Stick burning weber

[lukenich18]

So I want to see if any of you guys have ever used wood to cook in your Weber’s?? I’m going to be doing a trial here soon but wanted to if any of you fellas done it before??

[CaptainMike]

I think that you would have to have your vent-handling skills down.

[Mr. Bones]

Yup, on occasion. I take splits destined fer my stickburners, saw em into fist sized chunks, sometimes split em down a time or two more...
What kinda ideas do ya have fer yer trial, food(s), wood(s), etc.?
I'll help ya, as much as I am able, brother...

[Jerod Broussard]

Just used some cherry in conjunction with some hardwood briquets. About wood as I want to get in my kettle.

I don't think you need vent skills since they should all be wide open, you just need wood-size skills.

[CaptainMike]

I've tried straight wood and found it to be a challenge temp-wise. Prolly didn't pay as much attention to size and uniformity.

[Jerod Broussard]

CaptainMike I wouldn't even attempt to get the wood thing down after using it in a cheap offset.

[lukenich18]

I’m thinking about building a fire and just taking the coals from the fire to cook with.

[Jerod Broussard]

You'll definitely get a good test in for the old "if ya lookin' ya not cookin'" since you'll be lookin' every time you add coals.

[RonB]

Please be careful. When cookin' pizza on my kettle, I add a few small splits and get get it hot enough to bury the needle on the dome thermometer. Those temps will melt the rubber lid rests on the lid holder.

[JeffJ]

Yep. I've witnessed it firsthand, unfortunately.

[lukenich18]

I guess I will test it out and see what happens

[Jerod Broussard]

Love my Muddy harness. Sleeping in my truck tonight so I can walk in the woods first light with the FoxPro to try and get a coyote or two....

[Troutman]

Guess it depends on the Weber. I burn small splits in my WSM using it like a Santa Maria style cooker. In those cases the grill is far enough away for control and the heat control isn’t that necessary, I want the high heat.

[JeffJ]

I will be tying this in my 14.5 WSM when it comes home in September (it's currently residing at my parents' place "up north".)

[Huskee]

lukenich18 I have, and I don't use the lid when I do. Did steaks & burgers a few times that way to test it out. Honestly it was less fun that I wanted it to be, but that's because I have better wood cookers which are easier to work with in such cooks. If the only grill you had was a kettle you certainly can, but I don't recommend trying a low & slow with the lid on using only wood in a kettle unless you have a blower controller or are willing to invest some time learning it well. Even using coals, they'll likely start to smolder on you and cause some frustration. I just found there isn't enough airflow to do it to my satisfaction. YMMV.

[jfmorris]

Personally, I don't think I would make a habit of burning straight wood in a Weber kettle, as it just was not designed for that. Charcoal once its going doesn't really burn with an open flame, and a few wood chunks and chips bursting into flame is not the same as a straight up wood fire. As others have said, it will get MUCH hotter, and potentially damage the kettle if the fire gets out of hand.

I use some oak in my kettle, but its more mini-splits from my log pile, and I use them like I would wood chunks, on top of charcoal in my SNS.

[lukenich18]

Just trying to get away from that creosote taste...looks like I will have to get a stick burner if I want that

[Red Man]

You shouldn’t be getting a creosote taste from your kettle. Tell us more about what you’re burning and how.

[EdF]

I think lukenich18 should just go out and get himself a KBQ. ;-)

[JeffJ]

I burn wood in my kettle when I'm using the Kettle Pizza accessory, which means I'll be burning wood in my kettle tonight. :-)

[SmokeyGator]

I have thought about trying my Primo using only wood chunks. But then I consider the fact that I haven’t heard of anyone else doing that....so there must be a good reason.

[EdF]

You'd probably have a air flow volume issue with a kamado and sticks.

[SmokeyGator]

Exactly. And probably other stuff too. If I had access to trees I would think about a stick burner....but I don’t so a stick burner would just be a PITA to fuel. Oh well, at least I never have to shovel snow!

[JeffJ]

When I saw the headline I was hoping that Weber was going to produce an offset smoker.

[JGo37]

Maybe I'm missing something here. I use wood chunks in my 22" kettle, on the upper grate over the coals, every time I use the kettle. The chunks are uniformly a bit bigger than a golf ball, and I cover the area of the coals with them. So far, I use offset indirect convection every time I kettle cook - I'm going to get a MasterTouch with the center griddle and wok options for doing things with radiated heat.

Anyway, you can see from the pic below how I shield the meat from direct heat. I have a spay bottle of water on hand, but have only had to use it when loading, I haven't had a fire once the lid is back on, but I don't open the lower vents past 1/8. BTW I use the compact small Weber chimney - the full size produces WAY too many coals for a 6-8 hour burn, and the kettle gets too hot. You can see I use only one basket.

Usually, when the coals run out, the wood has been reduced to charcoal and I'll add the burnt wood to the charbasket, top with a handful of KBB, flip the grate closed and set a new bunch of chunks on the upper grate.

I put on a LavaLock gasket (1/2", trimmed), and a DOZYANT 2" thermometer as low down on the lid as I could, below the vent, so I could get a somewhat accurate idea of what's going on, in the convection side. With the vent above the meat, the lid thermometer sits pegged directly above the coals, and means nothing. My lid 'sliders' are Bakelite, not rubber - I have the Red Limited ('Lucille').

I'm going to spatchcock chicken, with two Cornish hens, in a few minutes, I'll take a picture. I'm putting a hunk of pork with some beef riblets in the squarebox too, 2-zone as well. (it's going to rain tomorrow, I have to stock up!)

And I have to get this on before first pitch - after all, the cards are playing the cubs.

[JGo37]

it seemed like kind of a mixed conversation to me.

'Never Mind!' haha

[tdimond]

Even if it was slightly OT, it helped me out. I've been looking for setups to use until I have the money set aside for a Slow 'N' Sear. This looks pretty good.

Are you getting good smoke with the heat deflector? I'd be afraid that smoke would tend to flow around and up.

[JGo37]

I added the pic above - awesome smoke from this. I throttle back on the upper vent, and I put a gasket on the lid. Take a look at the bird... it's been in longer than the riblets.