I have smoked only a few things so far on my Brinkman offset and am really in the early learning stage. Thanks to the info from this site and the host, I smoked two turkeys on Thanksgiving that turned out very good. Longest thing I smoked so far. After 7.5 hours they looked like the dryest toughest birds I have ever seen, but after an hour of foil-wrapped relaxing (the birds -not me) I was relieved to carve the tenderest and best tasting turkeys the 15 of us ever had. It was hard to say a proper grace because all I could think about was how thankful I was that they did not taste anything like they looked! Thanks for the advice. BTW, smoking the birds can make you a hero with your wife for another reason: it frees up the oven for all the craziness that is required to prepare the rest of the food for 15 people.
I was wondering if any of you have figured out how to use smoking wood for the heat source. I can't control what kind of wood is in the hardwood charcoal except for mesquite but I have a half cord of pecan -so about a month ago I tried smoking by burning the pecan wood in a nearby weber until it did not flame and transferring it to the fire box. Even though there was nearly the same flame produced as using charcoal and wet chunks, the flavor was harsh, not sweet. I know there is a method for making charcoal using two nested modifed steel drums but I was hoping for something easier.
I was wondering if any of you have figured out how to use smoking wood for the heat source. I can't control what kind of wood is in the hardwood charcoal except for mesquite but I have a half cord of pecan -so about a month ago I tried smoking by burning the pecan wood in a nearby weber until it did not flame and transferring it to the fire box. Even though there was nearly the same flame produced as using charcoal and wet chunks, the flavor was harsh, not sweet. I know there is a method for making charcoal using two nested modifed steel drums but I was hoping for something easier.