Using WSM as a "stick burner" - Harry Soo video

dward51

dward51

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I watched this Harry Soo video this morning and saw something I've never seen before. He used sticks of post oak to smoke a brisket in a WSM. In retrospect, I don't see why it would not work and am a little surprised I've not seen this done before. Basically he used shortened stick of post oak to get a different flavor profile from the WSM. He posted the video to Youtube yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elcqORHL5rU

I don't have any post oak, but I do have sticks of hickory and pecan I could try. Also my WSM is an 18.5" so a full brisket is not going to fit on the rack. But I may have to give this WSM stick method a go one day on something.
 
He put smoke on the brisket for about 8 hours, then wrapped and finished in the oven.


Can he do that in a competition ?
 
He said it was a test cook, to try for a new flavor profile. I figured it was something he would try in a comp.
 
I tried this before and it was an ugly smoke. I may try it again propping the lid like he did.

As for the oven technique I will do that too after wrapping if I run out of charcoal or want some extra sleep. He would not be allowed to do that in a competition.
 
Raider18 said:
I tried this before and it was an ugly smoke. I may try it again propping the lid like he did.

As for the oven technique I will do that too after wrapping if I run out of charcoal or want some extra sleep. He would not be allowed to do that in a competition.
Click to expand...

The "fire management" part was a really small part of the video, but I would find it hard to believe a WSM could pull enough air to support a good fire with the size of splits he was using...maybe cracking the lid could help on the exhaust side but unless it's pulling in new air from the top to feed the fire then sending it back up as heat, not sure. And I wouldn't think that'd be an ideal flow of air if it was the case.
 
He could do the same thing on a COS. The WSM offers no advantage, that I can see.



Don't have to spend $3,000.
 
"I saw this the other day, makes me want to knock the dust off one of my WSM’s. White Thunder BBQ did a similar video."

https://youtu.be/2PpeFLUnruE

The only way that guy burned splits in the WSM. Was having all the intakes open, AND the door off the side. If he replaced the door. There is not enough intake and exh to burn those size splits. IMHO
 
Last edited:
I've done it, I can't find the thread where I had though. At least I thought I posted it here :icon_blush:.

Anyways it was fun to play around with, but even with smaller splits it just isn't meant to run great as a stick burner. But if you do it for a few hours for flavor and then into an oven it is tolerable to run that way.

That 2nd video that ebijack posted wasn't very helpful for actual learning as it was just disco p)rn music playing vs being instructional. Like it showed it occurring, but no real info or thoughts. I clearly hold my own video standards to a high level of informability and value .........:becky:
 
I could be wrong about this, but I can't see how you can control temperature with this setup. It seems to me that he is still using charcoal for heat ( for the most part) and sticks for smoke. A COS would probably be easier to control than this setup.

Also, why would this produce more smoke than using chunks of wood, in the normal fashion? I would think that several small chunks would burn cleaner than the sticks and produce the same result.
 
I have a hard enough time keeping a fire in my cheap offset w/o it being too hot, seems like it would be so much harder in a wsm.
 
I too was sort of doubtful that there would be enough draw to avoid the "bad smoke" but /shrug - hard to argue with his posted results.

Looked interesting- but I'm not running out getting a used WSM - or cutting an access door in any of my drums anytime soon.
 
Like was said, I don't see an advantage, you can get all the smoke you want from chunks, and I don't see how you can get a clean smoke without extra vents ,and then, how to keep the temperature down......

Can it be done?, sure, I guess, but theres a lot of things that can be done that don't need being done....

There's a reason why folks say use the right tool for the job....:-D
 
I have used wood in my WSM's and Kettles before. On the kettle, I typically used Pecan to 'kiss' steaks with some lighter smoke.

In the WSM's, split size matters. Too much and you can get nasty smoke. Too little and for me it just burned up quickly. Just right (think about Goldilock's and the three bears) and I got nice smoke with good heat control (~275F to >~350F when I wanted to burn it out). I would caution everyone not to run it >~450F a long time as it will burn out the WSM and cause warpage depending on the final temperature and time.

When I buy a 'used' WSM, I generally burn it out at ~400F to 'sterilize' it from whatever the previous owner may or may not have done with it. :wink:

Generally, I use a base of Kingsford and toss in wood 'chunks' along the way to get the smoke the way I want it with whatever I'm cooking.
 
sudsandswine said:
The "fire management" part was a really small part of the video, but I would find it hard to believe a WSM could pull enough air to support a good fire with the size of splits he was using...maybe cracking the lid could help on the exhaust side but unless it's pulling in new air from the top to feed the fire then sending it back up as heat, not sure. And I wouldn't think that'd be an ideal flow of air if it was the case.
Click to expand...

I told have tried this... and end up pulling to meat off and getting rid of the logs before the meat was wasted. Just not enough of a draw to fuel the wood to burn clean enough. I'm MIGHT try it with the lid propped, but I'm still skeptical. I like people that try new things and share though. Props to Harry, as always.
 
So the consensus is the air intakes are not large enough to supply a stick fire in the WSM. I wonder if a power draft like the Guru with 10CFM fan would make a difference? I may have to sacrifice some meat in a trial just to see. I have the 18" WSM so the 10CFM may be more effective than in the 22" since it's got less volume to start with.

Sorry it took me so long to get back in here after the original post. My computer did an update to WIN10 and totally died with the dreaded "critical process will not load". No safe mode, no nothing. So I had to blow a fresh copy onto a new drive and start from scratch which took a while.
 
I think forcing air would just cause it to burn too hot.
 
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