How much wood do you use?

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BadCook

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
17
If you are using lump for temp and wood for flavor/heat how much wood do you use? Do you just throw on a few chunks at the beginning of the cook or do you continuously keep putting wood on for flavor?

Do you stick burners burn all wood for a cook or do you go with some lump to keep from over smoking the food?
 
Usually I use about 3 or 4 chunks of wood. I put them on at the beginning of the smoke and once they're gone I just let the charcoal do the rest.
 
on my WSM's I use 4 chunks or so

In my stick burner, I light a chimney of charcoal company as the initial bed and then throw a few sticks of kindling to get the temps up in the pit...from then on I use whatever free wood I can get...around here it is mostly maple, oak...sometimes I come across hickory. I am getting a pallet of applewood today or tomorrow!! :D :D :D But it is all wood from start to finish!
 
I use 5-6 chunks for butts and briskets, 3-4 for ribs and turkey and 2-3 for chicken. I use hickory almost exclusively, but sometime I'll use fruit woods and use the same amounts. I never add additional wood when cooking on the WSMs or Primos.
 
I have a small stick burner...and use charcoal for heat and wood for flavor..Depending on what I cooking dictates how much and what type I use...I go by time more so than amounts.
 
Someone said that wood smoke only permeates the meat until it reaches 140 or 160, then you are wasting it... I can't remember exactly...
 
I have a WSM, and always use the Minion Method to light it, except I pile the lit charcoal at one side. I generally use 2-3 chunks of wood (a little smaller than baseball size), with one going on the lit coals, and the others spaced through the charcoal so they'll burn as the fire progresses through the pile of charcoal.
 
Captain Morgan said:
not so Sapo...smoke ring stops formation at 140, meat
still gets smoke flavor as long as it's in the smoke
ok, I knew it was something like that.. I stand corrected... Smoke away!!!!
 
Greg Rempe said:
on my WSM's I use 4 chunks or so

In my stick burner, I light a chimney of charcoal company as the initial bed and then throw a few sticks of kindling to get the temps up in the pit...from then on I use whatever free wood I can get... pallet of But it is all wood from start to finish!
Tha's the same for me. I use mostly red oak and pecan.
 
The short answer is that there is no magic on size fits all answer. It depends on the type of cooker your cooking on, the type of meat you're cooking, the temps you're cooking at, what kind of wood you're using, whether you're foiling or not, and your own personal tolerance for smoke in your food.

My first cook on my Stumps I used about 5 chunks of hickory throughout the cook on some spares, and the meat at least too me seemed to be oversmoked. I know use about 3 chunks (1 hickory, 2 apple) of wood when cooking spares but use more when cooking a pork butt or brisket.

Just get out there and experiment and use what others have told you as guidelines. Its much easier to add more wood the next cook if you want a smokier flavor.
 

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