I am in the process of building an offset brick/concrete smoker, and I had some questions about using all wood for the heat and smoke, as I have never used just wood for smoking. Right now I use charcoal as a heat source in my Weber kettle and add wood chunks or chips for smoke. When my brick smoker is done, I would like to use wood for the heat source and the smoke.
Can you use one type of wood for the heat and then when that wood burns down to coals, is it OK to add another type of wood for the smoke flavor? I have a friend of mine who has a lot of ash wood he is giving away, and I have some oak, maple and hickory wood that I would like to use for flavor, but I don't know if getting the smoker up to temp with ash and then adding oak, etc, would mess with the smoke flavor of the meat.
Is it better to let the wood in the smoker burn down to coals before putting the meat on, or is it OK to put it on when the wood is burning if it is up to the temp you want? Or does it depend on how much smoke is being produced?
Is any type of fruit wood good for flavor? I have access to some plum and pear wood, but I have never used either one.
I can get scraps of wood from a local sawmill, but a lot of the pieces are the outside of the logs so they are mostly bark. Is it worth using these pieces since they burn pretty quickly?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Can you use one type of wood for the heat and then when that wood burns down to coals, is it OK to add another type of wood for the smoke flavor? I have a friend of mine who has a lot of ash wood he is giving away, and I have some oak, maple and hickory wood that I would like to use for flavor, but I don't know if getting the smoker up to temp with ash and then adding oak, etc, would mess with the smoke flavor of the meat.
Is it better to let the wood in the smoker burn down to coals before putting the meat on, or is it OK to put it on when the wood is burning if it is up to the temp you want? Or does it depend on how much smoke is being produced?
Is any type of fruit wood good for flavor? I have access to some plum and pear wood, but I have never used either one.
I can get scraps of wood from a local sawmill, but a lot of the pieces are the outside of the logs so they are mostly bark. Is it worth using these pieces since they burn pretty quickly?
Thanks for any help you can give me.