Anyone Make Their Own Wood Chunks?

[Lee Murrah]

I like a strong smoke flavor, but I am not getting one on my WSM with bagged chunks. I have some recently cut hickory wood and am considering splitting and sawing it into chunks. Does anyone else make their own, and if so are the results better?

 

[TPurdy]

I buy hickory by the truckload and cut it up with my tablesaw. I leave it in split form until I am ready to cook then I saw it up. Yes, it is better than the kiln dried crap you buy in the bag at stores. If you are looking for the smoke flavor that you get with an offset smoker you will not get it with the WSM.

 

[Jason_D]

I also make little chunks from big chunks. Much like TPurdy, I keep it in large rounds until I need it. Then I make up enough chunks to fill a couple of milk crates. I used to use the kiln dried stuff, but after using naturally seasoned you will never go back. I always keep an eye out for fallen limbs after a storm.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I think you can get as much smoke as you want on the wsm. I've cooked with both a wsm and offset. I haven't tried making my own chunks yet. I'm about to. I've got some pecan limbs that are cut up, but not split. Hopefully it seasons.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

I'm lucky, I have a friend who has a huge inventory of cherry that he heats with. Every year or so he brings me a BIG box of wonderfully sized chunks, he cuts rounds then splits me fist size pieces! Did I say I was lucky?

 

[Geo S]

Make chunks all the time, I separate the cherry from the rest of the firewood and cut and split to size, If I don't have any cherry, I use whatever I have, Maple, oak, Hickory sticks, Mulberry, pretty much any hardwood works fine, being relatively lazy, my chunks are large, like fist size and larger.
Your not getting enough smoke flavor in the WSM cause your not using enough wood. I know a lot, maybe even most guys recommend 2 -4 small chunks per smoke, but that's not enough if you want a stronger smoke profile and a better smoke ring.
Try putting the dampish meat on cold, 4-6 big chunks, and use the water pan, with at least enough hot water to last 2-3 hours. Last smoke I did was with bagged small Hickory chunks the kids brought over, It also worked fine, just used a bunch of it.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

I started with commercial chunks then moved to split/splits buried in coconut briquettes to get strong smoke flavour.
With pork ribs I just cut split in 3 part and use 1 to 2 home made chunks.

 

[Bob Ivey]

Harry Soo is recommending using minion method with 8 tennis ball sized chunks (4 apple and 4 hickory for butt and brisket and 3 + 3 for ribs. You put the chunks around the outside of the minion and around the center where the lit go. Works great and plenty of smoke flavor but not to much.

Make chunks all the time, I separate the cherry from the rest of the firewood and cut and split to size, If I don't have any cherry, I use whatever I have, Maple, oak, Hickory sticks, Mulberry, pretty much any hardwood works fine, being relatively lazy, my chunks are large, like fist size and larger.
Your not getting enough smoke flavor in the WSM cause your not using enough wood. I know a lot, maybe even most guys recommend 2 -4 small chunks per smoke, but that's not enough if you want a stronger smoke profile and a better smoke ring.
Try putting the dampish meat on cold, 4-6 big chunks, and use the water pan, with at least enough hot water to last 2-3 hours. Last smoke I did was with bagged small Hickory chunks the kids brought over, It also worked fine, just used a bunch of it.

 

[J Hasselberger]

I have never seen post oak in a bag. Maybe you can get it on the internet, but even down here in Texas, it's all the bagged regulars -- apple, hickory, pecan and mesquite. I have some post oak from trimming a tree this past spring, but it'll be a while before that's ready. Today, though, the local Ace Hardware put out a pallet of beautifully seasoned post oak logs for what amounts to 75 cents each. Looking forward to chopping some up for a cook.

Jeff