Woodless?!


 
C

Colby R

TVWBB Super Fan
Anyone else too lazy sometimes to go cut up wood to use or forget to grab a bag of chunks at store and do without ? About half the time I totally forget to get wood and I know what I think of the results what do you think when you use no wood at all just charcoal
 
My wife doesn't like much smoke so for ribs and chicken I go without wood a lot. I use lump though so I get just enough smoke flavour from that.
 
Don't think i could do this, I always make sure i have enough wood, it wouldn't be right without a nice smokey flavour! Luckily my lady loves it as much as i do.
 
My wife and I like some smoke on stronger flavored foods, foods like chicken and such not so much or none at all.
 
I seldom cook without wood. My chosen wood is mostly Apple but have Cherry and sometimes add Hickory. I keep a supply on hand. My son gifted me with some Pear Trimmings and this spring I'll be trying that out. Wood is such a minimal expense, even when you do like I do and get most of it at HD, Lowe's, or Menard's.

We DO prefer a "light smoke" but use it on cold smoked cheese and most all of the meats we smoke/cook.

FWIW
Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I have found I prefer the lighter smoke woods and have a bunch of apple for example. I also use lump and get a nice light smoke flavor from just that.
 
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I think you'd all be surprised the smoke flavor you get from just kingsford blues I did it by accident the first time and was surprised that's why I haven't worried as much since then If it's low and slow it's delicious regardless although I too prefer apple
 
Tony if you are using lump you are using wood, actually the same with good charcoal.
Don't believe me? Try it with some small cook, just lump. Save a little leftover grub and put it in a plastic container in the fridge overnight.
Next day pop it open for lunch. Smell the food after you open the container. If you don't get a nice smell of smoke I will buy you dinner when you and Maribel come east next time.
 
Sometimes less is more... Did multiple chicken cooks this weekend using a single chunk of cherry. Nice color and just the right amount of smoke.
 
I like to use different woods, but I have a friend who never used it, just charcoal on his 18" WSM and he
made pulled pork that everybody loved too.
 
I used to say that if you didn't use wood, it wasn't BBQ, mainly due to experiences cooking on other cookers with lump alone. Slow Minion burns are a different story, though, and some of my best chicken has been smoked with nothing but lump and maybe one chunk of cherry. But different bags of lump smoke differently. Regarding BBQ, since the weather was really foul on my last butt cook, I used a briquette, B&B Oak. I didn't have to use nearly as much hickory since the briquettes seemed to smoke a bit most of the cook. I'd rather that they burnt cleaner, but they lasted longer than any other fuel I've used. Whether I use water or not and how much it steams is also a factor. The more steam, the more it cleans up the smoke. One reason why I prefer water for poultry.
 
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Colby R said:
Way to make no sense enrico
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Sorry for my english.
I wanted to say that my wife and my doughter too do not like smoke at all, but I am the chief in command in bbqing. For this reason when I cook I use always smoke and I invite to dinner other people so at the end we are not only 5 (my family) but 8 / 10.
 
Enrico I was kidding I knew what you meant I'm the same way just know sometimes it's hard to go against boss ladies wishes cause you'll never live it down haha
 
Bill Schultz said:
Tony if you are using lump you are using wood, actually the same with good charcoal.
Don't believe me? Try it with some small cook, just lump. Save a little leftover grub and put it in a plastic container in the fridge overnight.
Next day pop it open for lunch. Smell the food after you open the container. If you don't get a nice smell of smoke I will buy you dinner when you and Maribel come east next time.
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I agree with you Bill.

When I use lump no wood chunks are needed.
 
So I could run lump and kingsford blue and it would take place of my wood chunks? I used mesquite briquettes two weeks ago on my pork butts and I noticed they barely put off any smoke compared to the blues but yet I still had a deep smoke ring
 
Colby R said:
So I could run lump and kingsford blue and it would take place of my wood chunks? I used mesquite briquettes two weeks ago on my pork butts and I noticed they barely put off any smoke compared to the blues but yet I still had a deep smoke ring
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It all depends on the level of smokey taste you want. I have seen guys use lump only and still add a few chunks of wood.

I don't use lump for long smoking sessions that often. Usually for a quick cook less than 2 hours or so.
 
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