Done with the stick burners

DubfromGA · Dec 5, 2017

bonz50 said:
I'm a firm believer in having the right tool for the job at hand. if the job at hand requires an overnight 'set and forget' cook then fire up the coal burner. if the job is a midday relaxing rib cook with beers and friends, stick burn it. no shame in having a preference, no shame in having multiple smokers either.

Well said !!!!!! :thumb:

Czarbecue · Dec 5, 2017

Don't sell your Pecos until you come to the Spring bash. Your fellow brethren may be able to make you a believer.

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

gtr said:
One thing that's great when the kids get teenage is that they're old enough to split wood. My older son (16) is ready to do manly chit so he likes to split wood. I just cooked 130# of butts this weekend, I didn't swing the maul once, and there's plenty wood left over. :whoo:

I love days when I have time to use the offset, and I also love having verticals & kettles for when time doesn't allow for tending a fire all day. My preference is stickburning, but I just don't have the time to do it as often as I'd like. A beautiful day with the Klose chugging along is a glorious thing indeed.

gotta love free labor

JokerBroker said:
Generally speaking, I agree with most of everyone's points of view on this thread but this particular observation may only hold true with offsets that aren't designed as well as they could be. I always preheat my splits by placing them to the side of the fire. This is easier to do when you have a large firebox. Once it's preheated and its time to add to the fire, I can plop it on the coal bed and walk away. There is no need to adjust vents, make sure the wood catches (because it always does), and the temp hardly fluctuates at all because 1/4" plate holds the heat so well. It takes a concentrated effort to move my temps up or down once they are stabile. The only thing I have to watch out for is waiting too long to add another split because the temps will hold for a while even after the fire is almost out.

if I do that, with my vents half open, the temp will go from 250 to 400 in a matter of minutes. mine definitely needs management.

Beentown said:
We just did it this week. Chuckies with and without wood.

Everyone could tell.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

what was the "without wood" option - charcoal? which was preferred. We need more info.

pjtexas1 said:
if your wood is seasoned and the offset is designed properly you can just put a stick in and walk away. i only need 1 small stick every 40 minutes or so. if i want to go longer i will add 2 sticks and let the temp jump a little bit. i start with my intake and exhaust wide open and never touch them until it is time to put it away. most of the time i don't even open the fb door. i just push the sticks in thru the intake.

i get what you are saying about the wood just being lump once it burns down but to me the flavor i like comes from the smoke as it burns down into coals. that is why i tell people to add a green stick if they don't get enough smoke from their stick burners.

let's keep this thread going. i am loving everyone's comments. :thumb:

Im going to cook with only wood embers one day. maybe not soon but Im going to do it. I have a feeling it will be unmatched. who knows though, until I test (any reason to cook right ?) :clap2:

jasonjax said:
I love my stick burner.

The sticks are incredibly small though!

my boss has one of those. they seem very easy to cook on. hows the flavor

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

mstewart39 said:
“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself....To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top.”

― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

for some reason I like that quote. thanks for sharing.

ModelMaker said:
A man gotta do what a man gotta do to make his heart light.
Carry on.
Ed

:thumb:

sudsandswine said:
What kind of smoker do you have OP? I open my intake a little over 50%, open exhaust fully, and never touch vents again until it's time to shut her down. If I want the cooker hotter or cooler I just adjust the size of the fire...feed logs more or less often, or feed more or less logs at one time.

If you're constantly having to fidget with vents, maybe there's an issue with your cooker, as joker mentioned.

my smoker at half intake vent open full exhaust will burn at 400 degrees when the wood catches and the fire is roaring.

bonz50 said:
I'm a firm believer in having the right tool for the job at hand. if the job at hand requires an overnight 'set and forget' cook then fire up the coal burner. if the job is a midday relaxing rib cook with beers and friends, stick burn it. no shame in having a preference, no shame in having multiple smokers either.

good point

JohnH12 said:
A chore for some is a pleasure for others.
Do whatever trips your trigger. Just don't go vegan!

We are all vegans by proxy- cows eat grass, we eat cows :-D

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

Czarbecue said:
Don't sell your Pecos until you come to the Spring bash. Your fellow brethren may be able to make you a believer.

I do plan to be at this bash :whoo: .

the smoker is already sold though. my coworker is picking it up this weekend. Sold it to him at my cost but got to test it with three cooks so Im happy.
I still have the vertical stick burner - maybe i'll keep that till after the bash :-D

pjtexas1 · Dec 5, 2017

This should have been my first response...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

70monte · Dec 5, 2017

Your reasons are a lot of the same ones I have for not owning a stick burner or really having the desire to get one. I don't like to be tied down so much to the smoker that I can't go run an errand or be gone from the house for a few hours. Sourcing the wood as well as letting it season and cutting it to size is another inconvenience.

THoey1963 · Dec 5, 2017

The time to manage the stick burner was what changed my mind and made me go back to charcoal smokers. I work from home a lot, so a midday smoke for tonight's dinner is quite common. Unfortunately, working from home doesn't always mean I can run out back every 40 minutes. A lot of times it was more like 90 minutes. So, some times the fire would die down, then I'd add a couple sticks and then it would go too high, even when considering a range of temps. It frustrated me, and I found myself using the WSM instead. The whole ordeal was quite a painful and costly learning mistake. It made the great food leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Do what makes you happy...

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

pjtexas1 said:
This should have been my first response...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

bwahaha. lmao

70monte said:
Your reasons are a lot of the same ones I have for not owning a stick burner or really having the desire to get one. I don't like to be tied down so much to the smoker that I can't go run an errand or be gone from the house for a few hours. Sourcing the wood as well as letting it season and cutting it to size is another inconvenience.

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

what cooker do you have?
my charcoal burner is a uds and it is on the internet so I have eyes on the temp at all times.

low and slow cooking for a long amount of time and still being able to run errands - priceless!

jasonjax · Dec 5, 2017

el luchador said:
my boss has one of those. they seem very easy to cook on. hows the flavor

I love the flavor. I'm not positive, but I THINK 5 of the top 10 teams in the last Jack used pellet poopers.

pjtexas1 · Dec 5, 2017

i know everyone does it but i just cannot get myself to leave the property when i have a live fire in anything. even if my HeaterMeter were to let me know the temp was high and i know that i can close the intake from my phone i still would be worried the whole time. sometimes it sucks being paranoid. :heh:

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

THoey1963 said:
The time to manage the stick burner was what changed my mind and made me go back to charcoal smokers. I work from home a lot, so a midday smoke for tonight's dinner is quite common. Unfortunately, working from home doesn't always mean I can run out back every 40 minutes. A lot of times it was more like 90 minutes. So, some times the fire would die down, then I'd add a couple sticks and then it would go too high, even when considering a range of temps. It frustrated me, and I found myself using the WSM instead. The whole ordeal was quite a painful and costly learning mistake. It made the great food leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Do what makes you happy...

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

wow, you put it way better than I could. with my charcoal smoker, I looked forward to cooking because it was easy, and the food was delicious. with the stick burner the idea of cooking was not something I looked forward to and that's not what cooking should be about. it shouldn't be a chore.

thanks for the feedback!

jasonjax said:
I love the flavor. I'm not positive, but I THINK 5 of the top 10 teams in the last Jack used pellet poopers.

Wowza!!!
is the data out there somewhere?

jasonjax · Dec 5, 2017

el luchador said:
Wowza!!!
is the data out there somewhere?

Probably, but I'm too lazy to go search. It was a comment made by Myron Mixon in his class while we discussed the various types of smokers. He referenced one of the majors where the top five finishers all used pellet cookers, that's why I said I THINK it was the Jack.

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

jasonjax said:
Probably, but I'm too lazy to go search. It was a comment made by Myron Mixon in his class while we discussed the various types of smokers. He referenced one of the majors where the top five finishers all used pellet cookers, that's why I said I THINK it was the Jack.

is this the list right here?
https://www.jackdaniels.com/en-us/BBQ/Rocky-Top-Barbecue

not that it really matters though ( in a good way). Im sure the top teams can cook in an electric oven and still win. lol

DubfromGA · Dec 5, 2017

A ceramic kamado is one super easy to run smoker.

Results are outstanding and they lock into temps and stay there.

BillN · Dec 5, 2017

JohnH12 said:
A chore for some is a pleasure for others.
Do whatever trips your trigger. Just don't go vegan!

Vegan Briskets are the only way to go, I'm not a fan of meat eating cows...:becky:

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

DubfromGA said:
A ceramic kamado is one super easy to run smoker.

Results are outstanding and they lock into temps and stay there.

Ive heard they are very good at keeping temp, and moist because they don't turn over the air that often. Maybe once they come down in price ... :-D

BillN said:
Vegan Briskets are the only way to go, I'm not a fan of meat eating cows...:becky:

Bwahaha. LMAO :thumb:

txsmkmstr · Dec 5, 2017

el luchador said:
my smoker at half intake vent open full exhaust will burn at 400 degrees when the wood catches and the fire is roaring.

I have nothing to offer than hasn't already been said about your decision. I also have no experience with your particular pit. I would like to make an observation based on your comment.

Your spikes in temperature indicate to me that some different fire management techniques might have been in order. I'm thinking along the lines of 1) smaller fire and 2) smaller wood. In addition, the "add a split every 40 minutes" is something that not all pits subscribe to. In fact, it can be more like every 20 minutes to calm the temp fluctuations while maintaining a good coal base. I only bring this point to the table for those considering a stick burner in their future. Learn to control temps with fire size and forget about the dampers. Then and only then can you start to dial things in (like more or less smoke flavor) with the damper settings. Three cooks on an offset is not much of a learning curve.

I'm glad you found a buyer for your pit - best of luck with your new set up. :thumb:

el luchador · Dec 5, 2017

txsmkmstr said:
I have nothing to offer than hasn't already been said about your decision. I also have no experience with your particular pit. I would like to make an observation based on your comment.

Your spikes in temperature indicate to me that some different fire management techniques might have been in order. I'm thinking along the lines of 1) smaller fire and 2) smaller wood. In addition, the "add a split every 40 minutes" is something that not all pits subscribe to. In fact, it can be more like every 20 minutes to calm the temp fluctuations while maintaining a good coal base. I only bring this point to the table for those considering a stick burner in their future. Learn to control temps with fire size and forget about the dampers. Then and only then can you start to dial things in (like more or less smoke flavor) with the damper settings. Three cooks on an offset is not much of a learning curve.

I'm glad you found a buyer for your pit - best of luck with your new set up. :thumb:

thank you. you kinda made my point for me. I have no interest in adding wood every 20 mins or cutting down splits to cook.

thanks though :becky:

cowgirl · Dec 5, 2017

I hear ya!
I love my wood burner and love the food that comes off of it. I won't get rid of it.
There are times I don't want to tend the fire or don't have time to tend the fire. I can toss the meat or whatever into a drum and walk away. Check cattle, fix fence, chase critters, come back to some good eats, with no fuss.

Done with the stick burners

is Blowin Smoke!

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Babbling Farker

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is Blowin Smoke!

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