Bark on wood or take it off before smoking?


 
Bruno

Bruno

TVWBB Hall of Fame
I bought some wood chunks from Lazzarris factory next to San Francsisco after work today and was surprised how much bark is still on the wood.

I grabbed mesquite, hickory and oak. Can I just throw these chunks into the WSM or do I need to be concerned with the bark causing any bitterness?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Leave the bark on it won't make a difference. Next time you do the same cook take the bark off and see if you see a difference. Let us know.
 
Take it with a grain, because I'm a noob, but the chucks I've used with the bark on seem to take longer to give the nice blue thin smoke vs with bark off. Just in my short experience though.

Not sure it matters though as I've read folks throw their meat on immediately after throwing lit coals on...
 
I leave it on with 2 exceptions:

If it's really thick, I might take some / most of it off. With thin bark on stuff like Apple, I nearly always leave it on.

If the bark or the layer between it and the wood is starting to rot, I remove it and let it dry-out before using.
 
Thanks for all the replies. On it is!!

William I did buy bags of chunks. They aren't as good a deal as the charcoal they sell but reasonable. Oak was $5.95 a bag for 5 pounds, mesquite and hickory $3.95. The prices get better if you buy a case but the factory is so close I can go back when I need to. Plus the place is so strangely awesome it's worth a trip. Old and rickety warehouse , you'd think it was abandoned until you walk inside and see pallets and pallets of charcoal and chunks and chips and splits.

The mesquite lump charcoal is the bargain, $13.99 for 40 pounds.
 
Last edited:
Yea Bruno Lazzarris has some great lump charcoal, I've been using it for year's & years now.
If your not use to mesquite wood go light on using it the first few times because it can be over powering to some folks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top