# chunks or chips?



## mattmart0518 (Jul 25, 2020)

Hello guys/gals

I'm brand new to smoking and I have a few questions.

I have a vertical gas smoker pit boss 2 and says in the manual not to use chunks or pellets. I have been using chips and they burn within 45 mins. Would it be safe to use chunks to help the smoke time last longer per tray? maybe mix the chips with a few chunks? Or pellets?

Also I know its been discussed over and over about soaking the wood. Would soaking them last longer in my tray or is it completely pointless none the less?

Thanks guys and I appreciate your time!!


----------



## smokerjim (Jul 25, 2020)

can't comment on chunks or chips not familiar with your smoker, as for soaking chips i personally think it's pointless, my opinnion is they won't start smoking until the water is steamed out of them.


----------



## Kevin DeShazo (Jul 25, 2020)

Why would you use something the manual clearly says not to use? If its a pellet smoker, use pellets


----------



## JLeonard (Jul 25, 2020)

M
 mattmart0518
  I use the chunks (unsoaked) and a small cast iron skillet. I'm unsure as to what your chip pan looks like. But, if its like the one in my masterbuilt it is rather cheap. I just put my skillet down on top of the chip pan. It gives me enough separation and allows the skillet to hot enough to start the smoking process without the chunks bursting into flame.


----------



## mattmart0518 (Jul 25, 2020)

JLeonard said:


> M
> mattmart0518
> I use the chunks (unsoaked) and a small cast iron skillet. I'm unsure as to what your chip pan looks like. But, if its like the one in my masterbuilt it is rather cheap. I just put my skillet down on top of the chip pan. It gives me enough separation and allows the skillet to hot enough to start the smoking process without the chunks bursting into flame.


The chip pan is pretty small for chunks anyways. Just have to keep feeding wood. Thanks for all your help guys


----------



## normanaj (Jul 25, 2020)

Not familiar with the pitboss line of vertical smokers but you may wish to look into using an
A-maze-n tube or tray.You can potentially get up to 10-12 hours of smoke.All of us that use the Masterbuilt electric smokers (MES) use the trays or tubes with great success.


----------



## JLeonard (Jul 25, 2020)

normanaj
 has a good point also.


----------



## mike243 (Jul 25, 2020)

I have a smokey mountain gas smoker, my chip tray is cast iron with a top on it and i use to burn chunks in it with out any issues, having a lid on them stops it from flaming up and they smoulder longer than chips imo


----------



## mattmart0518 (Jul 25, 2020)

normanaj said:


> Not familiar with the pitboss line of vertical smokers but you may wish to look into using an
> A-maze-n tube or tray.You can potentially get up to 10-12 hours of smoke.All of us that use the Masterbuilt electric smokers (MES) use the trays or tubes with great success.


Okay I will look into that. Does that fit in place of the tray I have now or sits ontop ?  The water pot it just above the wood tray so not sure how I’d be able to for that a-maz tray in it.


----------



## buzzy (Jul 25, 2020)

Welcome to SMF. I believe JLeonard & normanaj got you covered on this. Only thing to add is in my gasser I use 1 big chunk instead of multiple small chunks. 1 won't catch on fire but 2 or more might.
Just my .02


----------



## thirdeye (Jul 25, 2020)

mattmart0518 said:


> Hello guys/gals
> 
> I'm brand new to smoking and I have a few questions.
> 
> ...



Manufacturers obviously have design considerations in mind when they recommend a fuel or a flavor wood choice.  But cooks have been modifying pits and smoke generators since day one.  In fact, in the '50's George Stephen cut a steel buoy in half and this modification let to the Weber Kettle.

Don't change from chips to pellets or small splits simply for the convenience of longer smoking times.... *but it's okay to experiment in order to get a better quality of the smoke itself. * Because that's what counts.  Here is a great example.... I've used Big and Little Chief electric smokers for decades.  They are a box, with a hot plate, and a rack.  No controls, just on and off.  The recommended flavor wood is chips for two reasons:  1) The company sells chips, and 2) in the '70's hardwood cooking pellets did not exist.  I discovered that full pans of chips created too harsh of a smoke, and that soaking chips caused steam before getting smoke.... so I reduced the amount of chips until the smoke was to my liking.  10 or 12 years ago when flavor pellets became more available, I stopped using chips and switched to pellets and get MUCH better flavor on the meat.  But I can't load up the pan with pellets, rather a very small handfull works much better.  And, I do add some small splits on certain cooks. SMALL splits, since the pan is small.  I have 3 X 3 chunks of flavor wood, but size them down into splits the size of my fnger.


----------



## smokeymose (Jul 25, 2020)

My 2nd smoker was a MB gasser and I used chips (and yes I soaked them). The chip tray was chintsy and burned up quickly. Also the flame would get to the chips. A fellow in the metal shop at the company where I used to work fabricated me a new one out of stainless in his (ahem) spare time.
I continued soaking, but started using a CI pan on top of the tray and that made the chips last a bit longer. WARNING!! You'll need a serious glove to yank the pan out to replenish chips.....
45 minutes isn't bad.
For what it's worth I gave up the gasser because I couldn't keep the temps low enough without the flame blowing out with the least bit of wind. Maybe the Pit Boss is a better outfit.


----------



## smokerjim (Jul 25, 2020)

mattmart0518 said:


> Okay I will look into that. Does that fit in place of the tray I have now or sits ontop ?  The water pot it just above the wood tray so not sure how I’d be able to for that a-maz tray in it.


i think i would go with the tube, not sure if the tray would stay lit in your smoker,


----------



## mattmart0518 (Jul 25, 2020)

smokeymose said:


> My 2nd smoker was a MB gasser and I used chips (and yes I soaked them). The chip tray was chintsy and burned up quickly. Also the flame would get to the chips. A fellow in the metal shop at the company where I used to work fabricated me a new one out of stainless in his (ahem) spare time.
> I continued soaking, but started using a CI pan on top of the tray and that made the chips last a bit longer. WARNING!! You'll need a serious glove to yank the pan out to replenish chips.....
> 45 minutes isn't bad.
> For what it's worth I gave up the gasser because I couldn't keep the temps low enough without the flame blowing out with the least bit of wind. Maybe the Pit Boss is a better outfit.


I’ll just have to enjoy a few more beverages and keeps changing the wood haha. Hasn’t been to windy out lately but seems to stick at 225 steadily.


----------

