Wood chips/chunks, soak or no soak, pouch or directly on the fire?

[isho21]

Hey everyone, first post on here after lurking for a bit, the ECB mods were very useful!!!  Already did my roll call and as I stated there, I've had a hard time finding the right way to incorporate delicious smoky flavor into my slow cooked meats.

I've tried using briquettes and lump charcoal and my impression is that the lump charcoal gives it a little more smoky flavor than the briquettes.  First question, is this generally enough or are wood chips/chunks a must? Does the majority of the flavor come from the charcoal or the chips/chunks?

About wood chips:

• The only kind we get here in El Salvador are Western brand (http://www.homevillage.us/wehibbqsmwoc.html) and we get hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry.  For starters, i got hickory.
• I've seen lots of how-to videos on youtube which advocate putting wood chips directly on the coals and others where you use different aluminum foil pouches you can make at home.  Haven't really had great results with either.  When I put them directly on the coals, even after soaking for 30+ mins, they'll smolder and smoke for a few minutes but burn out quickly.  If I want constant smoke, I'd have to be adding new chips every 15 mins or so, and surely that can't be right.  When I put them in a pouch, they tend to smoke for a few minutes also, but there's a lot less smoke.  I've placed the pouch on the coals, on the food grate, both, and really haven't gotten good results.  What's the verdict? Pouch or direct on coals?
• Have seen youtube vids where people recommend soaking and others don't.  In either case, I never get more than a few mins of good smoke.
• If I'm smoking a small pork shoulder (say, 5-7 hours) how many times should I add in chips over that period?

About chunks:

• Was lucky enough to find some Weber brand firespice chunks and got some mesquite.  The first time I tried them, I didn't soak them.  Used 3 or 4 small/medium size pieces.  They really didn't smoke for more than 20 or 30 mins and wound up catching fire and raising the temperature in the smoker way above the desired 200. 

So what do y'all recommend?  I'm looking for intense smoke flavor in the meat and dark bark.  Chips or chunks? Pouch or direct? Soak or dry? Help please!!!!

 

[SmokinAl]

Wood chunks about the size of your fist. Use them dry, no soaking. If you have to use smaller chunks put them next to the coals just touching them. If they still catch fire, then you may have to soak them.

 

[isho21]

Thanks, SmokinAl, so if I use the fist sized ones, where would I place them?  Right on top of the coals, in the middle of the pan?

Also, if I can find someone to sell me the wood locally, are there any specifications I should look for?  Are chunks/chips treated in any way, or just pure, raw pieces of wood?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[erain]

howdy isho21 and welcome to the forums and the smoking community.

i do not have an ECB so i cannot say i have any expierience with that smoker, however i do have some observations i have made over the years. personally i do not believe in soaking chips or chunks generally. i have seen posts someplace where the wood really does not absorb much moisture anyway other than the very outer part. and then to get the wood to smoke it would need to evaporate the moisture first anyway. so the soaking only delays the smoke for a very short time and does not make them last any longer then unsoaked.

what i have found works best to get the most time out of a chunk of wood, and yes for most purposes i like using chunks or splits of wood. this will take some expierimentation on your part but what i do is i have my coal basket(which you should think of it as your heat source of course) i do not put the chunk of wood in with the coals, but set it off to the side maybe 3-4 inches away. this is close enough to get the wood hot enough where it will start to smolder but not really start on fire as if it were right on the coals. i do like to preburn my chunks also just to get the initial burnoff of the wood done. usually when i am done with a smoke and if i have some coal life left i will use it to preburn some for my next smokes.

there is also a little device called an AMS, or A-Maze-N smoker, will put out smoke for 6-7 hours min. several different models incl a pellet smoker. a very affordable addition to your smoking tools that can save you alot of hassle. reminds me i need to place an order for more wood dust right now...
hope this helps and gets some other opinions your way.

 

[isho21]

Thanks a lot, erain, some good ideas.  I'm not sure if on the ECB there's a place I can put the chunks near the charcoal but not touching it.  I may have to play with the little grate I modded for the charcoal pan, maybe figure out a way to keep the wood separate from the burning charcoal.  I'm very interested to know what the benefits are to preburning?  Thanks again!

 

[erain]

Thanks a lot, erain, some good ideas.  I'm not sure if on the ECB there's a place I can put the chunks near the charcoal but not touching it.  I may have to play with the little grate I modded for the charcoal pan, maybe figure out a way to keep the wood separate from the burning charcoal.  I'm very interested to know what the benefits are to preburning?  Thanks again!

should be able to fab something like a mini basket that you could adjust distance away from your coals to have your wood chunk in....

as far as the preburn there are alot of things in wood which do not burn off clean. if you watch when you get a chunk smoking you will not get your desired TBS at first... will be more of a smoldering which i believe can add a undesirable taste to your product. do i do it 100% of the time? no, but if i have the opportunity i will.

 

[jc1947]

The AMNPS is the only way to go...Well worth the money and you get super smokes!

JC1947

http://www.amazenproducts.com

 

[isho21]

Ok.... I think I'm starting to understand that in order to get smoke, you don't actually want your wood pieces to be on fire.  You just want them at a point where they are smoking but not burning, and therefore not creating all the additional heat that's so hard to control.  Is that right?  

Since I've already made a bunch of mods on it, I'm sure I can work out something for a basket or grate for the wood.  New project for this weekend, yeah!!!

 

[isho21]

The AMNPS is the only way to go...Well worth the money and you get super smokes!

JC1947

http://www.amazenproducts.com

JC, I've been reading lots of good things about the amazen.  I guess my question is, do you have to use their sawdust or can you use your own?  Cause living in El Salvador it's very expensive and cumbersome to have things shipped and clearing customs.  But if I can get my own sawdust, it'd probably be much easier.  Also, do you know if this is used for cold-smoking only, or can be used in the 200-250 range?  Thanks for the tip!