# What happened to cooking with wood?



## ~kev~ (Jan 22, 2008)

As I read through some of these post, I am getting a little confused.  Where do words like dampeners, controls, propane, manifolds and charcoal come into play smoking meat?

How many people just build a fire, set the vent so that enough air gets into the fire box so the pit holds a certain temp?  Why does it have to be so complicated?

I will admit, if I can not find enough dry twigs around the yard to build a fire in the firebox, I will use some charcoal to get the logs going - I am so ashamed and embarrassed about the charcoal though, I am weak.  The charcoal is made into a row, with an oak log on each side.

But, as I read through some of the post here, there is talk of wood chips in cans and wood chips in foil - why not just use real wood?  Wouldn't that just be easier?  If you have to "add" wood to smoke meat, why not just start out with wood instead of adding it?

To me - smoking does not include charcoal with wood chips, or propane with wood chips, or smoke "flavored" sauce.  

It aint smoked unless you use a truck load of wood.


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## jonathan (Jan 22, 2008)

I can easily see going to a nice wood burner at some point. 

Whole wood burners take more attention, a bit more space, but there's rewards to it too I'm more than certain.

My choice was portability and also a frank consideration of what would get me smoking most often (because doesn't help having a nice smoker if you aren't going to use it as often.)

I decided an electric or propane smoker would probably end up with my using it the most. In the end I went with an electric. 

Still use wood (as you noted smaller chips of wood), though I don't need to worry as much about regulating temperature. I also don't get as much flexibility with temperature as a negative. (Can't go over 275 in this smoker.) Its a tradeoff I suppose.

In addition to the utility for me, its also a great way to enter into smoking. I grew up grilling  over charcoal. If you can make beginning smoking a smaller barrier, both economically and in terms of learning curve, you get more people back to smoking, a good % of whom will probably at some point be getting a wood smoking setup.

That's my 2 (and a half adjusted for inflation) cents


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## badss (Jan 22, 2008)

Hi Kev,
Well....I wouldn't go that far as some of the people on here do not have the means to have a smoker that #1 can hold a truck load of wood or others such as I do not have access to some of the exotic woods and can also be hampered by bylaws that will not allow one to smoke or at least heavily. I also am new to this as many others are and if starting out with a propane unit is easier until we get a handle on it and we are using chips in foil or a coffee can....who cares really as one of the things that smoking does is allow one some time to spend time with family and friends and enjoying good food...because someone is using propane or foil or even an electric smoker doesn't make that person any better or worse than someone that smokes with a big unit that can hold a truckload of wood. Some day we may all be in a positon to be as great of a smoker as some of these people on this site are and maybe even get to the stage of getting over the fear of putting large quantities of expensive meat into a smoker and have the confidence to do so. I won't condem anyone for using anything to smoke as long as they are having fun and getting the experience of being a smoker and sharing great food with family and friends....just my 2 cents...coming from someone who uses propane and now electricity....


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## richtee (Jan 22, 2008)

More'n one way to skin a cat. Some of us just do it more efficiently than others.


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## lagogarda (Jan 22, 2008)

I do use one of those chimney starter thingys of charcoal to get things started but do use wood after that, and mine don't have wheels. Brinkman Gourmet Cooker here so I can't use big logs...and get the brake dust cleaned up on the Jeep.


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## peculiarmike (Jan 22, 2008)

Well Kev, I think it's all about choice. Some folks can't afford a $2000-$3000 trailered stick burner (that's a cheap one). Some don't want one. Some prefer a smaller smoker that fits on the deck or patio. Some prefer a gas smoker, some like electric. Some use chips, some use chunks, some use sticks or splits. Some use (gasp!) pellets! There are a LOT more backyard smokers out there than competition smokers. Where do you suppose those competition smokers came from????
Diversity is what makes things interesting, and not just in the smoking world either.
The end product is the same - smoked whatever you are cooking.
I don't have a stickburner. But I WILL set my Q next to yours ANY TIME. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





(I judged a comp. last summer where a guy with a couple 55 gal. drums and charcoal kicked butt on 28 other teams, most cooking on stickburners.)


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## cman95 (Jan 22, 2008)

Well said Mike. And I learn a little or alot from all, no matter what smoker they use. Thats what makes this site great.


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## ~kev~ (Jan 22, 2008)

So far, mine has cost about $400 - $500 to build.

Even when I had a vertical 18 inch in diameter grill, I still used wood.  I guess a lot of it has to do with choice and a mind set.  Most people (not all) go to somewhere like Lowes or Home Depot and buy a gas or charcoal grill.  That person gets used to using gas or charcoal and that is all they ever use.

Being exposed to different ideas might broaden a persons horizons.  Years ago, while on the way to work one morning I saw a guy pulling a pit.  The firebox had a fire in it and red hot coals were falling onto the road.  I first saw the glowing goals on the road and wondered what that was.  I caught up with the guy and his pit at a red light.  I thought to myself - wow.  That guy is going to have a party today.

I have always been partial to wood.  Even though I have a gas grill (I am so weak and ashamed) it rarely gets used.  I also have a home made habatchi (or how ever you spell it) that uses a hand full of charcoal to cook with.


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## buddy (Jan 22, 2008)

I have a wood burner on a trailer and I use only wood , and I really enjoy using it. It does require a lot of attention though , and those all night brisket smokes get harder as you get older. I was fortunate enough to have a friend that owns a welding buisness and I work for a steel company , so I have about $ 1500.00 tied up in it. That includes building a 10' trailer , the pit , firebox , wheels and tires , etc. Oh and beer for the guy welding. I can see where someone might want to use a smoker that doesnt require you to be with it the entire time.


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## white cloud (Jan 22, 2008)

yup dats what do. Just climb one a dem der oak trees go in a squirll  nest and pick three difernt size nuts to adjust my vent HAHAHAHA


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## smok'n steve (Jan 22, 2008)

I happen to use wood, but here in Maine, oil can be as high as $3.50 per gallon.  Many homes here on cold days, use 7 to 13 gallons per day($25 to $45 per day).  

I'll bet my neighbors wonder why I am heating the outdoors with my pit for 30lbs of meat instead of burning the wood for heat!!

I think its all in the operator, not necessarily the machine.  I used to turn out some pretty yummy Q on my gas grill with just a handful of chips.  I love my pit, but I hate to fire it up unless I fully load it up, because I know me and my fellow Mainers are paying over $220 per cord for green firewood!!

I respect those who have figured out different ways of impressing there Families with AWESOME Q:-)


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## white cloud (Jan 22, 2008)

WOW 220 a cord, is the government selling it.? Its around 50 here.


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## wahouse8 (Jan 22, 2008)

I am just getting started and to tell you and I was afraid of starting with charcoal... Actually I have a charcoal unit that has not been used yet because I am waiting for my mother in law to bring my afterburner.  

I have to much on my life's plate right now, between school and work and didn't want to have to tinker with something all day or learn a new craft from scratch.  Maybe I will go back to basics some day but for now I need simple.... 

Kind of like fishing... you start with a enclosed spinner, then a spinner and eventually fly.  I am still at the spinner.

Aaron


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## smok'n steve (Jan 22, 2008)

How much to ship me 10 cords of dry oak?


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## buddy (Jan 22, 2008)

Man I paid $245.00 for the last cord I bought.


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## smok'n steve (Jan 22, 2008)

Yeah, I know it would be pretty tough to even find someone around here to cut and split the wood for $50/cord.  I'm moving to Michigan!  What's the minimum wage over there?


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## glued2it (Jan 22, 2008)

Here in Tulsa after the ice storm people are giving away multiple chords of wood. The price of seasoned firewood will be nothing this year!

Maybe I should haul some up north!


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## cowgirl (Jan 22, 2008)

I'm a wood burner and I love it...but there are times when I wish I had a charcoal or propane burner.
It's not easy finding wood in my area, dried cow chips are available and tops of fence posts can be trimmed off.....

I'm glad wood isn't the only option to smoking good food.


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## navionjim (Jan 22, 2008)

Howdy Kev, 
Considering the various idiosyncrasies of the hobby I applaud your concept of strictly using wood for smoking, albeit both you and I resort to using charcoal just to get the fire going. That said if electric, gas, or charcoal smokers are blurring the edges, at least in the eyes of the purists among us, then I would question where the true boundaries actually lie. 

I've had opportunity to attend several Indian Pow-Wows where salmon was smoked by simply lashing it to a plank and placing it in proximity to a real fire. I've seen biltong made in South Africa by hanging game meat on a string and again simply strung up near a fire pit. Jerky was being made this same way in the Americas long before Lang ever got into the business of building fire belching monstrous and expensive tow around smokers. In truth weren't smoke houses devised simply to keep the rain off the fire and provide a structure to hang meat from rather then to concentrate the smoke or control the heat?

Point being, if one is to be truly purest about it, why would the use of charcoal, propane or electricity be any more of of detractor from the true art of smoking meat any more than the use of a large steel device built to hold an enclosed fire and a chamber to hold the smoke? 

Granted a modern smoker is far more efficient than an open fire which is why both you and I use them. For some in more urban environment or who find themselves time constricted an electric or propane fired device might be the best option they have to pursue the hobby. If I had access to wide open spaces, an unlimited supply of wood and no environmental restrictions, I might resort to simply hanging my meat by a smoky fire myself. But I don't so I resort to throwing sticks in my iron monster in the back yard. But this is just my take on the purest concept.
Jimbo


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## osage (Jan 22, 2008)

I built an electric smoker just for ease of use.  Just lazy I guess.  I'd love to build an actual wood smokehouse someday.  Maybe when I'm retired and the wife drives me out of the house.  I've gone from hunting with modern firearms to black powder and wood bows so maybe I'll get more basic with smoking also.  I tend to lean toward purest in some ways.

I seemed to remember reading that the main purpose of early natives hanging the meat over a fire was to dry it so it didn't rot.  The smoke was merely to keep the pests away.

On the cost of wood:  My father-in-law and I probably cut down 10 cords of white oak wood yesterady cleaning out some fence rows.  These were massive trees that had all died at the same time.  I'm going to be cutting wood off of these for quite a while.  Seasoned oak around here can sell for 35-65 a cord.


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## flash (Jan 22, 2008)

Tell some poor sap living in LA or Orlando to use wood. They would if they could find any.


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## white cloud (Jan 22, 2008)

Don't feel bad about being confused. Controls, dampers and the such can at times be a bit confusing as well as intimidating. If you need to learn more about modern conveniences your in the right place. But the grub you put out on that big rig look awsome.


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## zapper (Jan 22, 2008)

Ain't no shame in smoking with just wood.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	












Juuuuuuusssst kidding! If you got the rig, the wood and the know how, that puts you into an elite class of smokers. I hold any all wood pitmasters in high regard. And while I hold these guys in such high regards it is the food that I am really after. So I don't care how it is smoked, I will eat the better food first! That is what counts in my book!


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## glued2it (Jan 22, 2008)

This biggest problem with smoking with just wood is most people don't how to do it right. 

 Most of their finished product comes out overpowering.

Also if I'm just doing a rack of ribs or 8lb butt, Why would I want to use just wood?


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## capt dan (Jan 22, 2008)

You know what they say about opinions and a.....s, everyone has em!

Every smoker, and cook is different. Preferences are many.Wood  doesn't work in mine, I tried it, just won't work, I use lump charcoal which is wood, thats been  halfway burned. It suites me fine, thank you very much!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Lots of people live differently, in different places. Consider yourself lucky for having the knowledge to operate that huge cooker you have, not to mention the money to fill it up with meat.The fact that ya made it for 400-500 bucks is another blessing.

I am currently looking at getting another/larger smoker/cooker.  The one I want is about 2 grand. I live and work in Michigan, so  I don't need to say much more than that, no money around here right now. If I could have the  Klose, or Lang that I want, I wouldn't critisize others who enjoy the same hobby, with different equipment. Thats just not very neighborly.


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## bigal (Jan 22, 2008)

Smoke'n w/ wood?  I do, but it is in pellet form.  Wood out here is hard to find.  

This is a good example. 



Count your blessings that you can cut wood.  All I want is a f'n tree!!!


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## bigal (Jan 22, 2008)

I'm sorry, this pic shows the neighbor burning some wood..........along w/oil or tires as it seams.  People out here do still use trees to "cook".





Go figure.  

BTW, he's 3.5miles away.


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## sumosmoke (Jan 22, 2008)

True statement, Flash!

I'm close to Orlando and lemmie tell you, it is very tough to find wood. Just got a wood firepit for the backyard and am picking up all the twigs and branches I can find. The local grocery stores carry some but it's hard as nails and doesn't burn easily.


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## fireguy (Jan 22, 2008)

I have had numberous products, turned out by all types of smokers, Some were ok, some great, and some were like chewing on a shoe sole.

In my Opinion You can have the biggest, most expensive smoker out there, but if you dont master the art of Smoking or BBQing (your most important tool) you may not turn a tastey product at all. 

For example my buddy has a big wood smoker on wheels, with a the wrong pitman cooking, I have had much better eats out of my Old home made electric freezer/smoker conversion than he. 

As long as we are SMoking, having fun, and learning something new, it dont matter to me what kind of smoker you have.


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## steevieg (Jan 23, 2008)

I started with a fairly inexpensive offset smoker last year that I learned to cook on real well on (at least my feasters said so). I moved to a WSM which I love due to the ease of temp control and use either lump or charcoal with chunks. I live in Georgia and have access to lots of different woods. I experiment with the woods and am finding which I and my feasters like best with different types of meat. I hope to one day move up to a larger smoker and use nothing but wood, but until that day my feasters and I are happy with what I have and produce now. I've tasted barbeque from N.C. to Tennessee to Missouri to Texas an I may be biased but after lots of cooks and practice and advice from these boards I swear it's not inferior.


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## badss (Jan 23, 2008)

Amen Capt Dan...Amen!


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## gorillagrilla (Jan 23, 2008)

Here in the S.F. bay area , ya cant even build a house with a fireplace anymore !!! letters to the editor in the local paper in marin county all full every year bout this time of people complaining about smoke in the air from the older houses !!!I am sure the future holds a ban on smoke alltogether here !For now I'll keep using wood and lc , but ya give me gas or whatever and sure , I'll use that too !!


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## linescum (Jan 23, 2008)

"I consider myself about 1/2 way on the "smoking experience" scale."

then what gives you the right to come in here and put down other people just because they don't use ALL WOOD. i use lump as a convienance. i work away from home all week and have side jobs to take care of on the weekends and i still turn out some pretty da*m good "Q". 

  i would like nothing better than to have a big ole stick burner but for now i use what suits me and if i have to mod it with dampers and manifolds then thats my problem as long as i do a good Q i don't give a rats A#*

we are here to help people learn how to turn out a 10-15# brisket that will make your mouth water not to stir up the pot and say that your not using wood so your doing it wrong. imho you don't even need a 400.00 pit just get a shovel!


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## charles1056 (Jan 23, 2008)

I personally use wood only to flavor the meat during the smoking process.  I use a propane smoker because I do not have the time or the patience to keep a fire going with wood or coal.  But that is what makes smoking so great.  We can all use different means to accomplish the same goal: good eats!!!!!!


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## shooterrick (Jan 23, 2008)

I fly fish with bamboo not because I think graphite is bad, but because I enjoy the feel and challenge of bamboo. Its called fishing not catching.

I use both charcoal and wood in my smoker not because one is better than the other but because I am hungry and meat is expensive!  
It works well for me.


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## welder (Jan 26, 2008)

I use straight hickory because i enjoy spending the time on a long cook.


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## pmroadie (Jan 31, 2008)

I have a new bruns smoker  and have used both charcoal and strait wood in it to smoke....  Now I prefer strait wood for flavor and cost of the charcoal.   I love smoking with wood now only!  Live in east Texas got plenty of wood for free.  I never thought I could use strait wood in this small offset smoker  firebox is like 18" long,  heck I just cut the wood shorter.  I can cook 4- 5 buts or two large briskits in this thing..  What I like the best about this little smoker is overnite cooking I can load it up with wood full set my alarm clock for about 6 hours and I'm good to go!

I intend to build a smoker soon but have not decided on the type yet,  My little brother has a trailer smoker that will smoke maybe 20 briskits at a time realy good,  but he has a hard time cooking just one.. wasting wood 

I use to smoke on a bbq gril fire on one side water pan under the meat it worked!   Use what ya got its all good!


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## richoso1 (Jan 31, 2008)

Personally, I think versatility is a sign of the times, it's good to have options. I'm disabled and I use a GOSM gasser to get my Q fix, and I'm happy. It's OK to stray from the beaten path... that's how America was found.


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## smokin' trav (Jan 31, 2008)

Just had to stick my two cents in here, well just because...LOL I smoke over an open fire, kinda like the way the indians used to do it, although my fire sits inside a 6'x6x7' tin shed (which I built myself BTW). I'm not gonna say my way is better, or that I can smoke better then anyone, its just the way I learned to do it. I should point out that I do "cheat" a little bit, I use a LP "Tiger Torch" to start the fire and keep it going, and if a little extra heat is needed without the smoke from the fire. The biggest disadvantage I have is that I can't smoke alot of the things guys (and gals) can do with they're little electric or gas jobbies, simply because I don't have the same level of control. But I can do up a mean batch of jerky, or a 50lb batch of sausage (I like my sausage BTW), without to much difficulty. I am working on some shelving for inside of the smoker so I would be able to do birds, or butts, or any of the other great items you see getting done here all the time, cause it all looks so damn good. Anyways, the only thing that really matters is that we share our experiences and recipies, and keep the smoking tradition alive and well, reguardless of how we accomplish it. Peace.


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## gunslinger (Feb 1, 2008)

I smoke with wood. BUT, if it looks good, smells good and tastes good, I'd eat it if it was smoked with tires.


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## jaynik (Feb 2, 2008)

Ah.  The purity debate.  I'd love to have enough wood and the right smoker to smoke that way, but I don't have either.  Most of us are doing this for fun and good food.


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## nh3b's (Feb 2, 2008)

$275 a cord......thats what happened!

Ill agree I like to cook with 100% real wood.....real wood, real flavor.....but, its expensive and wasteful. Im just now starting to play around with lump. 

Thank God I live in an area I go to the dump with a load of pine and come out with an oak/maple tree someone threw out. I love New England.


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## chadpole (Feb 3, 2008)

Let me get this straight.......White Cloud you can buy a 4' tall x 4' wide x
16 ' long stack of seasoned,split firewood for only $50.00 bucks!!! Around
Georgia I sell it for 215.00 a cord. Anybody that works for 8 hours cutting trees to length,splitting that wood, and stacking that wood for $50.00 is a idiot. Now a face cord of wood is 4'x18" x8 ',which will fit in a long bed pick-up truck. That runs $80.00 if you pick it up yourself.


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## goat (Feb 3, 2008)

Hey Big Al,
When I lived in Western Kansas, I had to bring mesquite from home to have bbq wood.


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## gunslinger (Feb 3, 2008)

A cord is 4' high, 4' wide (3 rows) and 8' long, not 16' long. A face cord or "rick" is 4' high, 8' long and 16" wide or one row wide. A "rick" or face cord is 1/3 of a cord. Any wood chopper worth his weight will sell splits ONLY 16 inches long.
A full size pickup holds 1/2 a cord.
Those measurements are indisputable and are the standard nation wide.
A cord here in SW Missouri is selling for 125.00 per cord. That's down a bit because of the ice storm January of 07.


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