Wood chips

[brozach]

Hey guys, I just signed up today. I have a question about wood chips. New Year's Eve I smoked a beef tenderloin for the family. I marinated it in olive oil, thyme, rosemary, basil, dijon mustard, etc... I used some merlot wood chips (I know it's not traditional, but I wanted to try them) with a metal smoker box I put on the grill rack above the burner. The tenderloin was great, but when I was cleaning up I noticed the wood chips were just charred. Is this normal or should I be cleaning a pile of ashes from the smoker box? :roll:

 

[Dutch]

brozach, It depends on a couple things, wet chips will smolder and have that charred look. Chips packed too tightly will not burn completely and not enough air to the smoke box will cause the chips to char. If you use wood chunks, sometimes the density of the wood will cause the chunks to char and not burn to ash. Most times, the final appearance of your wood doesn't really matter as long as you produce a good rolling smoke.

 

[jamesb]

I agree with what Earl D said... Also, you said that you put the box on the rack above the burner? Did you place in on the meat racK? If you did, try placing it directly above the burner right on the coal rack or what ever they call it on your cooker... closer to the fire, less heat needed to get 'em smoking...

It sounds like you did well tho, See'n as the meal turned out tastey!

James.

 

[bob-bqn]

At first I was thinking the box may not have gotten hot enough, but ya'll got the bases covered. 8)