes the firebox unburned to re-condense in the cook box as creosote). I say again, smoke is a fuel. It contains about half of the total caloric content of wood. It burns as a flame with sufficient heat and oxygen present…."

https://amazingribs.com/model/smoker/karubecue-c-60-pit

pretty interesting tidbit about the nature of wood fuel
Click to expand...

is he saying smoke is good , or smoke is not good? Im not sure.

barry w said:
This post has been great to follow. I have not been persuaded to sell my stick burner. It is the process that I love to do, always has been for me. The process goes way back for me to when we would pull a pig off the feed floor and smoke it for friends. The food and the gathering were nice but the enjoyment really was the over night hanging out with the skeleton crew. Now that I am retired the long cooks come more often.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
Im counting down the years till Im able to retire. only 30 or so more to go now :)
 
bcm1947 said:
I am new on this forum, but have frequented it numerous times over the past couple of years. I am just a backyard enthusiast and my only cooker is an 18.5 WSM. I am responding to this post, because I have often thought I would like to have a stick burner, but my determination to make good bbq on what I already own (18.5 WSM) has kept me plugging on with it. I wanted to get away from briquettes and the Minion method and just go with lump charcoal.
My method in the WSM is top and bottom vents fully open, and use lump charcoal which gives me a clean burn (nice blue smoke) and add my smoke wood in small chunks, not large chunks to the lump charcoal bed. I prefabbed a smaller diameter charcoal ring to keep my lump grouped together for better burning. I light 1/2 chimney of lump initially with a small wood chunk on bottom and one on top of the lump. when my coals are ignited and burning good they go into the smaller diameter ring. My temps run about 250 to 275 degrees. I add prelit lump and a prelit chunk of smoke wood periodically thru the door to hold these temps. This method gets the smoke flavor and smoke ring I desire. I am just using lump charcoal as my heat source. It needs fuel added periodically just like a sticky burner. My substitute for a stick burner. Thank You
Click to expand...

great post! Welcome to the board.

so you are still burning "stick" but you have created a nice base of embers with lump charcoal and you just burn small sticks for flavor.

have you had a chance to try it with the lump only and no wood chunks?
 
el luchador said:
thanks for clarifying that

is he saying smoke is good , or smoke is not good? Im not sure.
Click to expand...
I think he's saying simply that smoke and charcoal are two fuel sources produced by wood. not that the wood itself is the fuel but that wood is the source of the fuel (fine line I know). I found it an interesting tidbit about how the smoking/heating processes work. different than I expected that's for damn sure.
 
bcm1947 said:
I use white oak and hickory for smoking wood mostly. That clean burn I get with the vents fully open and the lump for a heat source, pretty much alleviates the white smoke. I had problems at first keeping my temps down, but now that i've learned how much lump to light each time I add charcoal, my results have improved. Just trying to get what I believe tastes more like bbq cooked on a stick burner without having a stick burner. I do mostly pulled pork for my family and church friends.
Click to expand...

how much burn time do you get with half a chimney?

pjtexas1 said:
i am very surprised that so many are burning separate fires of lump just to add to their charcoal cookers. not that it is wrong but i just did not realize people did this. i learn new stuff here all the time. :thumb:
Click to expand...

you know that many of the old school bbq joints had a separate burn barrel and shoveled the wood embers under the food .

now as far as burning lump, its a revelation for me. I had used it in my uds before because it didnt keep temp as well as briquettes so I switched back to briquettes, but after seeing how clean it is from the get go, and how dirty briquettes are until white hot, I dont know how I will ever be able to go back to briquettes again. the thought of all that junk slowly burning onto my food in a uds is scary.

how do harry soo and others do so well with briquettes. mind boggling.

W.I.T.W.A.G? said:
Personally I love that stick burning takes all of the extra attention. To me it makes BBQ an active thing rather than just set it and forget it. I like managing a fire AND the flavor that comes with it. I see where you're coming from though it's not easy, and if you cant tell the flavor difference I could see where it would be tough to keep struggling.
Click to expand...

I also see where you are coming from. I think it can be said that , for some, managing that fire, is part of the hobby for them.

4ever3 said:
BUILD A UDS!!!!


(well chit, someone had ta say it:becky:)
Click to expand...

I knew someone was going to say that . a UDS is not all its cracked up to be. TWO UDSs? now were cooking with fire :becky:

for the record, I have TWO uds's and I really should build a third one for hotdogs and fish
and fourth one to replace my weber kettle

UDS LIFE :rockon::rockon::rockon:
 
bonz50 said:
I think he's saying simply that smoke and charcoal are two fuel sources produced by wood. not that the wood itself is the fuel but that wood is the source of the fuel (fine line I know). I found it an interesting tidbit about how the smoking/heating processes work. different than I expected that's for damn sure.
Click to expand...

got it. that IS interesting. it threw me off when he said smoke fuel was creosote, almost like he didnt like the idea of the smoke actually touching the food.

I plan to continue experimenting with only lump embers for now. to make it even more traditional, I think I will remove my diffuser and let the fat drop right on the fire.

good times.
 
overeasy said:
Wow... what the hell are U all talking about?
Click to expand...

lets see.

1. cheap stick burners are hard work
2. some find the stick burning labor enjoyable and a vital part of the process.
3. large and/or heavy stick burners are not as hard to work as the cheap ones

bonus - build a UDS!

hey you have a pecos. thoughts?
 
el luchador said:
great post! Welcome to the board.

so you are still burning "stick" but you have created a nice base of embers with lump charcoal and you just burn small sticks for flavor.

have you had a chance to try it with the lump only and no wood chunks?
Click to expand...

Perhaps I have confused some people. I only use lump charcoal. In fact i have been using this technique with B&B lump charcoal only. I have never tried it with briquettes, but I'm certain it would work using briquettes if you let them ash over first.
 
bcm1947 said:
Perhaps I have confused some people. I only use lump charcoal. In fact i have been using this technique with B&B lump charcoal only. I have never tried it with briquettes, but I'm certain it would work using briquettes if you let them ash over first.
Click to expand...

This whole idea of trying to get the authentic taste that a stick burner offers has led me to use lump charcoal instead of briquettes in my WSM. I wanted the purest form of wood char that I could get. As stated above briquettes could be used, but I chose to go with lump for the entire smoking process.

I don't own a stick burner, but I get great bbq taste by using B&B Oak lump and adding small chunks of hickory & white oak for smoke taste during the cook on my WSM.
 
El Luchador,
You asked about how much burn time i got out of 1/2 chimney of lump. The 1/2 chimney is my initial charge and it is prel-lit to start up the WSM.
Normally i get 30 to 45 minutes before the smoker temp drops to 225 degrees. Then I add a small amount of lump after that initial charge, which is usually about 1/4 chimney of lump and I pre light it as well. I do pre light the lump each time I add it to the smoker. I also add my small smoke chunks to the chimney as I am pre lighting the lump. This technique alows me to keep that blue smoke i am looking for in my smoker..
 
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