Foil Packets with wood chips in the PBC? Bad idea? Good idea?

[vibemore]

I want to add some wood smoke to my PBC cook tomorrow, but all I could find for wood was some apple and cherry chips. I know that they would just burn up quickly in the charcoal. Has anybody put these in foil packets in the PBC? Bad idea? Good idea? Thanks for your help. BTW...tomorrow will be cook#2 on the PBC, and I'm so pumped up about it. Woohoo! Happy 4th of July to y'all!

[MBMorgan]

Foil packets containing a handful of dry (not soaked) wood chips work quite well in the PBC. Two things to remember:

1. You only need to cut a couple of very fine slits in each packet. You don’t want so much air getting into them that the chips burst into flames. Basically, you’re making the chips into charcoal.
2. Place them on the coals where they aren’t getting fat and grease dripped on them ... otherwise you’re risking a flameout if they get smothered.

[vibemore]

Thank you!

[Steve R.]

Not good or bad, just unnecessary, imho. I would go with a chunk of wood vs chips.

[BFlynn]

I don't think it hurts to do it, but it's easier to add a couple chunks to the charcoal basket.

[Oak Smoke]

I went by Walmart yesterday to restock on apple wood chunks and was surprised to see that all they had were chips. I went ahead and bought a bag to use in my smoke pot. It is a small cast iron pot with a lid and a few holes drilled in the bottom. Just fill it with dry chips or pellets for a pellet smoker, put the lid on, and place it on top of your charcoal after it's well lit. I get nice blue smoke with mine. They were discussed at length here a while back. Most of us used them in kamado style cookers, but it might well work in a pbc.

[Huskee]

I agree no harm no foul. But if you want to amp up the smoke in the PBC, it might be time to move on to chunks. Big league.

[tdimond]

I got the impression that vibemore couldn't find chunk locally and was looking to make a substitution with what was available.

[vibemore]

Right...I couldn't find chunks but found chips. The foil packets ended up working out ok. But I'll be looking for chunks in the future. Thanks.

[FireMan]

Ditto on chunks & ya only need mebbee two.

[ByTor]

Okay, don't know where else to ask. Newbie. I have an smoker tube for pellets for my grill and a whole mess of pellets. Is it possible to use it in the Barrell? Hang it or put it on the rack? Yeah, No?

[kill2grill]

Okay, don't know where else to ask. Newbie. I have an smoker tube for pellets for my grill and a whole mess of pellets. Is it possible to use it in the Barrell? Hang it or put it on the rack? Yeah, No?

Yup. You can cold smoke some stuff that way in the PBC ( ice cubes, ice cream, mayo, nuts ). Otherwise, you might need to consider using that smoke tube with a half basket of charcoal. If that doesn't sound good - keep the pellets to the grill.

[fzxdoc]

Sounds like a fun thing to try, ByTor especially if you're trying to use up some pellets and don't have wood chunks handy. So you're thinking to light it and hang it? I'd think you may want to suspend it below the level of the meat so the smoke wafts up past the food before leaving the barrel. I use one on my gas grill when cooking salmon to give just a bit of smoke flavor but have never even thought to try it on the PBC.

You'll still get a ton of smoky flavor with charcoal alone. Some people say they can't appreciate a change in flavor when a couple of chunks of wood is added to the PBC but I sure can.

Let us know how it works out.

Kathryn

[ByTor]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as the pellets are milder than the chunks. Use a wire and hang it down below the meat. I use it with chicken on the grill (and salmon) as well.