I'm NEVER done cutting it.....but I've got about all I can handle at my house. I burned significantly less than I expected this past year and I have wood coming out of my ears!!!
This is what I use for smoking. I sure could use some advice for starting the fire and keeping the temps just right for an entire day of smoking.
I have something similar and find myself babysitting it quite a bit....but well worth it. Just plan on watching it a lot. Real lots.
What do you use to get the fire going? One time I used a generous amount of lighter fluid and ruined some good steaks. Sometimes I use newspaper, other times I have tried my pine needle and pine cone combination. I would like to find something that will not taint the food at all, especially when the fire goes out mid cooking session.
I primarily use charcoal for cooking/smoking (with laying wood on top of the burning charcoal). I'll start the charcoal in a chimney starter-looks something like this one-and then once its going good, dump it out into the firebox and add to it as needed. Good and hot and no taste of fluid.
One thing you forget about is "splitter trash". This year I picked up 1.7 cubic yards. If you get it picked up before the grass starts growing it doesn't hurt the grass at all. There is a significant amount of dirt/sawdust from ant damage that ends up in the grass. The grass seems to grow very well there.
One mod many do to off set burners like that is to install a plate from the fire box opening to the other end of the cooking chamber. This creates "reverse flow" and mitigates the hot spot near the fire box opening.
Can't agree more. The Weber chimney uses newspaper so there is no petroleum taste to food. Charcoal is pretty hard to beat for long cooks and consistency.
Plus if you keep some burning charcoal in the chimney and restock with fresh, you can't go too wrong there. It may seem like a waste but ive had fires go out on me and im in the middle of a 10-12 lb pork shoulder or butt. Its not good when it just cools off that quick or your meat is just not going to peel apart that well. Sudden drops in temp should be avoided and at least a half bag of charcoal should be used for smoking all day. Talking sun up to sun down.
I use newspaper "snakes" and twigs to light my Weber kettle for charcoal or wood grilling. I cheat on the smoker.. it's got a propane plate in the bottom to keep temps perfect. For an all day smoke I'll crank it up full bore until my charcoal and wood light off, then put the fire out and turn the burner down to its lowest flame just to keep the coals warm. Wait till the smoke is a thin blue band, then the meat goes in.
Firewood Bandit, I could not agree with you more!!! People have tried to get me to cook with propane and I can't stand it. I use propane to thaw out a frozen job site or take the chill off the ice fishing shack but that's it. By the way that is a very impressive pile of wood you did this year. I will be joining the retirement ranks here in about 90 days. Very much looking forward to setting my own schedule. Got a list of things to work on a mile long and I can't wait to get started on those things.
Thanks for the kind words. If you need help adjusting to retirement, I can help as I am a self proclaimed expert. Doing whatever you want to do and nothing you don't isn't too bad. What part of Eastern MN, I am just North of Lax.