SnS wood cook experiment

[David Parrish]

Best chicken I've had this year...... YET!! I don't think that I'll grill chicken with briquettes again.

Ernest we had a customer just this morning say he'd tried cooking with wood but wasn't happy with how long the pieces lasted. Any tips for how to make cooking with wood work?

[Ernest]

I had 3 soda can sized pieces, lasted an hour. If he's looking long cooks, it's not going to work. This is perfect for short high heat cooking.

[fuzzydaddy]

Ernest, that is possibly the best looking chicken I've ever seen. Well done!

[Ernest]

Much appreciated fuzzydaddy

[Powersmoke_80]

Ernest , do you think by making smaller chunks and pre-burning them you could get it to act like charcoal for a lower longer cook?

[Ernest]

Powersmoke_80 Not quite. Small chunks will disintegrate to non useable coals by the time they are ready for cooking.
Secondly, pre burnt wood still puts out some high heat. By the time you get that temp under control for low temp cooking, it will be time to replenish the coals. Could be doable if you had a way to have a continuous supply of ready to go pre burnt wood. But that's a headache.

[Powersmoke_80]

Might have to try and make my own lump charcoal for the h_ll of it.

[mackdaddy]

Going to have to try that. Chicken looks great!

[Ernest]

Last time wasn't a fluke. I'll prove it to you........

Mesquite wood burning



We're ready to cook... What's on the menu? Meatballs



Thirty minutes in...



We're done here..



Just in time, 55 minutes.



Some went with sauce



Best Meatyballs ever!



Didn't take as many pictures because it was drizzling.

[Ernest]

Woke up today only to find chicken being thawed. I immediately knew what that meant. Didn't bother asking, just went and fired up some Cherry and mesquite mini logs.





Cherry and mesquite wood is now my favorite chicken combo on the SnS.

[Tim E]

Unbelievable! That skin

[Ernest]

Tim E crackling, you'd think you bit into chicken skin chips.

[David Parrish]

Amazing skin. What temp are you cooking at and what are you doing as far as brine/rub before the cook?

[Ernest]

David Parrish nothing special. This one was dry brined then tossed in the freezer. Thawed Sunday morning, rubbed with mayo mixed with a little chipotle powder and tossed on the grill.
It was 400 degrees when I put it on. Dropped to 350 rest of the cook.

[David Parrish]

Based on appearance that's a very good technique.

[Ernest]

David Parrish This will be my standard technique going forward.
Outside temp was 56 degrees so I used 4 mini logs this time.
Ran out at 1 hour 10 minutes, chicken was done at 55 minutes.

The only negative is that burning down the logs takes time but the results are worth the wait.

[Huskee]

Nice! Cherry wood adds a great touch in combination. I'm finding cherry and oak to be my current favorite for beef. I think I'm going to pick up some mesquite chunks and do an Ernest cook.

[Dr ROK]

This sounds promising for CandySueQ BBQR's Delight cherry pellets. They are a combination of oak and cherry. Gonna give those a try next.

[Ernest]

I'm loving mesquite. As much as I'm loving Cherry wood, it is literally double the price of mesquite, hickory, oak and Pecan.

[Tim E]

Hey Ernest have you done any all wood cooks on the PBC? Wondering if I could achieve similar results. I would use the SNS like you have, but all I have is a jumbo joe.