Preburning wood

[ron50]

I had an idea and wanted to throw it past you wood burners for your opinions.

When I am smoking turkeys and I bring the temp of my CCSV over 300 it it hard to keep the smoke thin and blue. I have tried soaking, using bigger chunks, smaller chunks but the quantity of smoke remains an issue.

I am thinking of preburning some wood chunks down to charcoal and saving them for when I am smoking at higher temps. I'm sure that would solve the issue of too much smoke.

Will I still get enough smoke taste to the birds?

Thanks for the help.

 

[mavadakin]

hi ron..tell ya what i do and found..the pre burned wood actualy will give off less smoke..what i do with my old chips is use them in my grill for steaks and such...but yes preburned to a black really does a nice job..kinda like preseasoned..mike

 

[fatback joe]

Yeah, you will still get the smoke flavor in there on those birds.

Alot of the old timers (doesn't seem common these days) preburned everything and just used that, no adding of chunks, chips, logs........just preburned wood and it was plenty smoky.

Oh......looking at your post, I think I misunderstood. You just talking about making your own lump charcoal?

Either way, you should still get the flavor you are looking for IMO.

 

[ron50]

Not looking to make charcoal per se, just want to reduce the higher amounts of smoke I get when I crank the temp above 300 for poultry. When Im at 225 -250 it's not an issue so no need to use preburned chunks then.

 

[mavadakin]

hi ron ..do you save your chips or chunks after a smoke....i have kinda did a study of this a while back..all my arrows point to less smoke same flavor..fresh wood chips produce tons of smoke..soaked or not...but i have noticed a very large reduction after i reused the blacken ones.. understand when i grill i heat to 300 plus..but they are in a chip box..all my arrows point to less smoke same flavor.. i can show you a pic of my blackend ones..they are chared heavly..but not burned to ash..perhaps a test run would be in order just to see if ya like what ya see

 

[ron50]

Thanks. Im going to preburn some wood this weekend and try it out.

 

[richtee]

Yep.. pre-burn to the white coals for the base, then just to black for smoke. I start a bed about a half hour before hand, nice pile of glowing whites... then add some still flaming- but not for long-chunks. Thin blue almost right out of the gate.

Thanks to SMF for teaching me the Thin Blue!

 

[mavadakin]

I Definatly Agree With Rich....yep Try This As A Test.if I Were You I Would Do The Same..i Hope Things Work Out Great..and Im More Then Glad To Help With My Research...personaly I Think Your Going To Be Totaly Pleased...but Just In Case Of Fire Have The Water Squirt Bottle Ready..just Add Liquid Smoke ..lol J/k.mike

 

[fatback joe]

Ok. I get it, sorry for the confusion on my part. No experience on that. My wood only gets one shot at it. LOL