no wood


 
Cory:

"Too smokey" has been a complaint in my household too. Since last spring, I've been smoking w/o wood, and I still get the occasional complaint. I've also gone in search of more "all natural" briquettes and (hopefully) milder lump (was using mesquite lump) to try: still got a bunch of Ranchers/TJ's go through though. I'm taking it as an opportunity to try out different fuel sources ;-)

Long story short: you're not alone, and you'll still have charcoal flavor.

Pleasant experimenting
 
If you (they?) don't like the smoky charcoal/wood taste then cook the meat in the oven, it's a lot easier and less mess too. Wrestling with charcoal and wood and ashes is worth it if you like BBQ taste. Otherwise you just get oven-baked meat with BBQ sauce.

Some people don't like BBQ. I like roasting meet in the oven and in a dutch oven too. Not BBQ but plenty tasty. Different strokes...
 
Originally posted by j biesinger:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">J, so does lump give you any more flavor than K, or not? What about something like Stubbs briquettes?
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I have never cooked over kingsford, so I can not say either way. I was just relating a story that highlights some of the absurdity of KCBS. I thought it was relevant to the discussion.

I use mostly humphrey's charcoal. I have not noticed any taste difference between their briquettes and their lump.

A few years back, a few people around here was talking up "switching to lump." They claimed that there was a cleaner taste that allowed the rub and smoke flavors to be more pronounced. I switched to see and noticed zero difference. I assumed either the effect was totally overblown, or people were switching from crummy briquettes to good lump (I stuck to the same brand). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll stick w/ the Stubbs briquettes then.
Thanks a bunch, J.
 
Originally posted by Paul Lai:
Cory:

"Too smokey" has been a complaint in my household too. Since last spring, I've been smoking w/o wood, and I still get the occasional complaint. I've also gone in search of more "all natural" briquettes and (hopefully) milder lump (was using mesquite lump) to try: still got a bunch of Ranchers/TJ's go through though. I'm taking it as an opportunity to try out different fuel sources ;-)

Long story short: you're not alone, and you'll still have charcoal flavor.

Pleasant experimenting
Click to expand...

Paul, even if not using wood, wait until your smoke thins out before you put your meat on, and make sure your lid vent stays 100% open until it's time to kill the coals.
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Dave Russell wrote:
even if not using wood, wait until your smoke thins out before you put your meat on, and make sure your lid vent stays 100% open
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Thanks for the suggestions. Done and done. Any more refinements?
 
I've "smoked" over K (blue bag) and Lump. I haven't used K in years now.

To me straight K is better than oven roasting AFA flavor (smell has a lot to do with it too) - straight lump is better overall to me, maybe because it's not processed/sawdust. It's more like cooking over campfire coals. There's a natural, simple smoke flavor that is fine on its own, and that's what I do when I know I'll be serving people who don't like "smoked meats". Use quality lump though not Cowboy or the like. I use Humphrey's.

Otherwise just what folks recommend above.
 
Corey...I'm sure it might have been covered already but incase it hasn't, here's my two cents. I like a slight smoke flavor. And I was having the same trouble as your family lately. So the past 3 or 4 smokes I started preburning my chunks in the chimney. Big difference, I still get that smoke flavor but just a hint, which is just right.. It should do the trick for ya. I only use 1 chunk of apple or cherry. Should be a happy medium for everyone.
 
Originally posted by Bill S.:
Corey...I'm sure it might have been covered already but incase it hasn't, here's my two cents. I like a slight smoke flavor. And I was having the same trouble as your family lately. So the past 3 or 4 smokes I started preburning my chunks in the chimney. Big difference, I still get that smoke flavor but just a hint, which is just right.. It should do the trick for ya. I only use 1 chunk of apple or cherry. Should be a happy medium for everyone.
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Bill, since you've done this a bit, what would you say to the folks that claim wood coals will give no more flavor than lump?

Also, would you agree that you gotta make sure the wood is preburned all the way to coals? It's my experience that if not, the smoke coming out of the cooker will NOT be pleasant, at least for a little while, and that defeats the purpose.
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Originally posted by Dave Russell:


Bill, since you've done this a bit, what would you say to the folks that claim wood coals will give no more flavor than lump?

Also, would you agree that you gotta make sure the wood is preburned all the way to coals? It's my experience that if not, the smoke coming out of the cooker will NOT be pleasant, at least for a little while, and that defeats the purpose.
icon_redface.gif
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Dave...I've never used lump, so I really can't judge on flavor it puts out.

I'll agree with you on the second statement. I jumped the gun a bit on this past smoke and figured I had burned the chunk down enough. There was still some uncharred "wood" left when I put it in the smoker. Got a bit more of a smoke flavor than I was expecting, but within' my limits.

Now on the other hand....On a longer smoke such as a butt I did a few weeks ago. I could barely taste the smoke at all, and I'm pretty sensitive to smokey tastes. So in the future I may have to go with two preburned chunks on longer smokes.
 
Some lump is more thoroughly carbonized than others, and for that matter some brands are more consistent than others. You might try a couple of different types that are easy to get locally and see if you like any of them.

Typically when grilling I'll just choose a lump that'll go well with whatever I'm cooking and not add wood, and when smoking I'll use a very neutral lump and add smoke wood.
 
Originally posted by Paul Lai:
Cory:

"Too smokey" has been a complaint in my household too. Since last spring, I've been smoking w/o wood, and I still get the occasional complaint. I've also gone in search of more "all natural" briquettes and (hopefully) milder lump (was using mesquite lump) to try: still got a bunch of Ranchers/TJ's go through though. I'm taking it as an opportunity to try out different fuel sources ;-)

Long story short: you're not alone, and you'll still have charcoal flavor.

Pleasant experimenting
Click to expand...

Paul,

make the trip up to the lazzaris factory in SF. Its right across 101 from candlestick. you can get the oak lump, which is much better and much less smokey than the mesquite. I go up every year and get about 5 40 pound bags. they sell the 40 pounders for around $18. but beware. because you are getting at the factory and not having it moved around in transit to the retailers, there can be some very big pieces.

http://www.lazzari.com/
 
John: Have a bag of the Oak lump sitting in my garage waiting for the next large smoke. Found it at BevMo this summer after our last conversation ;-) Thanks for the reminder.
 
I've done plenty of charcoal only cooks and I think they taste just as good without wood. I think if your smoker is seasoned the heat will heat whats stuck on the sides and it will smoke regardless. I know that my wsm has got at least 3 years of "seasonings" on it.
 
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