WSK and amount of smoke with wood chunks


 
Joe-Mofongolero

Joe-Mofongolero

TVWBB Member
Hi all.

For my first round of steaks on the WSK, I used lump charcoal, one single chunk of apple wood, and this was using the char baskets in the indirect setup.

I have read about so many people saying they don't get enough smoke with the WSK, but these were insanely smoky. I liked it, but my kids didn't like that taste.

For reference, they were ribeyes that were maybe 1.5" thick. The usual packaged stuff you see at supermarkets.

I know I can use chips or even pellets for smaller pieces of meat, but I'd like to hear thoughts on what might be going on. I think the wood chunk burned up too quickly, which I know is a thing with apple chunks, but I thought apple is also supposed to be milder. Maybe I also need to consider that the lump charcoal is adding more to that smoke flavor while briquettes might be more even. I dunno. I'm stuck in my own head here :D

My worry is that I'm going to do a long smoke setup (diffuser plate in place) and I'm going to have a pork butt or brisket with wayyyyy too much smoke.

I know I tend to ramble and I don't always make sense, so feel free to let me know if I need to clarify anything.

I appreciate any and all feedback on this one. Thanks!
 
Also, I did read the "operating advice" thread currently right below this one, but I'm still unsure of how to best solve for what I'm experiencing. I don't want anyone thinking I don't do my homework! 😁
 
I smoke steaks and trip-tip using chips in smoke tubes without any coals lit for at least an hour, two hours is better. I put the meat on right away even if the smoke is still thick white and hasn't changed to thin blue. This only lasts a few minutes with smoke tubes so I don't bother waiting I just put the meat on and go.

Timing depends on outside temps, two hours with two smoke tubes will get a pit temp over 100F, sometimes as much as 150F. If it is hot out in summer, put a meat probe in and watch the internal temp. Usually after an hour or two, internal temp is over 100F, and still needs some heat to get it to 120 to 125F before I reverse sear.

I've cooked countless tri tip and a bunch of rib eyes and it is very hard to get too much smoke because the meat is not on very long.

I'll look for one of my past cooks and see if it has anything useful to add.
 
topic #2 wood chunks and which wood goes with what protein. This is a widely discussed topic and I'm not the expert, but I'll share what I do.

Beef: Short cooks: Steaks, Tri Tip and others where it is served rare or medium rare. I use Post Oak and/or Pecan. A mix of both or one or the other. Pecan adds a sweet flavor, post oak has a more traditional smoke flavor. If I use pecan I'll light two tubes and let them go as long as I can. I've also mixed in some white oak chunks with the coal.

Beef: long cooks. Oak and Cherry are what I use. I haven't done that many brisket's or beef ribs so I'd follow others on this one.

Pork: Apple, Peach, Hickory. I use all of them and I wish I'd kept better notes. I only had apple and hickory for a while but now have peach chunks too.

Chicken / fish: I don't really smoke chicken or fish. I like grilling with mesquite for chicken and for fish but I've not had any mesquite for a while. I need to find a new source. The place I used to buy mesquite lump and oak lump closed.
 
DanHoo said:
topic #2 wood chunks and which wood goes with what protein. This is a widely discussed topic and I'm not the expert, but I'll share what I do.

Beef: Short cooks: Steaks, Tri Tip and others where it is served rare or medium rare. I use Post Oak and/or Pecan. A mix of both or one or the other. Pecan adds a sweet flavor, post oak has a more traditional smoke flavor. If I use pecan I'll light two tubes and let them go as long as I can. I've also mixed in some white oak chunks with the coal.

Beef: long cooks. Oak and Cherry are what I use. I haven't done that many brisket's or beef ribs so I'd follow others on this one.

Pork: Apple, Peach, Hickory. I use all of them and I wish I'd kept better notes. I only had apple and hickory for a while but now have peach chunks too.

Chicken / fish: I don't really smoke chicken or fish. I like grilling with mesquite for chicken and for fish but I've not had any mesquite for a while. I need to find a new source. The place I used to buy mesquite lump and oak lump closed.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I have apple and hickory chunks on hand, so I went with apple. I will give chips a go next time. I also realized that with all that cut surface exposed on a steak, it's probably making it easy for me to oversaturate it with smoke during the 40-45 minutes it takes to get to 117 internal.

I'll stop overthinking this and try your recommendations next time
 
Wood chunks in the coals for high heat steaks doesn’t make smoke. You’re just burning the wood.

Recco is to place the wood chunk atop the grate and the heat will smoke the wood. Larger chunks of wood will deliver more smoke.

I like white oak for beef. It’s clean and natural tasting and compliments the beef, not enhances it.

I like to smoke my steaks frozen (NY strips) and then remove them from the grill once they get 90-95°F. Then I crank the lump for the hot sear around 10 minutes later.

You can see my threads on NY strips for pics.

I prefer to not overdo any premium cut steak. I want to taste the beef flavor with a small amount of salt and black pepper.
 
Brett-EDH said:
Wood chunks in the coals for high heat steaks doesn’t make smoke. You’re just burning the wood.

Recco is to place the wood chunk atop the grate and the heat will smoke the wood. Larger chunks of wood will deliver more smoke.

I like white oak for beef. It’s clean and natural tasting and compliments the beef, not enhances it.

I like to smoke my steaks frozen (NY strips) and then remove them from the grill once they get 90-95°F. Then I crank the lump for the hot sear around 10 minutes later.

You can see my threads on NY strips for pics.

I prefer to not overdo any premium cut steak. I want to taste the beef flavor with a small amount of salt and black pepper.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendations. Regarding the temp, I put the wood in while I was running at 225-250 for the slow cook part of the reverse sear, and I probably should have let it smolder a bit before putting the meat on.

I'm definitely going to give the chunk on the grate a go since I should be able to control that easier.

Also, I have to agree with the smoke and better cuts of steak. Two days after I had the oversmoked steak described, I made another two with only lump charcoal (indirect at 225, rested outside while I got both baskets roaring hot). Tasted amazing.

I appreciate you and @DanHoo sharing your experiences!

Bonus lump only steak pics:

1753634686394.jpeg

1753634697472.jpeg
 
@Joe-Mofongolero happy to share what I've learned, and I'm still learning.

A few days before a bigger cook, post a thread asking for suggestions and get feedback in advance, choose a path and go with it. Take pics and make notes. If it's amazing you'll have a record of what to do next time. If it falls short, you'll have notes on where to improve. post the cook results and get feedback. We can't taste the results, but good pics tell a story.
 
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