Offset smoker fuel: charcoal or wood?

[daniels]

In doing some reading I saw in a book where it talked about using lump charcoal in an offset smoker like that was the standard fuel for offset smokers.  Prior to that I had thought wood was the standard fuel for offset smokers.

With an offset smoker do you just pick whichever fuel you want?

Thanks.

 

[phatbac]

You can use charocal in a smoker. I use charcoal in my smoker to get the fire going and for heat at the beginning, If i were to use exclusively lump charcoal i would use a a couple bags at least for a short smoke. I just put on hot coals in a basket then put wood on top. besides good wood around where i live is cheaper than bags of charcoal and gives a better flavor.

IMG_20160227_070625984.jpg

• phatbac
• Mar 25, 2016

here is my smoker using some charcoal at the bottom to get the sticks going.

 

[joe black]

^^^^^ I use about 2/3 basket of RO lump to get a good bed of coals and add wood splits for cooking. When the CC temp is at my cooking temp, I add another couple of pre-heated splits, a few chunks of flavor wood and put my meat in to cook. From then on, it's all wood. I think that pre-heating the splits is one of the best tools for good heavy management.

An Offest Smoker is called a "stick burner" for a reason.

Good luck and good wood smokin', Joe. :grilling_smilie: