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smokinpastor

Newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2017
2
10
Hey guys - I have been following Jeff for a few years now so I finally decided to join in. I am originally from TX, but now live in the central valley of CA. I own 2-44" Smoke Hollow Gas Smokers and have been pretty active on them. I modified them to fit in more shelves so I can get 28 4lb tri-tips in each.  I smoke for home, church, and school events.

I do have one question. My wife has never liked charcoal anything and I am looking to upgrade my smokers to a large smoker. I am debating between a RFS verses a Gravity feed. Here's my question. Does cooking with charcoal change the taste much? I know it is probably preference, but was just wondering if there was a huge difference or not.
 
Smokinpastor, welcome to SMF!  Glad you are here and a fellow Central Valley neighbor.  Thank you for your service to the community.

About your charcoal question.  If you could be a little more specific about what your wife doesn't like about charcoal it would help.  My dad was a charcoal'er and always used a liquid fire starter.  YUCK!  The gasoline flavor easily spread to the meat.  Once I started using a chimney starter, all that went away. 

Inexpensive charcoals, like Kingsford Original, do have a flavor that is identifiable, especially if the meat is loaded too early in the smoker or the grill.  It has a lot of binders and non-wood products in it that contribute to the flavor, which charcoal enthusiasts call an "off-flavor."  Some people LOVE that flavor.  Some don't.  I use Kingsford a lot and only notice the flavor when I switch to lump charcoal (see next paragraph) for a hotter fire.  

Hardwood lump charcoal, like Royal Oak, is a cleaner burning charcoal.  Mesquite Lump charcoal, which is easily found out here too, is also clean burning, but can impart a VERY slight flavor of mesquite.  Some folks don't like mesquite.  Some folks, like my wife and I, love it.

So let us know the issues so we can steer you in the right direction.  Happy Sunday by the way!

Ray
 
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Welcome to SMF!

You can't beat the taste of meat cooked over a wood fire, so I say go with the RF.

I have a Lang & love it!

Al
 
Thanks for the input guys. Noboundaries, I think it is a thing where her father doused it with too much lighter fluid to cook everything. The input on charcoal helped me understand it better.
 
 
Thanks for the input guys. Noboundaries, I think it is a thing where her father doused it with too much lighter fluid to cook everything. The input on charcoal helped me understand it better.
Yep, that would do it.  Back when I was a young buck first out on my own, I too used charcoal lighting fluid to start the fire.  When a buddy told me about chimney starters, I used one and could IMMEDIATELY tell the difference in taste.  I used newspaper or grocery bags for years to light my chimney.  Now I put the chimney on the side burner of my basically unused gas grill.  Works like a charm and charcoal is hot in mere minutes.  
 
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