Stupid Question from a Newb

[gabriel]

I have a pretty stupid question that I just can't find an answer to and don't know any smokers to ask.

I live in Nebraska, and have only smoked once. I have an offset smoker, Charbroil brand I think, with a side fire box and something ridiculous like 728"sq of smoking space. My first smoking experience was just a brisket and some ribs I bought. Brisket ended up a little tough and ribs were too, I'm pretty sure becuase I didn't have a temp gauge. I have one now, and know my target temps, so hopefully with the right gear, I'll have a little more of a succeful run next time.

My stupid question is this, when I smoked first I went through about 12lbs of Walmart charcoal keeping my fire hot, and it was hard to keep it hot enough. I know I was WELL below 200 for a long period of time. My total smoking time was probably about 5 or 6 hours. I could foresee this being a significant expendature in the future, and I was wondering if I should be using wood instead of charcoal. My problems are I thought I could burn an unflaovored wood that people sell for wood fireplaces and then just throw a log of mesquite or someting on it to get me the smokey flavor. I would like thoughts on this. Should I maybe use all of the flavorfull woods cause the flavorless ones would cancel out the good wood? That will surely be more smokey, but I am looking to be somewhat of an eco-smoker so I would love to get away from carbon-dioxide producing charcoal and stop spending money at Walmart on my smoking fuel.

So anyway, I'm sorry to have been so long winded but I just want some clear answers. Should I use wood instead of charcoal? Is it better? Is it worse? I burned through SOOOO much charcoal and my smoker was still cold so I would really like to avoid that in the future. Being in Nebraska, I can get a pretty ready supply of Apple Wood I think so if I'm gonna be burning all wood I'll probably focus on that. I'd like to see if I could save a bit of money though by purchasing flavorless woods to make my flavored woods last longer

Thanks for any and all answers, I really really appreciate it. I love smoked foods and am so excited to get my skills with a few tips!

-Gabe

 

[smokebuzz]

WELCOME, head over to roll call.

Ya get some oak or maple, very lite flavors and run your apple for flavor, or just burn all apple if you got enuff. you may need to do some mod to your smoker to make it more heat effient, check out the wood smoker forum for some mods.

Good luck

 

[smoker matt 54]

Try lump charcoal it burns hotter and longer you can get it pretty much everywhere.

 

[kookie]

Just remember some woods you don't want to use like pine and such because that will still be going on your food......Try lump charcoal..........Or like Wd said use your apple wood............

 

[fatback joe]

The problem with most of the small intro level offsets is that they are usually poorly sealed/insulated and thin guage and as a result they require a lot of fuel since the heat can escape through openings and dissapating through the steel.

Try to plug every hole and crack that you can.

Also, without seeing it, the firebox is probably too small to run all wood and have a clean burn......atleast without pretty much constant supervision........

Good luck.

 

[teeotee]

Looks like people have you fairly well covered already. DO look around and read the posts here. Is a wealth of info out there, and more than few laughs.

The 5 day course is real helpful.

As everyone else says, lump charcoal for fuel, chunks of wood for flavour.

Welcome and enjoy the forum.

 

[gabriel]

By "lump charcoal" do you mean the normal store bought charcoal or the natural charcoal? Do they burn hotter? Also, for a smoker that is about 3ft long and about 1.5-2ft deep, how many briquettes do you think I need? I started out with a chimey full to get them going right, and after no raise in temp for awhile I later put like 10 more in. AT that point I probably had a total of 20-30 briquettes in there. I just feel like I'm using SOO much charcoal, do people who smoke often buy charcoal in like 500lb bags or what?

I think I could fit some wood into my firebox. It's maybe two foot wide by 1-1.5ft deep. I have heard that Pine and Elm are bad. I know people who would let me just go on their land and cut up some dead/dieing trees but noone ever knows what kind of wood they are, and neither do I. I know there are like 50 woods that are great for smoking and like 5 that are bad, but I'd really hate to ruin a good piece of meat for nothing. And not knowing the wood, I wouldn't know if I screwdd it up or the wood did it. Not great for learning ya know?

Thanks for all the quick responses, I really appreciate the help guys!! When I have more time (when I'm off work

) I will read more of the forum.

 

[chef skip steele]

the first thing to learn in smokin is now to use the smoker you have , just start cookin on the weekend you will learn how much fuel you need to maintain the grill at a required temp.
second the reason your brisket was tough was you did not cook it long enough, at 200 degrees it take 10 to 12 hours at lease, when you touch it with you finger you should be able to stick it half way through the meat
start with chickens and work your way up, 2 hours or till you can twist the leg bone out,

 

[ibsmoking]

Just a thought, but also your temp gauge is off maybe 30 degrees or so ( on the low side) try a temp prob at grill level and see what your temps are running. Also I agree that your firebox is to small for wood

 

[master_dman]

Wow.
I had/have the identical problem. Read this thread...
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=14918

The very first thing I discovered was the temp gauge was about 50 degrees off. I got a better one.. plus I have an oven temp gauge for the inside. The other thing is my smoker leaks like a sieve.. I still haven't fixed that problem.. but I'll get around to it.

I still seem to use more fuel than most others in here, but I have free wood and ain't too worried about it yet. I use charcoal just to get a good fire going, then I use my cured apple.

 

[gabriel]

Cured Apple? Sorry, but what is "cured wood?" Do you know people or is this wood on your property? I'd be willing to pay for it, but normally when I look for wood, people want to sell like truckloads of it...I don't have storage space for all that.

 

[master_dman]

75 some odd years ago.. my whole neighborhood used to be an apple orchard.. I had an apple tree that was dead. I cut it down last year and was burning it in my fireplace until I got my smoker.

Cured wood is just wood that has been drying for 6 months to a year..

 

[gabriel]

I'm sooooo jealous...

 

[master_dman]

Yea.. it is kind of nice. The apple tree in my yard was one of the last remaining.. A neighbor about a block away has one thats on it's last leg.

I'm running thru scenerios where I can introduce myself and get my hands on that tree.!