Perhaps this is a dumb question, but I am getting a wide range of answers on this through google, and I have no experience here. My dad just built his own smoker attachment for his bbq, and I wanted to get him some good quality wood chunks and a pork shoulder (and of course some homebrew!) for Christmas. It seems like every recipe I find is for an electric smoker, which this is not. However, an 8 hour cook time for an 8# pork shoulder seems rather consistent across recipes. How much wood do I need to get for that cook time?
How much wood for NON-electric smoker?
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flars
Well-Known Member
A picture of the smoke attachment would help to determine amount/size of wood to use. I have the large Camp Chef propane smoker. I use a single piece of hickory at a time weighing about two ounces. Less than 3" × 3 ' × 3". Different forms of wood for smoke is available. Sawdust,, chips, shreds, chunks and logs depending on the size of the smoke producing box.
I started smoking ribs in my propane grill. Tried the saw dust. It burned way to fast. Even just flamed instead of smoke.
I started smoking ribs in my propane grill. Tried the saw dust. It burned way to fast. Even just flamed instead of smoke.
jtp137
Well-Known Member
Smoking meat is my other hobby take a picture. The next step up from electric is using charcoal as a heat source and adding wood chunks for smoke. The ultimate way is stick burning where you only burn wood for heat and flavor. The key is good combustion and thin blue smoke chocking the fire leads too ugly thick white smoke and bitter meat
jtp137
Well-Known Member
Are you planning on making a fire in smoke box and cooking with indirect heat?
If I did an 8 hr smoke on my big green egg, I'd use about 2 fist-sized chunks. That's in addition to whatever amount of lump charcoal fuel that gets consumed. Whatever your heat source that amount is in the right ballpark at least.
Apple is good for pork and I like pecan a lot for everything too.
Fyi when I restocked my smoking wood chunks earlier this year, these were the cheapest apple and pecan I could find. If you don't have Prime shipping may kill the deal though. Prices may have changed too, shop around and check price per pound.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IF1HD96/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJ2R6K6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Apple is good for pork and I like pecan a lot for everything too.
Fyi when I restocked my smoking wood chunks earlier this year, these were the cheapest apple and pecan I could find. If you don't have Prime shipping may kill the deal though. Prices may have changed too, shop around and check price per pound.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IF1HD96/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJ2R6K6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Last edited by a moderator:
flars
Well-Known Member
You can use small stems 2" to 4" diameter up to almost the full length of the firebox or larger pieces split down to approximately the same size. Depending on where you live may be easy or difficult to find.
Judging from the photo scavenging native material may be the best.
Edit: How much wood. Can start and maintain the heat with charcoal and use the wood to create the smoke. Really depends on his style of smoking meat.
Judging from the photo scavenging native material may be the best.
Edit: How much wood. Can start and maintain the heat with charcoal and use the wood to create the smoke. Really depends on his style of smoking meat.
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Nice looking smoker!
If he's running the whole show off wood I can't even guess how much you need. Certainly more than a couple of chunks. Maybe you can find a local source for a big box... I have a feeling the amount you'll need will be too much for bags from Amazon.
If he's running the whole show off wood I can't even guess how much you need. Certainly more than a couple of chunks. Maybe you can find a local source for a big box... I have a feeling the amount you'll need will be too much for bags from Amazon.
Ok, a couple things.
He has two choices. Heat with wood, or heat with charcoal and add smoking wood.
Generally in a smoker this small, it's going to be hard to burn fresh wood and keep it hot enough to burn off VOCs [volatile organic compounds]. This is the stuff in wood that smells and tastes nasty. You know when you start a campfire and you get a bunch of thick white smoke, but once you actually get a nice bed of coals the fire burns cleanly? You need enough heat to burn off those VOCs to get to clean burning. And that's a LOT of heat for a small smoker like this. Cooking with raw wood, it'll be damn near impossible to keep 225 or 275 degrees in the smoker with that kind of fire.
So I'd do one of two things:
Heat with wood: Assuming he has access to hardwood logs that he wants to use. For this, I would have him burn the wood in a fire pit or something else for pre-burn, and then shovel the hot coals into his firebox. This allows him to do his entire burn with hardwood but the VOCs will already be burned off in the pre-burn. This is sorta the "purist" method for an offset smoker.
Heat with charcoal: In this case you simply build a fire using charcoal (lump or briquette, his choice) in the firebox, and use hardwood chunks rather than chips. One bag from your local big-box hardware store is more than enough for an 8-hr cook, as you add maybe one or two chunks when you start the fire and only add more if you find yourself running out.
@Horseflesh above has a Big Green Egg, similar to the Kamado Joe I have. In those smokers, our fires are VERY small because it doesn't take much airflow/fire to keep 200# of ceramic at 225 or 275 degrees. In your dad's smoker, you'll have a lot more airflow due to the material and construction. But in either case, you regulate your temp largely with airflow, and learning how much airflow you need takes time and experience. So I highly recommend your dad do at least one test burn before he actually throws wood on there. It's a great excuse for you and he to sip homebrew for a few hours learning the smoker.
He has two choices. Heat with wood, or heat with charcoal and add smoking wood.
Generally in a smoker this small, it's going to be hard to burn fresh wood and keep it hot enough to burn off VOCs [volatile organic compounds]. This is the stuff in wood that smells and tastes nasty. You know when you start a campfire and you get a bunch of thick white smoke, but once you actually get a nice bed of coals the fire burns cleanly? You need enough heat to burn off those VOCs to get to clean burning. And that's a LOT of heat for a small smoker like this. Cooking with raw wood, it'll be damn near impossible to keep 225 or 275 degrees in the smoker with that kind of fire.
So I'd do one of two things:
Heat with wood: Assuming he has access to hardwood logs that he wants to use. For this, I would have him burn the wood in a fire pit or something else for pre-burn, and then shovel the hot coals into his firebox. This allows him to do his entire burn with hardwood but the VOCs will already be burned off in the pre-burn. This is sorta the "purist" method for an offset smoker.
Heat with charcoal: In this case you simply build a fire using charcoal (lump or briquette, his choice) in the firebox, and use hardwood chunks rather than chips. One bag from your local big-box hardware store is more than enough for an 8-hr cook, as you add maybe one or two chunks when you start the fire and only add more if you find yourself running out.
@Horseflesh above has a Big Green Egg, similar to the Kamado Joe I have. In those smokers, our fires are VERY small because it doesn't take much airflow/fire to keep 200# of ceramic at 225 or 275 degrees. In your dad's smoker, you'll have a lot more airflow due to the material and construction. But in either case, you regulate your temp largely with airflow, and learning how much airflow you need takes time and experience. So I highly recommend your dad do at least one test burn before he actually throws wood on there. It's a great excuse for you and he to sip homebrew for a few hours learning the smoker.
Get this for Dad too, it's a great book.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX1AUNC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX1AUNC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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