I have a WSM 18.5. I sometimes smoke brisket in LONG overnight smokes -- like starting at midnight and going 14 hours at 225. It occurred to me that during the first part of the smoke, when I'm asleep, once the wood chunks burn off there's no "thin blue smoke" until I wake up in the morning and add more chunks. I've always thought that it was most important to get smoke into the meat during the first part of the smoke, so by not being available to add chunks for the first few hours, I fear I'm depriving the meat of smoke at the time when it's most necessary.
So...what do others do in this situation? How do you keep the thin blue smoke going during long overnight cooks? Do I need to get out of bed every couple of hours and throw a few chunks of wood on to the coals? Do I start with a bunch of chunks at midnight and let them burn off, and then replace them when I get out of bed in the morning?
Advice and help appreciated!
So...what do others do in this situation? How do you keep the thin blue smoke going during long overnight cooks? Do I need to get out of bed every couple of hours and throw a few chunks of wood on to the coals? Do I start with a bunch of chunks at midnight and let them burn off, and then replace them when I get out of bed in the morning?
Advice and help appreciated!