Wood Chunks Added during the cook?


 
Chris E

Chris E

TVWBB Pro
I've searched through a lot of posts but wanted to ping folks on their method for adding smoke chunks.

I have 18.5 WSM and usually do minion with coals spread. I add 3 or 4 dry wood chunks that are smaller than a baseball. I see smoke coming out of the cooker for an hour or so but then not much.

I used the "can" minion method and put some chunks in center and some near the outside assuming they'd get consumed later and spread out the smoke. They didn't get burned in the 4/5 hours I had my ribs on there.

Do you guys add wood during the cook? Throw on some extra chips? I'm going to try brisket this weekend and that is a long cook so wondering about adding wood during the process.
 
As long as you're getting nice blue whisps of smoke coming out, you're good.

To add more wood, I just open the side door and toss in a chunk or two with long tongs.
 
I normaly just bury some and put a nice fist size chiunk on top and seems to work fine ! IF I wana excite the neighbors . I toss a oinion on the coals and a couple chunks a fruit wood
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Chris, something that I learned recently that I had not been doing but am now that I know. I start my coals in my WSM and let them cook until there is no smoke coming out of the top vent, I then add my smoke wood and a couple minutes later my meat. This is what was described to me by a pro as a "Clean" cook. Seems to make sense to me and all the smoke that I see is smoke wood and not charcoal.
Obviously there are differing opinions about when to put the meat in the smoker and when to add the smoke wood. I like this method so far.

Mark
 
I never use more than 3 or 4 medium chunks which I put on the coals at the start. That's all the smoke flavor I need for my taste no matter what I'm cooking. Your taste may vary.
Yes, I get the white clouds of smoke at first, but they die down shortly, but that doesn't mean the end of the wood. Not hardly, they still continue to smoke. For my money, there's nothing worse than too much smoke. JMO
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mk evenson:
Chris, something that I learned recently that I had not been doing but am now that I know. I start my coals in my WSM and let them cook until there is no smoke coming out of the top vent, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Do you use the minion method? I usually let all my lit K in the chimney burn until there is no smoke and only glowing flames before I dump it in.

I was debating on whether to get the "big" bag of wood chunks which are fist sized or to get the little bags which are smaller. I wanted to try different kinds so i went with the small bags until I find what i like.

P.S. liked the cherry with ribs last weekend. Did sassafras with turkey and that was good. Still need to try oak.
 
If I'm wondering why my wood smoke has already petered out, I'll reach in with my tongs and simply turn over a chunk to put the uncharred side on the coals. With decent sized chunks this will give you a good bit more smoke out of each one and better smoke since they're already hot. I've also started keeping two or three hot by wedging them between the bowl and the heat shield on the bottom.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris E:
Originally posted by mk evenson:
Do you use the minion method? .

I was debating on whether to get the "big" bag of wood chunks which are fist sized or to get the little bags which are smaller. I wanted to try different kinds so i went with the small bags until I find what i like.

P.S. liked the cherry with ribs last weekend. Did sassafras with turkey and that was good. Still need to try oak. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Chris, I do use a slightly modified Minion Method. I use lump and pour the hot into a depression of the cold coals at one side of the ring. I pour when I see flames in the chimney, which is quite common with lump. I don't let it ash over. I add the hot near the door so that I can add the smoke wood directly to the hot . I kinda like the small sized chunk smoke wood as there are times when I want to add a little smoke and don't want to cut the chunks.

Mark
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