Jogan Thomas
TVWBB Member
As the title, when do you put them on? As soon as you reach temp? how long do you wait to put the meat on to avoid blue smoke
If the chunks are bark-free you can wait to put them on until you're ready to cook. If they have bark, some people prefer to burn off some of the bark before putting the meat on.
In my WSM the wood chunks are part of the layer of unlit coals, and then I pour the lit coals over the top.
As the title, when do you put them on? As soon as you reach temp? how long do you wait to put the meat on to avoid blue smoke
I do pretty much what Harry Soo recommends.
My chunks go on the charcoal grate, with some wood directly in the center at the bottom of the donut. Lit coals get poured on top so the wood starts lighting right away. I also put one chunk in the chimney so that is going from the outset as well.
Meat goes on right away with no waiting, which is what Harry recommends. My goal is to get the cooker dialed in and stable as soon as possible. If you wait to put the meat on (tick tock) then you have to wait even longer (tick tock) for the cooker to stabilize since adding a bunch of cold meat drags the temp down. Heating up the water (which I don't use) is another tick tock.
I do not worry at all about the TBS. I want lots of smoke early since cold damp meat absorbs smoke flavor best. My version of the "smoke boost" feature that Weber has on the SmokeFire.
YMMV.
Is it more of a bitter taste putting it straight on?The blue smoke is actually what you're after. It's the billowing white smoke at the very beginning of the burn that you want to avoid. Once a fire is going well, there will be a thin blue smoke to even no smoke depending on how much wood you put in with the charcoal.
Personally, I incorporate some wood throughout my charcoal. I light it with a small amount of charcoal lit using a small chimney. Once I start the fire, I put the meat on. I must say, that I can tell the difference in the smoke taste when I do it this way, but I'm too lazy to care. If I had patience, I would let it burn a bit before putting the meat on to clear out that first burst of smoke. About a half hour would be good. I never worry about bark. If it's loose enough to peal off by hand, I would do so, but otherwise, I don't really care. Best to just buy wood with little to no bark.
If you bury them they have time to warm up and will burn cleaner.Is it more of a bitter taste putting it straight on?
If the wood chunks are burried under the charcoal, won't you always get that intial white smoke?
I agree. I don’t think the bark makes any difference.The blue smoke is actually what you're after. It's the billowing white smoke at the very beginning of the burn that you want to avoid. Once a fire is going well, there will be a thin blue smoke to even no smoke depending on how much wood you put in with the charcoal.
Personally, I incorporate some wood throughout my charcoal. I light it with a small amount of charcoal lit using a small chimney. Once I start the fire, I put the meat on. I must say, that I can tell the difference in the smoke taste when I do it this way, but I'm too lazy to care. If I had patience, I would let it burn a bit before putting the meat on to clear out that first burst of smoke. About a half hour would be good. I never worry about bark. If it's loose enough to peal off by hand, I would do so, but otherwise, I don't really care. Best to just buy wood with little to no bark.