I use charcoal to start with then adding wood chunks to the charcoal. The amount of charcoal I start with is full in a
chimney starter. My question is should I use small wood chunks for smoking meat for 6 hours or more or should I use larger pieces of wood? I am not talking about the small wood chips. If I use the larger wood then should I use less charcoal or no charcoal? I am also confused about opening the damper to allow more/less air flow.
Hi wxmanmac,
Regarding controlling your burn and temp:
Do a search here on the forums for using the " Minion" method on the charcoal.
Also having a charcoal basket helps using this method.
That is what I do in my firebox on the side of my horizontal OKJ smoker. I dump about 7-8 lbs of unlit charcoal in the basket. I hollow out the middle, basically making it concave I guess - like a volcano.
I then put about a dozen or so coals in the
chimney starter and light them. Once they are going good - does not take long - I dump them in the middle of the charcoal where it is concaved. I make sure the firebox damper is wide open. ( I always keep the smokestack plate wide open).
I then close the firebox lid and start monitoring my cook chamber temp. ( I have a Maverick ET-732 wireless to monitor with).
After just a few minutes and the temp is rising consistently, I throw about 5-6 chunks of wood on ( hickory usually for me).
Temp continues to rise, some billowy white smoke coming out.
When temp gets to about 20 degrees away from my target temp, I start closing the firebox damper. Eventually I get it pretty much right where I want it. Smoke starts thinning out to TBS. Bingo, time to put the food on!
The above process , once I dump the few lit coals in the middle, is usually around 30 minutes give or take.
During the smoke process, while the food is not covered or foiled - I will throw on 3-4 more hickory chunks every hour or so. I also get several hours out of that first load of charcoal , depending on what temp I am smoking at, the wind, etc.
A final note: If you see smoke escaping anywhere on the smoker other than the smokestack, that is a leak - the more leaks the harder it will be to maintain a constant temp. Best to try and get those sealed up if you can.
Hope this helps,