Weber S-335 gas grill
Weber 26†kettle
Weber 22†kettle
Camp Chef XL Smoke Vault
Camp Chef 3 Burner cook top
Camp Chef Woodwind 36 Pellet grill with sidekick burner
PBC
Accessories:
SnS XL
SnS standard
Vortex
Weber Rotisserie for 22†Kettle
1st gen FireBoard
2nd gen FireBoard
Griddle for Camp Chef cooktop
Several Thermoworks items
Set of Grill Grates
What kind of wood are you looking for? I sure would think you could find pretty much anything you wanted around your region. Have you tried the marketplace on Facebook? I find pretty much any wood I need from people selling on there.
I believe that’s just white oak....and should be fairly common? Heck come to Illinois or Indiana, we’ve got plenty. And for burning in a smoker I’m not going to pay for kiln dried lumber....just looks for some that’s seasoned for about a year.
Joetee, another good place to check is Tree Services / Landscapin places...make a good connection there, an ya'll have a good, an cheap source, but lotsa times, it might not be seasoned; it varies...
Long story short, cain't hurt none to ask...
I wish I knew how to identify seasoned oak. I found a tree trimming place that said they had some but it is mixed. They said we can pick through it but I don't know what to look for.
Lonestar Grillz 24x36 offset smoker, grill, w/ main chamber charcoal grate and 3 tel-tru thermometers - left, right and center
Yoke Up custom charcoal basket and a Grill Wraps cover.
22.5 copper kettle w/ SnS, DnG, BBQ vortex, gasket and stainless steel hinge kit.
Napoleon gas grill (soon to go bye bye) rotting out.
1 maverick et-733 digital thermometer - black
1 maverick et-733 - gray
1 new standard grilling remote digital thermometer
1 thermoworks thermopen mk4 - red
1 thermoworks thermopop - red
Pre Miala flavor injector
taylor digital scale
TSM meat grinder
chefs choice food slicer
cuisinhart food processor
food saver vacuum sealer
TSM harvest food dehydrator
Here you go Joetee These are a couple of pics of " post oak " and red oak.
Both are basically the same except for the flavor profile.
Red oak imparts a rich wood flavor whereas white "post oak" just gives the meat a more natural "smoked" flavor.
Both are excellent and you won’t go wrong with either.
Notice the bark on both. Very similar.
but the red oak has a much more distinct red color as it gets to the middle of the point.
And it also has a richer smell to it.
Hope this helps you as you’re trying to acquire wood for your LSG.
My limited understanding is that red oak has smaller cells than white oak, so it's not as porous, and so not useful in barrel making where you want the bourbon and wood to interact
Joetee I don't know if you have a truck and/or utility trailer, but I can hook you up with all the freshly cut red oak you can possibly haul. High quality stuff. It won't be dry enough to burn until sometime next year, but I can give you enough seasoned red oak to get you started in the meantime. I'm about 90 minutes away from Georgetown.
Don't get hooked on a specific wood unless it is readily available. I got hooked on red oak when multiple truckloads of it was for my taking. I just had to cut it. If it was hickory I would have been just as hooked. Not so much with Chinese Tallow Tree.
I got my wood off of guy from Craigslist in Northern Kentucky. A heaping truck load of cherry, oak, and locust for $125. He might meet you half way if you have a truck and want his number. Otherwise, I checked around on FB as well as other Craigslist folk. Definitely wayyyyy cheaper than ordering from an online source like Fruita.
Smoker:
Landmann Smoke Master Series Heavy Duty Barrel Smoker (COS) - With mods including 2 level rack system with pull-out grates
Masterbuilt 40.2" 1200W Electric Smoker
Masterbuilt ThermoTemp XL 40" Vertical Propane Smoker
Gas Grill:
BBQPro (cheap big box store model) Stainless steel 4 burnerswith aftermarket rotisserie.
Charcoal Grill:
Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal Grill 14"
Thermometer:​​​​​​
Fireboard 2 with Drive cable and 20 CFM fan and Competition Probe Package
Fireboard 1st Generation
ThermoWorks Mini Instant Read
Lavaworks Thermowand Instant Read
2 Maverick 733
ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S Industrial Infrared Thermometer
ThermoWorks ThermaPen Mk4 x 2
Govee Bluetooth Thermometer with 6 probes
Miscellaneous:
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - 1st generation
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - wifi/bluetooth connected
Favorite Beer:
Anything to the dark side and malty rather than hoppy. Currently liking Yuengling Porter and Newcastle Brown Ale. In a bar or pub I will often default to Guiness
Favorite Spirit:
Bourbon - Eagle Rare for "every day"; Angel's Envy for special occasions, Basil Hayden's, Larceny
Favorite Wine:
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Super Tuscan Sangiovese (Including Chianti Classico Riserva) Brunello di Montalcino
Favorite Meat(s):
Pork - especially the darker meat. I love spare ribs and anything made from shoulder/butt meat
Chicken - Mainly the dark meat and wings
Beef Ribeye steak
Favorite Cuisine to Cook:
Can't list just one: Indian, Chinese, Thai, West Indian/Carribean, Hispanic/Latin American, Ethiopian, Italian, BBQ
Favorite Cuisine to Eat:
Indian, followed closely by BBQ.
To answer your original question, using charcoal (I prefer lump) and chunks in an offset will definitely give you a longer cook time and excellent results. How long a cook time you get depends a lot on how thick the steel on your firebox is. Heavier steel=longer cook before needing to add fuel. Also, a temp controlled stoking fan will help you maintain even temperatures and generally maximize/optimize your fuel consumption. On my cheap offset smoker I can get a good couple of hours before needing to add fuel with my Fireboard drive and fan maintaining my cook temp. The lower my set temp, the longer burn I get. I've never tried to judge whether the longer burn time at, say 225°F is offset by the longer time needed to get the meat to doneness compared to, say 275°F.
Joetee I use charcoal and wood chunks on my offset (24x36 cooking chamber) all the time, as it allows me to be more stable and hands off than if trying to burn just wood.
If cooking at low and slow (225 to 250), I typically light about 1/2 of a Weber chimney, add it to the firebox, rake it all the way up against one side of the firebox, then pour in charcoal to fill the rest of the firebox to a level of several inches deep, and then put some oak/hickory/apple chunks across the top. It burns across the firebox, taking a couple of hours. Several hours later, I rake whatever is still burning off to the other side, and fill back the other way, and repeat the process. This is much more hands off than if I try to burn wood, where I just absolutely have to check and mess with the firebox every 30 minutes.
As I tried to tell you when you were looking at new cookers, using charcoal for an offset has the advantage of being more hands off than wood, but you will use a LOT of charcoal. For a brisket or boston butt cook, I will run through 20 to 40 pounds of charcoal with my offset, depending on temperatures and how much cold meat I am putting in the firebox. I.e. 1 to 2 20 pound bags, plus a good number of wood chunks or mini-splits. This is why I use my kettle+SNS more frequently - I can cook for 12+ hours with 7-8 pounds of charcoal over there.
I may eventually get a WSM 22 to replace the use of my offset as a smoker, reserving it for use as a charcoal grill, since it has a slide in charcoal tray for the main cooking chamber. I feel that a WSM 22 would be more efficient and hands off, and give the same flavor profile as you get from charcoal+chunks in an offset. If burning purely wood in the offset, that's another story, and another flavor profile compared to charcoal+chunks. If you are using charcoal as the primary fuel source in an offset, its not going to taste much different than a kettle+SNS or a WSM.
What I suggest you do if you want the most bang for the buck, and want to use your offset as a true stick burner, is to call a local tree service. The guys that cut down trees often haul that wood out, sort it by species (oak, hickory, fruit), and age it on a lot, reselling it for firewood and cooking wood. I got a 1/2 cord of oak and hickory delivered for about $120 a couple of years ago, mostly for use with my fireplace and outdoor fire pit. My offset firebox is too small for use of full 18 to 24 inch logs, but if I cut them in half and split them a little more with something like a Kindling Cracker, they work quite well. I use mini splits I've cut down often in place of wood chunks when burning charcoal.
Last edited by jfmorris; August 6, 2020, 01:35 PM.
Well to let you all know, I received a link from someone on here to a supplier near by.
He had been supplying wood to bbq joints in the area for 10 years. He delivered 1/2 cord, cut, split, and stacked, for $80. Oak and Hickory mix. Nice seasoned splits.
I also have about 2/3 cord of red oak that I picked up. It was cut but I had to split it. Wow. Hard to split uncured oak. But I think I'm in good shape for a while.
​​​​​​​Thank you everyone
Sounds like you got a good deal! Congrats! You'll get really good with a splitting maul! Embrace the job. Splitting wood by hand is really satisfying work!
Lang 48 inch Deluxe Patio Model (burns hickory splits)
PK 360 (burns premium lump charcoal with wood chunks)
28 inch Blackstone Griddle (propane)
Rubs I love:
Yardbird by Plow Boys
Killer Hogs by Malcom Reed
AP Rub by Malcom Reed
Meat Church (any)
Three Little Pigs Memphis Style for ribs
Would love to try Meathead's commercial rub
Sauces I love:
Gates'
Joe's
Pa & Ma's
Killer Hogs Vinegar Sauce
Disposable Equipment I use:
Disposable cutting boards
Tumbleweed chimney starters
Aluminum foil
Aluminum pans (half and full)
Latex gloves
Diamond Kosher Salt
Vice-President of BBQ Security, Roy
He's a pure-bred North American Brown Dog
He loves rawhide chewies
My wife calls me "Teddy" and I call her "Princess" and that's where "mrteddyprincess" comes from.
My humble opinion is that seasoned hardwood is seasoned hardwood and the subtle differences among fruits and oak, hickory, maple, mesquite, etc. are perpetuated by people who sell me wood. Franklin uses post oak because that's what he has available in his part of Texas! Use whatever hardwood you have available in KY. I just went through a cycle of a rick of wild cherry and it was amazing! My new rick is sugar maple. I can't tell a darn difference between wild cherry and sugar maple in the flavor profile. (I'm in Indiana.)
Maybe, maybe, putting small chunks of wood when smoking chicken, fish, or pork chops might make a difference in the flavor, but for big cuts of meat like pork shoulder, brisket, loin, etc., I can't tell a difference in flavor. A stick burner burning hardwood is delicious! And I'm not sophisticated enough to be able to tell the difference among the hardwoods in a smoke.
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