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Wood

  • Thread starter Thread starter slat
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Question for you guys that use wood only or mostly wood, what size is the wood you use? Is it just quartered or do you split it into smaller sizes like an inch or two at firebox length?
 
For the bandera I use mostly hunks. They are about the size of your fist. For my big smoker, I use splits that are 12 to 18 inches long, and split down to about 2 or 3 inches across. I like to split them fairly small so I can use them 2 ways depending on how I stack them. If I need to raise the temp quite a bit I will stack them alternately. If I am just wanting to raise the temp a little, I can throw a few of them side by side and they act like a larger log. I would say that if you have the time to kill, split it down 2 inches or so. 1 inch seems a bit small though. I have a splitter, so the job gets done relatively fast.
 
I use one chimney of hardwood lump to start and after that I use only wood. When I am not too lazy, I cut everything down to 2x2x6" then I feed a piece of wood every 30-45 minutes depending on wind and outdoor temp. The regular sizes makes getting a rythem down a snap. Now I confess, that I have gotten comfortable with what the bandera eats and just judge a stick based on its size and thickness for where in the box to toss it. But the 2x2x6 thing works really well. Hope it helps.
 
I use slightly larger splits than Chris K. Mine run in a range between 2x2x9 and 2x3x12. I also have some wheels that I chunk up into fist size pieces. Wood only after a starter chimney of lump, Kingsford, some real $hitty hickory chunks that I bought (see my next post).
 
I use a wide range of sizes depending on what I want to do. I start out with very small splits, twigs and chips to light it up. then I switch to larger splits and/or chunks. Once I get a good bed of embers, I use relatively large chunks, maybe up to grapefruit-size. This allows me a good 30-45 minutes (tops) to do whatever else needs doing, like making a beer run. If I come back and the fire's burned down too much, it's back to the smal stuff to get it going again.
 
I use a Weber chimney full of lump to start then use 16" splits from there on out.
 
Thanks for the info. I got a load of hickory(see response in tommykendall's post) and split it down to around 2 inch size at 12 to 16 inch lengths.
Just curious what others did.
 
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