Large Logs vs Small Splits

[Its_Raw]

I have been seeing quite a few videos of individuals using large splits (14” - 18”) and making what seems like a huge fire in their backyard size offset smokers. They seem to be maintaining temps in the 250 - 275 range. I have not tried to build a large fire in my offset yet, and I am wondering how they keep lower temps with that much wood. The benefit I see is they add wood at a much slower pace and that would be nice to not add wood every 15 minutes.

 

[DieselTech]

I would think if your wood box/ fire box was good & tight you should be able to control your fire thru the intake air ports.

I would think, no matter how big of fire you have, you should be able to control that fire with the air vents.

 

[JckDanls 07]

I would think if your wood box/ fire box was good & tight you should be able to control your fire thru the intake air ports.

I would think, no matter how big of fire you have, you should be able to control that fire with the air vents.

This is all true... To a point ...

If you happen to get to many hot coals built up in the FB then you have to throttle down the air intake... When you have to do this then the splits just smolder instead of flaming ... This in turn puts out the white smoke that you are trying to avoid...

 

[DieselTech]

This is all true... To a point ...

If you happen to get to many hot coals built up in the FB then you have to throttle down the air intake... When you have to do this then the splits just smolder instead of flaming ... This in turn puts out the white smoke that you are trying to avoid...

Thanks. I had not thought of that. I've never had a stick burner, but have had a wood stove all my life & was basing my response off of them.

 

[mike243]

Pellet smokers and electric smokers smolder wood in order to create smoke, in my almost 40 years cooking I have never had any food with off tastes due to white smoke, I'm not saying it's not possible, but I have used a lot of different smokers over the years, the wood type might give you off flavors or green wood will, white usually means water. Black smoke is way bad lol.

 

[millerbuilds]

I am not a fan of large splits in a small fire box (backyard style). I find the flavors of full combusted wood is better than that of smoldering wood. IMHO this is specifically true when using robust woods (Hickory, Oak, Mesquite) or proteins that can absorb too much smoke (Poultry and fish).
End of the day, I will take a small hot fire over a large smoldering fire.

- Jason

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

It depends on the size of the offset, I guess. I use splits about 8 to 10 inches in my Franklin smoker. I prefer 10 but 8 is a full sized split cut in half and I'd rather not cut splits into a 10 inch split and a wood chunk. My other smoker is a WSM. I've maybe only once oversmoked anything on it, but you have to consider most of the heat is coming from charcoal. On an offset, it's all coming from the wood so you have to think more about white smoke vs. blue. I prefer the taste from cleaner combustion as well. That said you don't have to be psycho OCD about the blue smoke. You will get some white smoke and it's fine. You just want it to be blue the vast majority of the time.