More burn for your buck

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jtr

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jan 6, 2010
34
10
Maine
I did a 8 pound pork butt this weekend in my new GOSM and noticed that the first round of chips (apple and hickory dry not soaked) lasted about 3 hours before I had to change them. I added more chips about 5 times through the course of 12 hours. I would take the chip box out and empty the old burnt chips and add new ones, is that the right way?
I don't think it is possible to do chunk wood in a GOSM, or I could be wrong??
Just trying to figure out how to get more burn outta my chips.

FYI: brought some leftovers from this weekends smoke to the guys at work and they were in heaven. Thanks for all the suggestions!
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Which model do you have? have a big block and I use chunks in a coffee can riddled with holes for air circulation. I also use RO lump as a base.
 
My gosm is 24x16x36. Do you set the coffee can in the cast iron box? How much longer does the chunk last?
 
Before I sold my GOSM I was using the largest cast iron pan I could fit on the rack above the flame. Uncovered witha mix of wood chunks, and lump charcoal. Could get quite a few hours of TBS out of that set up.
 
I burn chunks all the time in my GOSM. I have the smaller GOSM...and the cast iron wood pan is about 8"x8" or so. I fill it up with as many chunks as I can....doesn't matter if the top won't fit tight against the bottom either. As the chunks burn away, I add more as needed. I leave whats already in there and just add a few more chunks every 1 1/2 hours or so.

Chunks are cheaper than chips....I'm using some sugar maple from a tree that fell on my property last year. I gave most of to my buddy who heats his house with wood....but I kept about six logs for smoking. I have about 8 five gallon buckets of chunks to use. All for a few hours of time.
 
I use about a 75/25 mixture of chunks and chips in my GOSM. I use the wood box that came with it (have the big block GOSM...), soak the wood and throw it in there. 75% chunks, and fill in the gaps with some chips.

This usually lasts me about 4 hours. Then if it starts smoking slower, I stir up the coals/embers and get another hour out of it. Then just refill after that, and the cycle of life begins again...
 
I use the iron skillet method to burn chunks, lumps, charcoal, whatever "
new" method I'm working on. The handle on the skillet sure helps get a grip on the situation. Lessens the open door time. As long as the chunks fit underneath the water pan, it's all good.
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I have the small gosm and use a mixture of chunks and chips, sometimes only chunks, I use the cast iron box that came with it and get around two hours of smoke. Seems that with chunks it is easier to achieve the TBS. I have tried a cake pan with foil and holes cut in it, i got nasty orange toxic billowing smoke, so I have never tried that again.
 
I too have the smaller GOSM. I've also replaced the small box with an old cast iron skillet. I usually used chunks for smoke. I find that some chunks put out more ash than others. I try to move some of the ash aside and place the new chunks on the skillet that is directly above ring of fire from the burner below. If there looks to be too much ash, I pull out the skillet, empty the ash and replace. I hope that made sense.
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I tried the chunk method this weekend on a couple chickens and noticed about 45 mins to an hour of a longer smoke than just using 100% chips. I think I may look into the cast iron pan vs the smoke box because having the handle seems it would make it a lot easier to remove the pan from the smoker. I use the "ov glove" which works better than the welding glove I had before. The welding glove was a bit cumbersome, but you can't handle a hot smoker box for an extended period of time.

I'm thinking about doing a turkey or ham for my wifes birthday this weekend.
 
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