Bread Pan for Wood chunks?

[mavrick813]

i have read on here that alot of you guys use a bread pan with foil for your wood chunks. Well i tried that for my first smoke, and maybe I used a really cheap pan but in the end it was warped and had holes all in the bottom of it where it had been sitting on the coals.

So i found this,

It's cast iron. I was just worried that the heating and cooling it will go through on the coals will cause it to crack prematurely. What do you guys think???

Mike

 

[fatback joe]

Why do you need a pan or anything? Wood on coals and let 'er rip.

 

[mavrick813]

I was under the impression that you use a pan Because they flare up? And burning wood is bad.

I could try the wood on coals though for the next one.

Mike

 

[fatback joe]

Yeah, give it a shot. If you can control the air flow through your smoker you will be just fine. The only time I use a box or anything like that is when I bust out the hotplate for smoke to make jerky or something.

 

[sbv32]

I am just curious if there is a right or wrong. I have been told that burning your wood is not the correct way to smoke, and the correct way is to put them in foil or a pan and allow the wood to just smoke not catch fire. On the other hand many people just put the wood on the coals and let them catch fire.

I have done both and had better result with putting the wood on the fire because I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have to monitor it as much. Just put the wood in and let it do its thing.

 

[fatback joe]

With good air flow control you can put the wood on the coals and not have them catch fire. It will also depend on what type of cooker you are using. Rules that apply in a stick burner won't work in an electric.

IMO best bet is to try different ideas and methods and see what works best for you.

 

[flyin'illini]

Joe has it for my experience. I just have the dry chunks on the coals in the drum and use a 9" pie pan to hold the dry chunks in the ECB electric. You can also just set them 'near' the element of the ECB. I still get the chunks igniting, though, so it is not full proof.

 

[sbv32]

so it is a bad idea to have the wood catch fire?

 

[fatback joe]

It really goes back to what you are cooking on (Lang vs ECB), but generally speaking you don't want a fire. Now if you add the wood and it burns for a bit and goes out and you get the desired tbs, then don't worry about it. A little burning wood for a bit won't hurt you. Now if it is burning the whole time and you keep adding to it, you may have trouble.

I guess to try to pin down a cut and dry answer to fire or no fire, I would say no fire IMO. Sorry for the rambling.