Borrowed a large trailer smoker from a friend just to try it out. I discovered that that using the same rubs,sauces, etc that I always use, the product that I take off the WSM was/is FAR superior. I am not sure why, but although it took alot of work, the temps were kept stable (240 or so) with (2) briskets and 2 butts. Just wanted to say I love the WSM!
Tried a different smoker
- Thread starter DennisM
- Start date
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
They're whole different animals, and even if you can burn a clean fire in a stickburner, there's a lot more air movement. Depending on the amount of meat, this almost makes foiling necessary for a moist product. That said, I love cooking on a good one in good shape.
Here's a short story from week before last. I was up at the church helping with "bbq" using a church lady's smoker that was her dad's. She told me that she foils EVERYTHING to keep it from drying out, and even finishes chicken in the oven so it won't dry out. Seriously, that's what she told me. I was having a hard time getting a clean fire and then I finally realized what the problem was. Don't know why I didn't at first, but they'd already started the fire before I got there.
Anyway, if there was a fire grate, it was buried under about fifty pounds of ash, mostly Kingsford.
Didn't matter if the door was wide open. The fire couldn't breathe worth a flip. Like I told G.W. the other day, I'll be somewhere else and quite busy next time her and the church chef decide they want bbq for church fellowship supper night.
Yeah, I'm anal, but it's just no fun if you can't do it right.
Here's a short story from week before last. I was up at the church helping with "bbq" using a church lady's smoker that was her dad's. She told me that she foils EVERYTHING to keep it from drying out, and even finishes chicken in the oven so it won't dry out. Seriously, that's what she told me. I was having a hard time getting a clean fire and then I finally realized what the problem was. Don't know why I didn't at first, but they'd already started the fire before I got there.
Anyway, if there was a fire grate, it was buried under about fifty pounds of ash, mostly Kingsford.
Konrad Haskins
R.I.P. 3/23/2014
There is a world of difference between the brands of stick burners. I can run my stick burner for a day on $10 of premium priced wood. The product is good enough to take 1st place trophies and delight my students. There are a ton of competition cooks who experience similar results. It is the cook not the cooker.
I prefer unfoiled chicken and ribs and have no problems achieving excellent very moist results in the brand of stick burner I use.
I prefer unfoiled chicken and ribs and have no problems achieving excellent very moist results in the brand of stick burner I use.
Dale Perry
TVWBB Guru
Premium priced wood? That is a new one for me. Anyhow my opinion is if you know the cooker you are useing it shouldnt make much of a difference. I have used an ECB and made some great ribs. That is one cheap smoker.
I have 2 different stick burners and turned in several top tens when I used it in competition. They are 2 totally different cookers, one more air-tight than the other, and I have to cook different on each one. I agree any cooker will produce when used correctly.
I have used my smaller one without the fire grate and it will work, just harder to keep a constant higher temp because the fire cant breathe, so if I'm doing low and slow I leave the fire grate out and put it back in to cook at higher temps. It will normally cook 10 to 12 hours at 200 - 250 without the grate before the ash buildup becomes a issue. At 300 and higher it will cook 6 - 8 hours with the fire grate in. Both these cooks are using a 20lb bag of royal oak. Mine does not have a separate firebox so my fire is on the air intake end of the cooker with the meat on the other end.
I have used my smaller one without the fire grate and it will work, just harder to keep a constant higher temp because the fire cant breathe, so if I'm doing low and slow I leave the fire grate out and put it back in to cook at higher temps. It will normally cook 10 to 12 hours at 200 - 250 without the grate before the ash buildup becomes a issue. At 300 and higher it will cook 6 - 8 hours with the fire grate in. Both these cooks are using a 20lb bag of royal oak. Mine does not have a separate firebox so my fire is on the air intake end of the cooker with the meat on the other end.
Can you guys let me know what I (we) did incorrectly? Just curious. We started it with some charcoal, and then used logs the rest of the time. I am not sure of the brand, but it was very very very heavy, and on a heavy duty trailer with an offset firebox. We had no problems maintaining temps, as long as we were out there. However it was smokey all day.....not sure how to control that.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Dennis, no idea what exactly your issue was, but you do what you have to do as the situation dictates, and that comes with learning fire control and learning a particular smoker. To you and others, note that I'm talking about burning wood for fuel AND smoke when it comes to stickburners. I might start off with some charcoal, but I much prefer to simply feed a stickburner with sticks. Small, cheap offsets might need feeding as often as every 20 minutes, but heavier and more efficient cookers will be more like every 30 to maybe 45 minutes. That's just part of it, but it's just feeding the fire. If done right, you don't need to keep fiddling with the vent. While I prefer cooking in the 235-275* range, I'm most concerned with getting thin blue smoke. If that means I have to cook up around 300*, no problem. I'll foil for sure, though.
Anyway, and a for instance, loaded to the hilt with cold meat, temps will logically be a little low on most smokers, big offsets included. The mistake is in making the fire too big to get up to temp faster. Then you've got a fire you can't do anything with but to choke it, and so you end up with thick, bad smoke. Like I said, you're looking for thin blue smoke, and the way to accomplish that is with a small, hot, well-ventilated fire.
As to what to burn, small "mini logs" like they sell at Academy Sports are what you want to feed the fire with, not what you see on racks for firewood. Pecan is great for a little milder smoke and low-n-slow, burning at a lower temp than oak or hickory. Oak is also good for everything, and hickory is great for butts and briskets, although most anything else as well, if you really know what you're doing and/or using foil during the cook. Fruitwood coals don't last nearly as long so it's not my cup of tea for a stickburner.
If buying fireplace wood, that's fine, though. I'd just cut in half and split as needed. The appropriate sized, well-seasoned splits of wood will help a lot as opposed to big logs that smother and smolder when first put on the fire. I like it if there's a way to preheat my splits first by laying one at a time on top of the firebox before adding to the fire. Don't do this if there's a burn ban or your pit is over dry grass, but it helps the wood ignite much faster, resulting in a very constant stream of thin blue smoke. Once you know what's going on, you can just about forget about temps and when the smoke gets near invisible that means it's time to throw another one on. It's a lot of fun if you're doing it for fun.
Anyway, and a for instance, loaded to the hilt with cold meat, temps will logically be a little low on most smokers, big offsets included. The mistake is in making the fire too big to get up to temp faster. Then you've got a fire you can't do anything with but to choke it, and so you end up with thick, bad smoke. Like I said, you're looking for thin blue smoke, and the way to accomplish that is with a small, hot, well-ventilated fire.
As to what to burn, small "mini logs" like they sell at Academy Sports are what you want to feed the fire with, not what you see on racks for firewood. Pecan is great for a little milder smoke and low-n-slow, burning at a lower temp than oak or hickory. Oak is also good for everything, and hickory is great for butts and briskets, although most anything else as well, if you really know what you're doing and/or using foil during the cook. Fruitwood coals don't last nearly as long so it's not my cup of tea for a stickburner.
If buying fireplace wood, that's fine, though. I'd just cut in half and split as needed. The appropriate sized, well-seasoned splits of wood will help a lot as opposed to big logs that smother and smolder when first put on the fire. I like it if there's a way to preheat my splits first by laying one at a time on top of the firebox before adding to the fire. Don't do this if there's a burn ban or your pit is over dry grass, but it helps the wood ignite much faster, resulting in a very constant stream of thin blue smoke. Once you know what's going on, you can just about forget about temps and when the smoke gets near invisible that means it's time to throw another one on. It's a lot of fun if you're doing it for fun.
Konrad Haskins
R.I.P. 3/23/2014
Two problems. You need good and dry and seasoned wood. Wood the is too new or old, green or seen a lot of rain will not cook right. Trust but verify the wood is good, many have assumed good wood when it was not. Even with good wood some so called "Quality" smokers don't breathe "draw" right. You really need to be on top of your woodcraft and be able to build a small clean burning fire in less than great pits. A great pit like I use now makes it look easy with very little effort or tending. You need a minimum of two pieces of wood on a bed of coals parallel to the air flow and close enough to reflect heat off each other. On a true premium pit with an insulated firebox you can get away with one log on a bed of coals. But I can only think of three brands I'd trust to do that.
I've won a lot of trophies on pits that I would not recommend due to quality issues. The pit I just used to feed 200 wounded warriors and teach a free BBQ class to the USMC at Camp Pendleton, I would recommend without reservation.
I've won a lot of trophies on pits that I would not recommend due to quality issues. The pit I just used to feed 200 wounded warriors and teach a free BBQ class to the USMC at Camp Pendleton, I would recommend without reservation.
Dale Perry
TVWBB Guru
I know some great cooks that use green wood. I tried and didnt have any luck with it but they have. I like dry and well seasoned too.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Me, too. I used to think that I liked some green peach with hickory on my pork butts but have since found that I liked seasoned much better.