Anyone ever use wood only in their Weber?


 

Kyle Ss

TVWBB Member
There’s an article about wood cooking in the times written by Steven raichlan. Says you can put all woodchunks in your chimney and cook in a kettle but can’t close the lid otherwise gets too Smokey. Anyone ever done this?
 
I am a fan of SR but, no, I have not done that. I might possibly consider it once but I wouldn't make a habit of doing so, given the cost of chunks.
 
I did it once (though long b4 SR was on TV), anyway I used wood chunks but dummy I am I closed the lid on my kettle. Anyway the chicken was awful. Looked realy cool. Nice mahogany colored skin but tasted like eating the inside of a fireplace. Never tried again LOL
 
Chuck O does a bunch of wood-only cooks in his WSM (and Santa Maria & Acorn), not sure about his kettle but I don't see why not.

https://tvwbb.com/member.php?27886-ChuckO

Click on "find latest started threads" on the left side under his avatar to see how he does it.


I am a fan of SR but, no, I have not done that. I might possibly consider it once but I wouldn't make a habit of doing so, given the cost of chunks.

Check out the firewood suppliers near you - - many offer bbq chunks/splits for grillers & smokers where you can pick the wood type. I've only seen it advertised but haven't tried it. When I bought a cord of wood many years ago I opted for their hardwoods, so even in bulk they offered a choice..... probably the most economical way to try it, if interested. One day I plan to get my wood chunks there,,,,but I've been thinking about that for years and haven't even stopped in.
 
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I'm moving in that direction. If cooking over a bed of coals and depending on what you are cooking, your grill grate might be about 12" above. If cooking over flames.... you may need around 30" above the splits.
 
I've been thinking about trying this too. I found a local "wood guy" and picked up some red oak. It's pretty big - I need to figure out how to divide it into smaller pieces. I'm thinking of trying it by banking indirect/direct rather than vertically up/down. Not sure how well it will work though...
 
When I was just starting to learn the art of BBQ and had a Char-Griller COS, I made a lot of mistakes. One of which was not understanding that the wood chunks should be used as flavor enhancers, not as the primary heat source. I ruined some quality meat and wasted a bunch of money. Since learning those lessons, I have not done any all-wood cooks, at least not on a grill of any kind (steaks over a campfire are another story entirely).
 
Using all wood I burn the wood down to mostly embers before I start,also not smoking just straight up grilling steaks and burgers ect never a problem,most of the time now I use my cowboy grill and push the embers to 1 side as they get some of the flame knocked down,wife has problems with lots of smoke flavor these days so I don't do as much as I once did.
 
I've been thinking about trying this too. I found a local "wood guy" and picked up some red oak. It's pretty big - I need to figure out how to divide it into smaller pieces. I'm thinking of trying it by banking indirect/direct rather than vertically up/down. Not sure how well it will work though...

I do this pretty regularly. I cut the logs into 3" chunks with a chop saw and then split them into smaller chunks with a hatchet. Works fine. Different oak woods have different densities. Down here we have post oak and live oak. The live oak is about twice as dense as post oak and really needs to be seasoned for a couple of years before you can even cut it reasonably.

MikeCantell has good advice about wood cooking -- burn it down to embers before you put the meat on. I like using post oak or pecan to grill steaks. It gives them a "wood-grilled" flavor as opposed to a "smoked" flavor.

Jeff
 
I've been thinking about trying this too. I found a local "wood guy" and picked up some red oak. It's pretty big - I need to figure out how to divide it into smaller pieces. I'm thinking of trying it by banking indirect/direct rather than vertically up/down. Not sure how well it will work though...

Kindling Cracker

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200647343_200647343?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Logging%20%3E%20Logging%20Tools%20%3E%20Wedges&utm_campaign=Kindling%20Cracker&utm_content=118990&gclid=Cj0KCQjw77TbBRDtARIsAC4l83kfnc5DuTLcGsaBG5kP6C-Yd-5_mMN2GOSPkxqnRnYwRmwyar6hn9EaArObEALw_wcB


Then use a miter or chop saw, or maybe even a circular saw if you've got a good vise or way to lock in the wood splits.


118990_700x700.jpg
 

 

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