Charcoal and chunks or wood splits only?

[Musty Rusty]

I have loved using my offset cooker! The cook I am getting leaps and bounds better than any other kind of smoker I have used. However, I have been using wood splits only to cook with. I have read of many using charcoal as the heat source and then chunks for flavor. Chucking my wood would save me TONS of wood, but in all your experience, does that method compromise the flavor?? If not what basket do you recommend?

 

[sawhorseray]

I can't be of much help, I have a offset BBQ smoker but I use only splits, most often hickory, and no charcoal what so ever. RAY

 

[Chasdev]

Wood only, but I start my fires with a basket of charcoal to save time..
I also hate dealing with wood, first it's hard to find properly seasoned wood with around 15% internal moisture content. (dryer burns too fast leaving too little a coal base and too wet creates larger coals which raise cook temps without the perfect smoke profile of dry wood).
Second and maybe more important, large stacks of wood lure in roaches, rats and spiders no matter if it's stored in a rack off the ground and covered with a form fitting tarp or not.
I got an infestation a few years ago that made me sell off more than a cord of wood before I could murder all the critters that had taken up residence in my back yard.
Good news is that the wood seller had ripped me off and three years after buying it, the wood was still above 25% moisture content and I was getting tired of waiting for it to finish drying out.
Best wood I ever bought was dead fall post oak full of borer holes, man those worms made some sweet smelling smoke!

 

[flatbroke]

Try it and see if it fits your flavor profile. You may like it whereas others may not.

 

[flatbroke]

Musty. What kind of offset are you using.

 

[SmokinAl]

What offset are you using, some are made to use a combo of charcoal & wood, while others are made for wood splits only. My Lang is made for wood splits, but I still make a coal bed with charcoal then add splits from then on.
Good luck!
Al

 

[Musty Rusty]

I have a chargriller offset smoker (my wife made me go super cheep to see if I would actually use it, and am greatly looking forward to an upgrade soon) but I do think the folks at char grilled do recommend To use chunks with charcoal. I am only asking this question because of my wood supply diminishing and wondering if I was unnecessarily using large amounts of wood when I do things like brisket or pork, when I could just be using a few chunks by comparison and get in the same ballpark of flavor.

 

[flatbroke]

I think smokin peachey has one similar and uses it a lot. Maybe he will chime in

 

[whistlepig]

I have a Masterbuilt 560 that can cook entirely with charcoal. Tossing some wood chunks in the ash bin does add to the flavor.