So I picked up some hickory chunks from CS last night for my future & wishful smoking endeavours. Tree was cut back in Feb so obviously it's not seasoned, but being it's cut into small chunks hoping it would speed up drying times? Possibly use in the smoker this fall? Thinking that's a stretch and wishful thinking but figured I'd ask. I hit a few pieces with the moisture meter this AM and reading 37% - 38%. Other thing am wondering is what's best way to dry it out being it's so small can't really stack it? Thanks in advance!!
I would think if you combine it with some charcoal, the added moisture content would allow the smoke to roll out in a slow and controlled fashion. SKEETER McCLUSKEY might have some input on that. Don’t people soak their wood ships prior to smoking? If that’s in a plastic tub, you could loosely cover it and leave it in a sunny spot or you could build a contraption like fuelrod did in this thread... Filled my oil tank Don’t forget to post pics of whatever you end up smoking...
X 2 for what stuckinthemuck said. When I’m smoking ribs or pork shoulder, I soak my wood in a bucket of water the night before, primarily so the wood will smoke and flavor the meat, and heat/burn over time. If you throw in seasoned dry wood, it’ll just catch fire. I’m of the opinion that you just put the wood aside in a couple of milk crates or other ventilated container, and use as needed. Since it’s fresh cut, you can skip the soaking step. Make your charcoal fire, add a few chucks of wood, and refresh when needed. And don’t forget the pictures!
Ole man this is great news! Yes I didn't even really put 2 and 2 together about the wet wood. Yes, I use to soak my wood chips in water in my prior vertical electric smoker. Great info & thanks much, will def post pics!!!!
If you want to dry it, put it on concrete on hot summer days. If you want to use it with charcoal, make sure you use the right charcoal---like they use in Green Eggs.
That's exactly what I do!!! I'll also throw it in the back of my pick up bed for a couple weeks and let it cook. Driving around town helps also.
I store all my smoker wood in empty birdseed bags. If you want to knock some moisture out burlap bags hung in the garage- my upper garage gets 120-130 in the summer
I was going to hope to do this with some Alder, let the chunks, chips and splitting kerf dry out on a table or something for few weeks and let the sun do its thing. Smaller the better but those suggestions for mixing with charcoal is the bees knees.
Soaking wood chips does nothing. It will cool the coals when you throw them in the fire but that is just water attached to the surface. You have to soak wood for a long time before it will pick up moisture. If you keep your smoking temps below 300 F you will have no problem generating smoky flavor from wet or dry wood. It won’t just burn up. I would smoke some now and keep notes. Compare that to what you taste when the chunks are dry. There are a lot of people that grip wet wood causes a bitter taste but I have not seen any blind taste taste that prove it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've been smoking stuff for about 40 years! Seasoned, "dry" wood is all I use and I mostly de-bark it also. You get the best flavor from de-barked wood and keep you heat below 300º I cut chunks 6" to 8" long and get them started on a small bed of charcoal. With wet/unseasoned wood you also get a small steam effect that can also give a bad or strong flavor. I learned from some serious smoking old timers from North Carolina, (now passed) taught me the ropes and one big thing I remember the old boys saying; Don't be in a hurry! Absolutely correct! And one of the fellas I learned from was from Morehead city!
WeldrDave So is it the restricted airflow that helps prevent flaming combustion from happening with the dry wood? I haven’t done any smoking but would like to learn...
Smoke is a compliment to the meat. It should not be the only flavor you taste when eating smoked meats or vegetables. A whisp of blue smoke out the chimney is plenty of smoke. Burn as clean as you can.
Yes. Less oxygen is less combustion. If you do charcoal smoking, I recommend lump. Less ash so you can go longer without reloading. When I cook butt it takes 14 hours sometimes. Also, start with a small amount of coals lit, maybe a couple. Lump will catch fire a lot easier than briquettes. Control the temperature with the vents. Climb slowly to 225 to 250 F. This will minimize overshoot. We really need to know what you are cooking with to fine turn procedures. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
