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Charcoal smoke flavor

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    #16
    Way to much to read here. But in the beginning the analysis of lump & briquets & yada yada yada might be just that, yada yada. Yer itty bitty pieces of wood were not enough & git them on top so they start burnin right away, problem solved. Been doin it fer years.

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      #17
      Good thread, hits on many classic issues with kettles and fuel. I use briquettes, I think they work better for long cooks in the SnS. BUT: try a different kind of briquettes, they're not all created equal. Some produce a funky smoke flavor.

      And I'm with both fuzzydaddy and FireMan, put the chunks on top of the lit briquettes, not underneath.

      So, in short, here's what I do:

      1. Fill SnS with unlit briquettes.
      2. Light 10 briquettes in my chimney, get them well lit and ashed over.
      3. Add lit briquettes to one end of SnS.
      4. Put lid on, both vents fully open, wait for the grill to hit target temp (typically 130° C / 265° F for me).
      5. Add 2-3 wood chunks on top of lit briquettes, add meat, close lid => smoke.



      Comment


      • FireMan
        FireMan commented
        Editing a comment
        Notice Ol’ Henrik said wood chunks not slivers.

      • Rob whatever
        Rob whatever commented
        Editing a comment
        When I had my Weber, I followed that exact order of technique, except I just swapped no. 4 and 5. I would lay, embed, the wood chunks in the charcoal before adding the lit charcoal. Results were always good.

        Rob

      #18
      I will get on the wood chunks on top bandwagon. I typically use the snake method for low and slow cooks, and I place wood chunks on top to the first third to half of the snake.

      Comment


        #19
        I took Harry Soo’s BBQ class a few years ago. He uses WSM and kettles. He is adamant about putting the hot coals on top of the wood chunks, not wood chunks on top of the hot coals. His point, and it makes sense, is you want the wood burning, not smoldering. Smoldering wood is incomplete combustion.

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          #20
          Originally posted by IdahoJim View Post
          I think I am going to try one rack of ribs soon with just the B&B briquettes and no smoke wood. That will let me know if I am tasting the charcoal or the smoldering/burning wood. Then I'll try some variations from there. Getting all scientific and stuff...
          Have you done this yet? Curious to see the results and your feelings on flavor.

          Originally posted by TripleB View Post
          I took Harry Soo’s BBQ class a few years ago. He uses WSM and kettles. He is adamant about putting the hot coals on top of the wood chunks, not wood chunks on top of the hot coals. His point, and it makes sense, is you want the wood burning, not smoldering. Smoldering wood is incomplete combustion.

          Burning vs smoldering isn't a factor of top or bottom locations, though, as far as I can tell, rather it's an airflow thing. When I open the kettle lid and a chunk is smoldering it quickly catches fire.

          The problem is that if you leave the vents open to get airflow you also get higher temps... so it's hard to do chunks that actually burn without going over 300F quickly. And burning chunks are only going to last MAYBE 30 mins.

          All that said, I'm trying this next smoke just to see.
          Last edited by rickgregory; November 30, 2021, 02:19 PM.

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            #21
            I would second Henrik with respect to technique, although my personal preference would be lump rather than briquettes, and my preferred lump for ribs is B&B Oak. However… never, never, never would I light up a few pieces of charcoal and then dump a pile of unlit charcoal on top of it, especially briquettes. I know, because I’ve done it, and it was a disaster. Thought the neighbors were going to call the fire department from all the smoke. We’ve all done these kinds of things while learning, but it creates a sh**storm of dirty smoke that can permeate the charcoal above it and ultimately find its way onto your ribs, and even though you waited an hour maybe that’s why your ribs didn’t taste particularly great. Just speculating, but truly, a clean burn is always best. I’m not an expert by any means, just a guy that’s been playing with this grilling and smoking thing for a few years now but I do think I’ve learned some things along the way. And actually, I’m kind of reached the same conclusion as Glitchy in that I’m coming to believe that 275F is like a magical best-practices kind of thing for back yard smoking. Anyway, always place lit charcoal on top of unlit, never the reverse.

            Comment


            • Jessterr
              Jessterr commented
              Editing a comment
              Actually, let me correct myself….at my current level of understanding, it’s OK to add a few charcoals to a significantly larger lit fire to keep it going without creating bad smoke, but adding a large quantity of unlit coals would reduce the fire’s temperature such that it would reduce the temperature of the fire and create bad smoke.

            #22
            Did one rack of baby back ribs this Saturday on the 26" Weber kettle. It was a test run to decide what to use to cook the brisket on Sunday. I forgot to try a run with no wood. I used a couple pieces of apple wood and B&B briquettes again. Did the Slow-n-Sear recommended approach. Lit 8 briquettes in a small chimney and let them get a lot grayer than the previous time. Stacked them in one end of the SnS, put one chunk of wood next to them, filled the SnS with more briquettes and put one smaller chunk of wood on top of the hot coals. Put the lid on with all vents wide open for about 30 minutes. Once it hit 200 I started closing vents and setting in at around 240 degrees. Had very clean smoke all the way through. After about 4 hours I did notice a different smell but no smoke. It jus smelled like charcoal to me, but it wasn't doing that until about 4 hours in.

            This rack turned out much better. No creosote taste to them. There was still more smoke flavor than the pellet grill with a different flavor. I would say just a little bit bitter. My wife and I both think the pellet grill ribs are a bit better. It's a lot more work to maintain temp on the kettle than the pellet grill. That's why the pellet grill got the nod for Sunday's brisket, which turned out great. Maybe I'm just not a charcoal smoker kind of guy. I almost want to get my hands on a stick burner to see what I can get off of that. However, I just don't want to work that hard at smoking food.

            I think at this point, I think the smoking will be done on the Memphis Advantage pellet grill. The Weber kettle will probably get the nod for steaks, reverse or front seared, tri-tips, maybe chicken etc.

            Comment


            • jfmorris
              jfmorris commented
              Editing a comment
              I will also comment that to me a kamado is possibly closer to the pellet experience, as in kamado mode, my SNS Deluxe Kamado has much less bark and smoke flavor than I get if I use it in "SNS Mode". Its just too efficient if you run the kamado at 225F, so I am starting to run it hotter (275) to get more airflow and smoke. At the cost of using more fuel of course.

            • jfmorris
              jfmorris commented
              Editing a comment
              You have one of the higher end pellet rigs on the market, and pellet cookers most definitely have air movement. Just lighter smoke than you get on other cookers. I would rock with that Memphis and not worry about it.

            • fzxdoc
              fzxdoc commented
              Editing a comment
              jfmorris , when I first got my WSCGC I had the same results that you find on your SNS kamado: that the smoke flavor was barely there. Plus there was no smoke ring. I know smoke rings don't mean anything, but I like 'em just the same.

              Going from 2 chunks of wood to 5 or 6 made all the difference in WSCGC kamado mode. The size I use is the Fruitawood.com chunk size, about 3oz or more per chunk.

              For comparison, in kettle mode on the WSCGC, 2-3 chunks do the trick.

              Kathryn

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