How many chunks?

[Burntfood]

How many 3 oz chunks of Oak would you recommend?

- for a hamburger - 1 hour cook

- for a brisket - (all at once or hourly?)

My situation: Picked up a new Camp Chef XXL Pro vertical pellet smoker with the 'smoke drawer'. I'm really impressed with how I can isolate the smoke flavour from oak chunk and eliminate all charcoal flavours. I would like to reduce the number of experiments because 'She' hates wasting meat.

Just FYI - I wrap at 165 for chuck and brisket - was using tin foil bet going to do a foil boat on brisket for first time tomorrow.

Thanks, Burntfood

[OC Sandy]

It truly is something you have to experiment with because using the smoke box on the XXL Pro lets you customize the amount of smoke flavor you want on your food. Some people think a thick heavy smoke flavor is perfect. Some people prefer a very light smoke flavor. Others like it somewhere in between.

That said, a general guideline would be adding wood chunks once per hour for a good smoke flavor. For your 1 hour cook on a hamburger you would only need one of those 3oz chunks added right at the beginning. For a long cook like a brisket adding one or two chunks per hour is still a good guideline if you want a good amount of smoke. If you are one who likes a very heavy smoke flavor you can add more often if you find the chunks burning out quickly.

The other thing you can control on the XXL Pro is whether you are burning your wood chunks or smoldering your wood chunks. There is a valve which is controlled by the handle on your smoke box. Leaving that valve wide open will allow your wood to burn. Closing or partially closing the baffle once the wood ignites will allow the wood to smolder. It all really does come down to what you like.

[Oak Smoke]

For the 1 chunk on the hamburger it sounds great. As far as brisket I don’t want smoke for the entire cook, just the first couple of hours. If I add smoke the whole cook the meat seems bitter to me.

[DaveD]

I don't have hard data, but my sense has been that smoke uptake is kinda over with after 4-5 hours in a long cook, whether it's a butt, ribs, brisket... (My geometry is different, SnS kettle with the insert, so it's simple to let the fire go from one end of the insert to the other when doing low and slow. So you can just put say three chunks on there evenly spaced, and when the coals under them eventually ignite you'll get that chunk's smoke.)

I'm a huge fan of the foil boat for big cuts, hell I even use one for ribs most of the time. Looking forward to hearing your impressions! Good luck.

[RhodeHog]

Seems like I remember Meathead saying something about this in the past. It stuck with me because I only focus on smoke for the first few hours of a long cook.

[Meathead]

Yes, I have written about this on the website and both books. Smoke is attracted to wet and cold surfaces. After a few hours the surface dries and warms so less smoke sticks.

[Burntfood]

Thanks guys. Exactly what I was looking for.

[negolien]

I agree with most of the above. I usually do two chunks every 45 mins or so on my 560

[RickyBobby]

As mentioned above, it’s kind of a personal preference thing based on your cooker. Personally, I am a heavy smoke guy. With my stick burner, I start about 3/4 a chimney of charcoal to get a base going then it’s all splits for the entire cook. On my Bronco, I start the lump charcoal and throw in about 6 chunks. On my kettle, I get the charcoal rolling and add 3 or 4 chunks. Looking forward to hearing your results!!!

[Burntfood]

This is helpful RickyBobby. I had no idea what 'heavy smoke' looked like.

Does 2 chunks in 1st hour and then 2 more in second hour in a vertical sound 'Medium'?.

[JeffJ]

Be careful with wood and ground beef. It picks up a ton of smoke. I would go zero chunks and let the wood pellets provide the flavor.

[Burntfood]

Ok, I'm having fun now. And finally, predictable results..

Chuck Cook - added 2 chunks of oak and went smoke level 0. The smoke was a beautiful thing. After an hour the chunks weren't used up so I opened the butter fly valve and let them go for another 30 minutes. I had a meteorite inside of my pellet smoker!. My reaction was to stop adding smoke and to see how this tasted, so only did 1 round of 2 chunks. Results in attached pic. My test victims were the regular crew and everyone described the chuck as delicious and lightly smoky. Exactly what we predicted.

Hamburger Cook - decided to see how much smoke a pellet smoker could add. All the pellet smoker meat I have eaten tasted like it came out of my kitchen oven. Using 8oz Juicy Lucy's I ran the smoker at 250 on smoke level 10 with no added chunks. Towards the end I bumped temp up to finish faster - this cook took 2 hours! Light smoke similar to the chuck.

Today will cook at lower temp for even longer to see how much smoke taste I can get from the pellets. I am working my way up to a medium smoke taste but I'm comfortable I can get way past that with the chunks. I'm happy to find that you can get at least a light smoke on a pellet grill without adding a pellet tube or chunks. My experience is now in line with what folks here have been telling me for years.

I came back and edited this because my history on my Camp Chef app shows I cooked at 250. Did a screen capture of the history and attached it.

[Spinaker]

I love to see people experimenting and seeing what works best for them and those they cook for.

For what it's worth......give this article a read, if you have not already. There is some information that you might find helpful.

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/science-of-wood-and-smoke/