First run with LSG wood chips

[WI Bubba]

I'm making a couple of racks of St. Lou's to take to a birthday party for the kid that lives nextdoor to me. So what do you do if you're cooking for other people and for many of them it will be the first time they are going to be trying your BBQ? You experiment with something new and hope it works of course.

You also make sure you make precise measurements and limit as many of the variables as you can. Which brings us to that scientific unit of measure known as "The Wokful". I went with a ratio of 1 Wokful of the oak chips from LSG to 2 woks of pellets. The wok in question is the one that came with the wonderful birthday present Lisa got me, but I already had a heavily used and well seasoned wok, so the new one just kind of hangs out in the garage and needed to find it's purpose. I think it's a much happier wok now that it has a job to do.



The rub is my current favorite, Chef J's oink rub, from the K.C. BBQ joint of the same name. It also happens to be the best place I know of so far for pork ribs in K.C.



Startup with the wood chip/pellet blend was no different than running pellets alone, so I was happy with that. I'm running a setpoint of 275° for this cook and hoping to have them ready in 6 hours including some rest time.

I'll update things as we go, so that's all for now. Wish me luck!

[Huskee]

Do they suggesting blending, or can you run straight wood chips if you were to choose to? I've never experimented with chips, nor sure my Grilla is capable, never crossed that bridge myself.

[WI Bubba]

LSG says you can run up to 50% wood chips to pellets. The chips they sell are quite a bit smaller than what you would get from a regular bag of chips, so I think they might run okay through your Grilla, but LSG makes a point of saying on the webpage that they can't comment on how the chips will run through any other brand of smoker.

[WI Bubba]

Here is a side by side comparison of the LSG chips and regular chips from the local big box store. As you can see the wood chips from LSG are quite a bit smaller.

[barelfly]

I just love living through all the LSG owners on here! Enjoy that cook today!

[Skip]

I wonder if any MAK owners have tried wood chips mixed with pellets?

[WI Bubba]

I really want to see a MAK in action first hand. I've heard so many good things about them but have never had a chance to get my hands on one.

[WI Bubba]

Four hours in and we are looking good. They are just starting to crack with the bend test. That's what I use as my guide to tell me when to sauce them and give them another 45 minutes or so. That will give them an hour or so to rest before serving. I think we got this.



As far as the cook process, nothing seems too different from running straight pellets. Maybe a little more temp swings than normal, but nothing severe enough to make me worry. The real test will be once they. Come off and I get a nibble.


I got distracted and the Scooby snacks made from the flap off the backside got pretty crispy before I pulled them. They ate more like pork rinds but still weren't bad.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm envious of your start-up temp ascension. Love the bend test and sauce on my ribs. If I don't feel like bending I think 205 is enough for me.

[WI Bubba]

Jerod Broussard I don't temp ribs anymore and just go by feel. I also plan to run a start up with the heat deflector removed later. I want to see if it primes for the 90 seconds at startup before kicking in the ignighter. I think that might me the real difference between mine and yours.

[Jerod Broussard]

Yeah, I'm tempted to Prime 3x before startup.

[CandySueQ]

This is just me thinking thru this! I think that if the auger on your pellet grill is an open spiral, not a screw-type with solid center, you can burn these LSG chips, especially if you're mixing with pellets. Look in the bottom of your empty hopper to see what kind of auger you have!

[Jerod Broussard]

Open Spiral just like Blaze'n Grill Works on LSG's.

[WI Bubba]

That's a good point. The chips themselves are not much bigger in any dimension than Pit Boss or Bear Mountain pellets, so maybe they would be okay in other poopers too. If I still had access to my old Camp Chef I would try them in there. If they are going to plug up anything, it would be the old DLX 24

[WI Bubba]

They are off the smoker and resting comfortably in the oven. I had to cut one off the end just for quality control purposes. I'm happy with how they turned out, but with just one sample to judge by and that one being a slightly crispy end piece, j don't know that the wood chips made a real difference in the flavor. I'll sneak a couple out of the center before walking over to the party and see if I can tell a difference then. 🤷

[Sweaty Paul]

They look spectacular!

[WI Bubba]

The ribs were a hit at the party. As usual I had a few complaints about minor things, but I'm always my harshest critic.

The question I don't have an answer for is how much of a difference did running a wood chip/pellet blend make. I honestly don't think very much. It certainly didn't make a huge difference and I would have to do a side by side comparison to see if there is any difference at all. On the other hand they didn't hurt anything either.

In theory there should have been a noticable difference, but it just wasn't there. Is that because oak is naturally a mild flavor and the smoke from the pellets just drowned it out? LSG also has hickory chips, but for some reason too much hickory smoke gives me heartburn so they were not an option for me. I'm certainly not sorry I tried them, but I don't know if I will get another box once I use up the ones I have.

I guess I'll have to do some more experiments with them to know for sure.