Wood AND Charcoal ... or just Wood?


 
A

AngelFallon

New member
I just checked out Franklins videos on youtube and he appears to use just wood for his smoking but it appears that most people around here seem to use mostly charcoal with a few pieces of wood for the smoke .. would it be better (flavor-wise) to only use wood?

Why do people use charcoal, is it just because its easier/burns longer?
 
Depends on the pit, if you have a stick-burner or a homemade heavy steel pit like Franklin does than all wood is preferred. Since most of us use WSM's which are designed to burn charcoal, we do:wsm:

Tim
 
A WSM isn't really made to be a wood-only cooker. It's designed to severely restrict airflow to keep temps down and cook for a really long time on a load of charcoal. Aaron Franklin cooks on offset smokers also known as "stick burners" that are designed to burn log splits. On those you control your temperature with the amount of fuel in the smoker (i.e. how many and how big of sticks) and you have to keep adding fuel every 45-90 minutes or so.

You certainly *can* try cooking just with wood on a WSM, but it's so small and efficient that you'd probably be tossing in fist-size chunks every 20-30 minutes or so. One of the big reasons so many of us like our WSMs is that they're practically "set it and forget it", i.e. once you get your temperatures stabilized, it will cook for hours without any sort of attention.
 
The only way to burn only wood in a charcoal smoker like a wsm is to burn wood down to coals and shovel in as needed. No, charcoal doesn't add as much flavor as wood, but actually, the added flavor is only advantageous for butts and briskets. There's a LOT more to consider when comparing the two types of smokers though, and IMHO, any significant flavor superiority from a butt or brisket smoked in a stick burner is diluted after wrapping in foil...which most happen to do.
 
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If you are using a kettle wood will work fine. Sometimes I use the fist sized chunks and no charcoal. They do need to burn down,
but are good to cook with then. Much more flavor than charcoal. Great for steak, chops or burgers, and for longer cooks too.
I use a mix of oak and apple, or sometimes hickory. Give it a try, and dont be afraid to experiment a little.
 
Thanks for all the feedback !!

Ill have to play around with it some .. Im thinking just enough coals to keep it hot and I dont mind tossing in small logs to keep it fueled and smoked.
 
Again, it depends on what kind of smoker you're using. Tossing wood into a charcoal smoker is mainly for flavor, while the charcoal is for fuel. The flaming fire of a stickburner is different from the smoldering fire of a charcoal smoker. Toss too much wood on either though, and you'll end up with too heavy a smoke flavor...or worse, a nasty creosote flavor.
 
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