Background: I cut firewood in my area, and have access to Oak, Cherry, and a few others.
As i process the firewood (for the woodstove) I toss aside chunks of heartwood for drying and later use in the smoker.
I use wood chunks more than chips and mix with charcoal in a charcoal basket, minion method.
More recently I built a small 5 gallon charcoal maker (retort) from a metal can. I put it in my firepit, and "cook" whatever wood I have on hand and produce some decent clean charcoal. During the winter I stockpiled the equivalent of 5 or 6 large bags of homemade charcoal. Have used it twice now, for Chicken, then Ribs, and it is working pretty well.
Now about Charwood. What I am looking to do is create a milder smokiness on some foods. The raw woods tends to put off greater smoke when first igniting, especially if added during the burn, when it's added more for fuel and heat than smoke. I am interested in charwood and am wondering the best way to make my own charwood from some of the variety that I have on hand, and, how to use it during the smoking process.
So, please fire away, All ears at this point. I appreciate any thoughts on the topic before i dive in.
Thanks!
Edit: I have been searching on line, and a lot of people are using "home made charcoal" and "charwood" to mean the same thing.
What I was meaning above, in my question, was taking a piece of chunkwood, and somehow starting to burn it, so the outside is black and carbonized, so that when it is tossed into the Firebox of the smoker it doesn't have to go through the normal smokey start up that a raw piece of wood would go through. Maybe i should call it "charred wood" Anyone?
As i process the firewood (for the woodstove) I toss aside chunks of heartwood for drying and later use in the smoker.
I use wood chunks more than chips and mix with charcoal in a charcoal basket, minion method.
More recently I built a small 5 gallon charcoal maker (retort) from a metal can. I put it in my firepit, and "cook" whatever wood I have on hand and produce some decent clean charcoal. During the winter I stockpiled the equivalent of 5 or 6 large bags of homemade charcoal. Have used it twice now, for Chicken, then Ribs, and it is working pretty well.
Now about Charwood. What I am looking to do is create a milder smokiness on some foods. The raw woods tends to put off greater smoke when first igniting, especially if added during the burn, when it's added more for fuel and heat than smoke. I am interested in charwood and am wondering the best way to make my own charwood from some of the variety that I have on hand, and, how to use it during the smoking process.
So, please fire away, All ears at this point. I appreciate any thoughts on the topic before i dive in.
Thanks!
Edit: I have been searching on line, and a lot of people are using "home made charcoal" and "charwood" to mean the same thing.
What I was meaning above, in my question, was taking a piece of chunkwood, and somehow starting to burn it, so the outside is black and carbonized, so that when it is tossed into the Firebox of the smoker it doesn't have to go through the normal smokey start up that a raw piece of wood would go through. Maybe i should call it "charred wood" Anyone?
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