About to give up.

[Compressor59]

I have not done a lot of smoking with the BGE but love it for grilling. I did a brisket today and it was done to perfection as far as moisture and tenderness but absolutely no smoke flavor. It tasted like it was roasted in the oven. I put hickory chunks in buried in the lump charcoal. I put in about 5-6 chunks of hickory about half the size of my fist. Should I put more wood on top? I'm about to give up on this thing.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

What brand of chunks are you using. I’m not familiar with the bge but maybe try a more Smokey flavor of wood?

 

[TNJAKE]

Bge is an awesome cooker. Hope you get it figured out. As with any smoker you have to learn it.

 

[smokin peachey]

Got any pics?

 

[mike243]

Are your chunks kiln dried? , source some local wood if possible. also a spritz once in awhile will help smoke stick better

 

[noboundaries]

Assuming you weren't nose blind, what chamber temp? Too hot and the wood chunks carbonize too quickly to add much flavor to the wood.

 

[Compressor59]

Are your chunks kiln dried? , source some local wood if possible. also a spritz once in awhile will help smoke stick better

I'm using hickory chunks from a tree on site.
The lump that I'm using is what I made from the same hickory tree.

 

[bill1]

I suspect your fire was hot enough, and the chunks got too hot to merely smoke, and instead started burning (not just smoking) just like your coals. When you took things apart after the cook, what did they look like? Like ash? (Bad) Or the same size and shape, just black like charcoal (Good!) It'll take some tweaking (never give up!!!) but you need to isoate your fire heat from your smoking chunks. I'd start with a small fry pan, that you put the chunks in, and place that on the coals.
Embedding them in with the coals is the worse possible location. :-)

 

[Chasdev]

Sad fact is that a Kamado, no matter who makes/sells it, will never impart a lot of smoke flavor into briskets.
It's just not a smoker and will never be one.
I sold off my offset stickburner which produced great smoke flavor and bought a Kamado and regretted the lack of smoke flavor.
No matter what gadget I tried, or how much of this type wood or that, there was little smoke flavor so I bought a pellet burner and while it does impart more smoke flavor than a Kamado, it still falls short of an off set smoker.
Lastly I bought a Masterbuilt gravity feed cooker and found a near perfect smoke profile along with not having to chase the fire and temps or buy and store firewood (which is also known around here as a rat/roach condo).

 

[JWFokker]

I find that using an equivalent quantity of wood chips, sprinkled throughout the charcoal, results in more consistent smoke production and a stronger smoke flavor. Chunks tend to get baked into charcoal rather than smoldering. If they do produce much smoke, it's not for very long versus the duration of the cook. Chips mixed throughout will get you a smoke ring and flavor roughly on par with an electric smoker or pellet burner.

As Chasdev mentioned, kamados are not smokers. There's several reasons for it, but that's what it boils down to.

 

[Mark_F]

I can get good smoke flavor on meat in my Big Joe. I use a device that closely controls the airflow (Flame Boss or similar), this keeps the coals at a very slow burn so you don't just burn the wood chunks up and you don't have any flame. I have the ceramic heat deflectors installed with a pan of water on the heat deflectors, grates over the pan of water with the meat on the grates. I've done whole chickens, brisket, turkey, and pork with great results. At times I've used the divider for the charcoal, but I don't find any difference if you use the ceramic heat diffusers.

Any vessel has the potential to be a smoker if you figure out how to generate smoke over a long period of time at a stable temperature, and you keep enough airflow to bring new smoke around the meat for the duration of the smoke time without diluting the smoke. I also have a Little Chief smoker which is nothing but an aluminum tube with a heating element at the bottom, which I also get great results from, which demonstrates that you don't need a fancy "smoker" to get good smoke flavor, just good technique and an understanding of the utensil you are using.

 

[rileybowler]

I have read where some people put charcoal or wood chunks on top of the heat deflector right under the grill grates and this will produce a smoky flavor, I have not tried but it sure sounds reasonable, give it a try and let us know.

 

[merrycorsten]

Cook in a very fine pan, don't make it greasy, it's enough. The BBQ is a small way to delicious heavenly food, try to place the grill at the bottom, fish the smell, and take steady meat to eat before it's done, take it to room temperature and find a way to use some sugar on it, let it smoke out, make a well dish portion for yourself before it is done, and let the taste not eat the floor.

 

[TH-n-PA]

 

[cal1956]

compresssor59 said :
I put hickory chunks in buried in the lump charcoal.
if you "bury " the wood chunks in charcoal
of course they aren't going to smoke ( or at least very little ) they are just going to catch fire and burn ,
wood should get hot enough to smoke but not flame

 

[Displaced Texan]

This sounds like trying to get a V8 growl out of an electric car.

 

[Brokenhandle]

compresssor59 said :
I put hickory chunks in buried in the lump charcoal.
if you "bury " the wood chunks in charcoal
of course they aren't going to smoke ( or at least very little ) they are just going to catch fire and burn ,
wood should get hot enough to smoke but not flame

Burying the wood chunks in charcoal will definitely make smoke...been doing it for years! As have many others...sit them on top of charcoal then they might burst into flames with no smoke

Ryan

 

[bauchjw]

Cook in a very fine pan, don't make it greasy, it's enough. The BBQ is a small way to delicious heavenly food, try to place the grill at the bottom, fish the smell, and take steady meat to eat before it's done, take it to room temperature and find a way to use some sugar on it, let it smoke out, make a well dish portion for yourself before it is done, and let the taste not eat the floor.

Brokenhandle This is going on a poster and will continue to inspire me for the rest of my life I can’t help but to hear Antonio Banderez when I read it oh man, I haven’t laughed that hard since seeing the courtroom cat filter

TH-n-PA you made the perfect response oh man, I’m in tears!