I got my smoker!

[alblancher]

Becky don't fret the dry wood bit to much when doing chips or branches.     Many people soak their chips before putting them in the smoker.  They should dry out pretty fast.  Those of us that use wood or large chunks want dry wood since we are using it as the primary fuel source.

Sorry about your friend.

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

Becky don't fret the dry wood bit to much when doing chips or branches.     Many people soak their chips before putting them in the smoker.  They should dry out pretty fast.  Those of us that use wood or large chunks want dry wood since we are using it as the primary fuel source.

Sorry about your friend.

Question.  Even if your primary heat source is from charcoal, wouldn't using non-cured smoke wood give you thick, bitter tasting smoke?  I thought the wood needed to be fully cured whether it's the primary heat source or simply for smoke with a charcoal burner.

 

[alblancher]

Absolutely true but you are using a very small amount of it.   There are people constantly discussing soaking chips and chunks before adding to a fire or electric.    Consider how much wood you use with a wood burner and how much wood you use with an electric or as flavoring in a charcoal smoker.   Remember she is talking about twigs.  I just don't think it will make much difference.  But I have been wrong before!!

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

Hmm.  Now I'm curious.  I've always thought that the curing process was more than just drying the wood out because when it dries, the sap and other content in the wood that builds as the plant grows gets dried out or whatever, and that whole process changes its make up somehow.  I've also always thought that once wood has been cured, soaking it won't re-do what's been done in the curing process because curing can't be undone by dead plants.  It's only a question of drying it back out, which usually doesn't take too long because unless the wood is completely submerged for a very long time, water doesn't penetrate very deep (which is why I don't bother with soaking chunks).

But now that I think about it, I have no idea where my understanding came from.  It might just be something I assumed when I was a kid and observed how quickly cured firewood dries out if the rain or snow got to it, as compared to how long it took to cure.  So my understanding might be just a step above assuming that it's the little drying goblins inside the wood with their hair dryers that take care of it all.

 

[alblancher]

Never heard of that but sounds valid.  I'll have to keep my eyes open

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

So I just asked the wikipedias, and apparently burning wet wood results in more unburned hydrocarbons going up the flue (or out the chimney in our case) because the energy that would otherwise go to combustion goes to heating the moisture.  That might make it harder to achieve thin blue smoke at lower temps, but that's just a guess.

Looks like an interesting article that I'll have to read when I don't have work I should be doing.  From a glance, it looks like my little theory might be bunk and it is as simple as removing water from the wood.  So I guess my wood goblin theory might be right after all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_drying

So whether that would mean bitter tasting smoke or not, I don't know.  But you're probably right that in the small quantities she's talking about, it's not likely to make a noticeable difference.

 

[tyotrain]

congrats on the new smoker... you are going to have a ton of fun cooking with it

 

[tyotrain]

congrats you are going to have a ton of fun cooking with it