Charcoal/Wood Ratio

[DCs Smokin BBQ]

Hey BBQ Fam,

I got tied into helping with a festival ( I do get to keep smoker..:-)) that is going to require some long burn/cook time (queing everyday over a period 4-5 days). Its a 500 gal Smoker with about 5000 sq in of cooking space. The firebox is approx 38"W x 36"Depth x 24"H

Our temp goal is 275 degrees

We want to infuse Hickory smoke into the meat.

So my questions are:

1 - What charcoal will burn clean and the longest?
2 - Whats a good ratio of Char & Wood to use?
3 - How often 'wood' one add wood?
4 - Should I go with wood chunks or splits or is there really a difference
5 - How much Charcoal and wood might I need? (want to buy bulk to save$)


I'm sure I forgot something so let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Thx

DC

[tbob4]

I will let the others weigh in on the best charcoal. If I was cooking constantly for 4-5 days and opening the doors a lot to serve folks, I would have to have a hotter than normal fire in my unit. With that said, I could see you going through a really good deal of wood. I would have 1/4 cord of wood splits on hand. It will be overkill, but it's a lot better than running out. I use charcoal to start my wood and will add some from time to time only if the fire dies down to much and I can't regain my temp. That is operator error on my part. I think PaulstheRibList would be a really good resource for you.

[RonB]

I'm with Bob. Use charcoal to start your wood fire. Have some extra charcoal in case your temp goes too low, but try to keep a small hot wood fire. That way you will get clean smoke - if the wood is dry. So you need to source some dry hickory splits. Costco has 2 bags of "Professional" charcoal on sale now.

1/4 cord of wood is a stack 4'X4'X2'. I have no idea how much wood you will need, but monitor the first day's use so you can get more if it's going too fast.

I also suggest having an axe on hand just in case you need to finely tune the fire with smaller splits.

[Bruce54]

That's one big rig! Seriously, I'd like to someday step up to a good smoker around the size of your fire box. If you're far enough out from the event, a practice run (or 2, or ...) would be good.

For charcoal, I'd recommend Royal Oak "Chef Select" if it's available nearby. Comes in 20 and 40 # bags, labelled "not for resale". I get it at a restaurant supply place, but it's available on order through these stores https://www.doitbest.com/products/838136. I've seen lots of recommendations for Stubbs, but I've never used it.

With a nod to tbob4 & RonB, you might want to just go with straight wood, maybe with a pre-burn in a fire pit. Hope you'll have minions to assist.

The biggest questions: What you cooking? We can expect pix, right?

[DCs Smokin BBQ]

Thanks all for your comments and help.....I definitely will follow up with some pics

FYI....I'm cooking a 100 racks, 40 butts, and 20 briskets

[Danjohnston949]

Yowzer! Yowzer! Yowzer❓ 👍👍Y'all Come 👍 Now Hear! 👍👍, I have Never Tried a Cook this Size, but the Large Cook I did Pull Off in an Unknown Cooker, Propane Torches Were Used to Keep the Temps Up❓ Wood and Charcoal for Flavor! "BOGL🍀"
From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND,, Dan

[PaulstheRibList]

DCs Smokin BBQ that sounds so fun!!!

You are going to exit this 4 day session with a ton of great experiences and some cool learnings!

I do not use any charcoal on an offset smoker, like the cool 500 gallon tank model you will use. It would never even cross my mind to use charcoal to smoke meat on a stickburner. (The exceptions to that are 1.) to start the fire, unless I make some fingerling splits with the Kindling Cracker, make a lattice of wood and light it with the weed-burner, and 2.) If I want to build a little charcoal fuse in the firebox to squeeze a full 90 minute or so nap at night without a feed-the-smoker log adding interruption.)

Love the comments from RonB about the need for a clean fire that keeps your pit at the desired temp. Clean wood fires are awesome! The bigger the pit/fire, the simpler it is to keep a clean fire, in my experience. (Smaller pits or insulated fireboxes require you to keep smaller splits around so you don't get the pit too hot. With a larger smoker, average size splits will not likely get the pit too hot. Smaller or fingerling splits are really helpful, particularly if you get distracted and your fire/coals get small - you can use the little wood pieces/fingerlings to kindle that fire from your remaining coals and be back cooking with a good fire in a few minutes. Practice makes perfect!

So, finding some seasoned wood in smaller splits is one of the very important tasks you have to get this cook off to a great start, in my opinion.

Couple questions:

> That meat load you mentioned, is that what you are cooking over this 4 day Festival? Or are you splitting these up and cooking a portion of that every day?

> Can you get this pit early and do some practice cooks on it?

> And Most importantly....Can you post updates and pictures along the way?