I saw a post in a FB group where a guy said he got really consistent results in his Bronco by using wood splits for smoke.
Anyone here ever done it? What would make it different than using chunks?
Cookers:
Oklahoma Joe Offset (older thick steel version!)
Camp Chef Woodwind
OK Joe Bronco
Weber Genesis
Ooni Karu
Weber Kettle
My goal is to eventually have at least one of every style of cooker….. I have work to do. Lol!
Thermometers:
ThermoWorks Thermapen MK4
ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE
ThermoWorks Thermopop
ThermoWorks RFX
ThermoWorks IRK-2 Infrared
Maverick XR-50
TempSpike Plus
Other Gear:
Megaforce 3000 Meat Grinder
Weston 7-pound sausage stuffer
Jerky Gun for making poppers. (Game changer!)
Amaz-N-Tube
Original SnS with drip n griddle
Weber Chimney
Fuels Used:
Splits/Chunks, whatever I can get. Usually B&B competition. Favorites are Cherry, Apple, Post Oak, and Hickory.
Pellets, Lumberjack.
Charcoal, whatever is on sale. Currently have a bunch of KBB. Will eventually try B&B. Use whatever lump is on sale in my Ooni.
Propane, Blue Rhino.
Rubs:
Usually make my own riff’s on Memphis Dust and BBBR. Also use Meathead’s commercial rubs and occasionally try something new. I like a couple from Tuffy Stone and Kinder’s. After several surgeries, I’m very sensitive to “spicy” stuff, so I need to be careful about heat levels.
I have not, but my interest is absolutely piqued……. I may have to try this on my next cook on the Bronco!!! Just got a doe tonight, so venison sausage is in my future!!!! Can’t believe I never thought of it before.
My feelings exactly. It never occurred to me. Gonna give it a try.
The interesting thing to me is that the guy that posted it was pretty exact in his approach. 8 lbs of charcoal and 4 wood splits. I found it interesting because I've never weighed my charcoal. I have no idea what size splits he was using, so I'll just use an amount that would be comparable to the amount of wood chunks I would use, and see what happens
I don't see how using wood splits compared to using wood chunks would make a difference. The driver is the charcoal is for fuel/heat and the wood is for smoke....right? If he is getting better wood smoke flavor from splits over chunks then I would say that the wood splits are seasoned and the wood chunks are kiln dried. Seasoned wood is much better at giving smoke flavor than kiln dried wood.
For sure, I do this with my PK. I always use seasoned wood for better flavor. Just make them as small as needed so they burn to coals rather than smolder and create sooty smoke.
I don't see how there could be enough airflow for wood splits to burn efficiently. It might work, I guess, but I'm not going to mess with success (with B&B briquets and a couple of chunks).
I'll throw my view in here, even though I don't own a Bronco.
My first question, are you wanting these splits to combust in flame ?
But my experience with stickburners, is that larger splits tend to smolder more. Smaller splits are more likely to combust into flame, which is desired in order to get the good clean smoke. Its like using kindling to start a fire.
On my WSM, I used smaller chunks or very skinny half splits. I thought they burned cleaner.
good info. Thank you.
I will be using small splits as pictured below.
the top one is how I get them. The bottom two are after I split it.
I did a Santa Maria style cook on my kettle recently, and the smaller splits are what I used, and they burned pretty nicely.
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