How big should my wood pieces be


 
B

Billy (GTBilly)

New member
Just put together my 18.5 WSM and I read the destructions and I know that I should go read the weber intro vids but I would like to know how big are your wood chunks that you are using. I noticed at HD that the smoke wood is darn near shaved and I figure that can't be right.
 
<span class="ev_code_GREY">not sure it's a good idea to talk to you bill...</span>

depending on the amount of meat you're cookin'...
depending on the length of the cook...

i seem to use the equivalent of two baseball size chunks without a complaint.

Welcome to the forum!
 
I have never liked large chunks for the WSM. I take chunks (like 'fist-sized') and hatchet each into 5 or 6 pieces. This means there are no large pieces of wood to ignite, block airflow, take up space I'd otherwise have for fuel, and, as they all get smoldering in pretty short order (smaller pieces can get going more readily) and all put off some smoke rather than just a spot or two, eventually (and rather than having to get large chunks of wood going in the chimney), I get great smoke flavor but use a LOT less wood than most. For typical cooks I use just 8 or 9 pieces of the hatcheted wood. For butts a bit more.

I've never cared what amount of charcoal I go through nor what it costs. But wood I do. I cannot always get many varieties wherever I happen to be. Getting good smoke flavor while conserving has been essential.
 
I agree with Kevin totally. I take chunks and chop them up and spread them out in the charcoal pile. I'd say in total I use a little more than a large fist size amount of wood but that's a personal choice. I don't like a lot of smoke so I go light. You'll have to do a few cooks to get a handle on how much smoke you like.
 
I use the size of my fist as a guide. For a chicken, I'd use one fist worth of a light wood like alder or maple, half a fist if it's hickory or maple. For pork butt, I'd use 3 or 4 of apple and 2 or 3 of hickory. It's a rookie mistake to use too much wood.

I've never had a problem with this fist method. it creates consistency from cook to cook and it works regardless of chunks, chips, pellets, or shavings. Just estimate.
 
Size is pretty subjective. Living in Ontario, I make my life easy by buying my wood from Smokinlicious.com. Pieces are palm sized. For ribs, I use 4, for a butt or brisket I may use 8 or more. That's just me though. You have to figure out what you (or your guests) like. Mesquite has more flavour than apple but apple may not give you what you want for beef. It's just a trial and error which makes it fun. You can read many books that wil give you the authors' preference which is a great start. Just work from there.
 
Kevin and Jerry,

With your method, do you wait for the smoke to settle down a bit? Is the quantity of smoke coming out of the cooker a consideration when putting the meat on?

Do you still have visible smoke after the first hour or two?
 
Billy, everybody's given you good info. I can only add that I second Brian's suggestions. But I use one to two pucks--I cut my own apple-wood and just easier to chainsaw it with veggie oil--for any poultry, as I think it needs less smoke and for others 3 or 4 "pucks" of pecan. Again, I have access, on my land to good woods from pecan, maple, apple and oak. Some I puck and some I axe into larger but no longer than fist. And Matt, a few good sized pucks, chunks will smoke for a long time, or do for me, so yeah, put your meat on while it's smoking. If you need more, per your tastes, add a chunk.
 
Kevin's experience (hatcheting into smaller pieces) is mine, as well. I used to put in bigger ones but had problems with flareups when I would open the lid or the side door. Now, I just use the smaller pieces with no problem. Seems to be more smoke with less wood.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Matt Sanders:
Kevin and Jerry,

With your method, do you wait for the smoke to settle down a bit? Is the quantity of smoke coming out of the cooker a consideration when putting the meat on?

Do you still have visible smoke after the first hour or two? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do not wait for the smoke to settle down. Don't see the need. Using small pieces I do not get billowing smoke.

After the first hour, yes, usually. And it dissipates from there. After the second, not usually.
 
Kavon,

Thanks. I did something similar with the two turkeys I smoked, though I left them a little bigger than you probably do. I took two fist sized chunks and cut them in half. Then buried two of the small pieces, and put two on top. It worked well. I'll try your method next, with even smaller pieces.
 
If you go the hatchet route, than place your chunk on a pc of wood and using your axe as a wedge strike it with a dead-blow hammer or rubber mallet. Keeps your fingers out of harms way
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Tim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Matt Sanders:
Kevin and Jerry,

With your method, do you wait for the smoke to settle down a bit? Is the quantity of smoke coming out of the cooker a consideration when putting the meat on?

Do you still have visible smoke after the first hour or two? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do not wait for the smoke to settle down. Don't see the need. Using small pieces I do not get billowing smoke.

After the first hour, yes, usually. And it dissipates from there. After the second, not usually. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been waiting to put the meat on lately in order to let the very first bit of smoke settle. I don't really wait long and I used to put the meat on right away. However, now I tend to get the fire going and then go get the meat. I like the idea of letting some of the smoke dissipate, but I can't say I notice a difference in taste. It's just what I've grown accustom to do.
 
If I had a workshop full of elves to cut my wood, I'd opt for cubes roughly 2 to 2.5 inches on a side.
 
As with anything else in this game, it depends...

If it's a long cook (brisket, butt, etc) then I'll use larger chunks. Fist size or bigger. If it's a short cook then I'll use smaller chunks or chips.

Russ
 
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