Wood or Pellets: Which is better in a WSM?


 
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Madbbqer

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My amazon.com-ordered WSM will be here in a month or so, and i've been doing a lot of research on how to utilize it to the best of its ability.

While pellets appear to be an attractive, low cost alternative to wood chunks, it appears that they don't last as long.

What is your experience with both, which one do you prefer & why?
 
Hello, Mad Savannah, Welcome to the Board! My experience has been that large chunks are so cheap, and in the bullet burn so long and evenly, from a cost standpoint pellets are not saving a great deal of money. The time that I tried pellets, they burned up very quickly and didn't give near the flavor that chunk wood did. So unless you are working a BBQ production line, I would say stick to the traditional. Good luck on your cooking and trust me, your bullet will be worth the wait!
 
Mad BBQ'er,

I have used both, I think the wood chunks last longer and give you a fuller smoke flavor on your product. The pellets don't last as long, but give a short intense blast of smoke. I have used pellets both in aluminum pouch and cast iron smoke box. Just my opinion, after a limited 4 cooks on my WSM.
 
Wood pellets are quite dry, they are put under a lot of pressure during manufacture causing them to be dry. If you were using them for your heat source, they still don't put out the kind of smoke that chunks of wood would (the hard part is to use pellets as the main heat source on a WSM). The amount of pellets needed to produce the same amount of smoke flavor will make them not as cost effective.
Jim
 
I used a mixture of orange pellets in a tinfoil pouch,and a few chunks of real cherry wood on the ham and turkey I smoked in the WSM for Christmas. They turned out great!

I have used pellets in my One Touch Gold before for smoking while grilling indirect. I like them.
 
Pat T.: When you made reference to "chunk wood", it made me wonder if you (or anyone else) has ever used wood-only in the WSM. Words of wisdom?

--Ken
 
Ken-K, No I have never used pure wood in my bullet, and don't think I would have the experience, skills or cojones to try. I did have a cousin in North Alabama though who cooked a pig with a cord of wood and a gallon of moonshine in the trunk of an abandoned 57 Dodge, but that is another story. Seriously, I think Chris' thread addressed this topic best.
 
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