Burn Barrel Info.!

[jeffsasmokin]

kcquer wrote:
I like the burndown barrel too. Wish my wood supply was plentiful enough to do it that way.


What is burning down the hardwood? I have never heard that before. Does that give you hot coals when needed on a long burn?
Jeff Be interested to know about how much wood you go through for this cook?Well, one of the few fortunate things that occurred when Stuart got hit hit with the "Eyes" of 2 Hurricanes in a 3 week period was an abundant supply of wood. I mean it was EVERYWHERE!!! That was in September, and they still don't have it all picked up. Lucky me!

Anyway, I can tell you as a retired Firefighter - wood in the burning process contains phenols and creosote, none of which you want on your meat. Therefore, if you are going to smoke with real wood, it is necessary to burn it down first. The burn barrel I designed helps in that process. It more or less acts as a "chimney", once you get it going. All you do is feed it from the top, the rebar grate allows the embers to fall through, ready to scoop out with a flat shovel right into the firebox of your smoker! If your going to use real hard or fruitwood, this takes alot of the hassle out of it. Once it gets going, I don't even have to use split wood. I've tossed 14 to 16 inch round sections in it with no problems.

As far as how much wood...........I'd say around 100 lbs. would last about 10 to 12 hours (give or take). Allow yourself time to get it started. Use newpaper and kindling at the bottom, then go from small branches to fuel logs towards the top. Takes a good hour or so, but once it's going - you can feed the monster anything you want.

Hope that helps!

 

[jminion]

Classic SE and Mid South BBQ fire control, do you cook direct at all?

 

[Samichlaus]

Do most guys with stick burners pre-burn?

 

[jeffsasmokin]

Classic SE and Mid South BBQ fire control, do you cook direct at all?

Jim, what do you mean by "direct"? Grilling?

 

[brdbbq]

Jeff,

Think your on to something looks nice.

 

[kcquer]

Think your on to something looks nice.

Wouldn't work for brd, no gas burner in the bottom! :wink:

 

[jminion]

Jeff
Tradionaly in the SE they cook direct, they place the meat 18 to 21" above the coals and cook.
This style of cooking gives the BBQ a distinct flavor because the fat as it renders is vaporized
and that smoke is part of the overall flavor.

Grilling would be done with in a few inches of the coals.

Are you cooking indirect?
Jim

 

[jt]

Do most guys with stick burners pre-burn?

Depends on what you call "pre-burn", Sami. I "pre-heat" the wood by placing it on the firebox. This way it instantly ignites when I throw it in the fire instead of producing a lot of white smoke. Sometimes you could call it a "pre-burn" as I've many times had flames on top!

is that what you were asking?

 

[Saiko]

Here is some good info on pre burning wood:

http://www.bbq-porch.org/faq/07-7.asp

I don't preburn my wood either, I just preheat it on top of the firebox. Like jt said, my wood chunks just burst into flame as soon as they go inside the firebox, and I don't get any "bad smoke".
I'm not as convinced as others that preburning is that much better, but I really haven't done any side by side comparisons. I think if you keep a small, hot fire with good airflow you aren't going to get any of that "bitter" aftertaste that people associate with raw wood.

 

[jeffsasmokin]

Are you cooking indirect?
Jim


Jim, no I use the offset firebox of the Bandera. In the direct method you speak of, are the cooking temp ranges still in 210 degrees or so? Sounds interesting, but I guess you would need a different set up than the "dera, right?

 

[jeffsasmokin]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is some good info on pre burning wood:

http://www.bbq-porch.org/faq/07-7.asp

Saiko, I checked it out, interesting read - Thanks!

 

[racer_81]

Jeff
Tradionaly in the SE they cook direct, they place the meat 18 to 21" above the coals and cook.
This style of cooking gives the BBQ a distinct flavor because the fat as it renders is vaporized
and that smoke is part of the overall flavor.

Grilling would be done with in a few inches of the coals.

Are you cooking indirect?
Jim

Direct cooking would be how the barbecue (mainly mutton) is done around Owensboro KY. It's typically hickory in big ol' pits.

 

[Samichlaus]

Will pre-heating the wood on top of the firebox remove many of the undesirables?

 

[kcquer]

Will pre-heating the wood on top of the firebox remove many of the undesirables?

The preheating doesn't remove the undesirables per se, but it does allow instant ignition of the wood which does burn them away. You might get a brief puff of white smoke just as each piece is added but never any dark smoke, that the nasty tastin' stuff.

IMO-the big advantage of burning down the wood is fire control. There really isn't a fire to control, just shovel coals until the desired temp is reached and if it spikes scoop a few out. The drawback would be the what I can only assume to be frequent refreshing of the coal bed.
I'm pretty sure the elevated direct method of cooking to which Jim refers is quite popular in whole hog cooking too. Temporary pits set up with concrete blocks, big fires in them until they burn down and then on goes the hog. Always wanted to do the Hank Jr. mod and cook the "pig in the ground".