heat sources

[montyg]

im new to this, just built a block smoker, used it the first time over the weekend, as of now im using charcoal to fire it with, and hickory wood for the smoke, my question is is there a better source for heat? flavor? and i also went thru 4 , 15lbs bags of charcoal to keep it at 225. my smoker is just a rough edition of what it will be, but wanted to figure out any improvements before i make it permanent. so is this a normal amount to charcoal or is my smoker very ineffecient? also is there any advantage to having it horizontal vs vertical. i know verticle would be more efficient.   thanks , montyg

 

[Dutch]

Hi montyg- What is the setup inside your smoker? As for heat sources for a block smoker (concrete blocks?) I've seen units use wood, charcoal or propane.

As for my Lang smoker, I use white oak as my heat source as it can burn hot and a little goes a long way. As for flavor I like to use fruit woods like cherry and apple on fish and ribs. I've use maple for pork butts and for beef brisket I like to use hickory.

 

[adam c]

Greetings Monty,

I just finished up a masonry smoker and I'll tell you, it's taken me several tries to figure out my fuel levels. I don't know how large your unit is, but I've decided mine is definitely going to be a wood fired smoker. If I tried to use charcoal, I'd be buying it by the pallet.

My smoke chamber is 30x24 by 32" high. I'm using logs that are about 10-12" long and 10" in diameter, split into at least 4 wedges. For my last smoke, I used 2 chimney's of lump charcoal to get it started and ended up using about 4 of the logs to maintain 225' for over 8 hours.

 

[montyg]

ive found a source for hickory slab wood cheap, so im going to try that. my smoker is roughy the size of yours i can get 2500 lbs of slab for 30 dollars from the local saw mill, i spent 60 on charcoal the last time i used it. but i think once i finish up the fire box a little better it will be more efficient too