volume of wood & charcoal for smoking

[bruce1334]

I have not seen any comments of the volume of wood and charcoal needed for various smoking tasks such as ribs, roasts, fish, sausage, etc.

Are there rules of thumb on the volume of fuel for say a two, four and six hour smoke?

 

[s2k9k]

A lot will depend on what type of smoker one is using.

 

[jirodriguez]

Yup... all depends on your smoker, ambient temp., wind.

My WSM in the summer months can run at approx. 1 to 1.25 hrs. per. lb. of charcoal, but on a windy winter day its going to run closer to 0.75 hrs. per. lb. of charcoal.

 

[mountainhawg]

Usually it depends on what you are cooking or smoking. The amount of heat, if any at all, that is required depends on how you are cooking: Low and slow, cold smoke, roasting and sear.  Wood (for smoke):  I usually do not use many chunks and the actual smoking is not that long. A lot depends again on what you are cooking and how intense a smoke flavor you wish to have. The TBS (thin blue smoke) is a good guide for actual smoke production.  

Best thing to do is look around the forums and you will find good cooking temperature information. Get a good digital thermometer and run your heat by the temperature required for what you are cooking. Do not rely on any thermometer that may have come attached to your cooker. 

 

[bruce1334]

I am using a UDS made from a 55 gal drum. I have an expanded metal basket for the fuel that is the size of a five gal bucket. I want a good smoky flavor to the meat.

I plan to mainly smoke pork ribs, fish, and sausage.

Do you count charcoal the same as the wood for lbs of fuel req'd? I see by some responses that 1 lb per hour of smoking sounds in the ballpark.