OK, I use a charcoal grill for my grilling/smoking. I have always had my smoking wood, usually chunks of hickory in a tub of water right next to my grill. When I get the charcoal going, I reach in and grab a piece of the hickory and put it in the middle of the charcoal bed. This way always provides a lot of smoke as the wood is saturated and doesnt ignite.

I have tried the woods shavings sprinkled around the edge of the charcoal and not had much luck with that. Have also tried the wood pellets in tin foil pouch and get some good smoke for a very short period of time.

How do the rest of you guys do your smoking wood?? I had someone tell me that doing the soaked wood, gives off a bitter/blue colored smoke.

I traded out some of my pine firewood to the neighbor for some of his wood from two fruit trees he cut down a year and a half ago. He was burning this stuff in a backyard pit for parties and such.
I soak splinters of apple and peach in water for a day or so prior to cook time. Works great.

Probably depends on the type of wood and not whether its soaked or not.

I use "hard-wood charcoal" instead of regular charcoal in my smoker.



The night before I'm gonna smoke something, I'll soak some hickory or apple, or whatever wood I'm gonna use, overnight in water.



The next day, I'll light my hardwood charcoal, and get it going. Once the coals are hot, I'll take the soaked wood and put it right in with the hot charcoal.



This produces PLENTY of GOOD smoke. The meat will only "take" the smoke for about 1 1/2 hours anyway.

I usually use 3 or 4 chunks of "soaked wood" that are about the size of my fist, and this seems to be plenty.



The hardwood charcoal also gives off a very nice natural wood "light" smoke as well.

Ya, I also use the "Lump" charcoal. Until I bought the new grill, I had always used regular charcoal briquettes. The lump takes some adjustment, harder to light, lasts longer, less ashes.

Try these to light the coals..very very easy!



The Fire Starter is made from sawdust and paraffin and are very effective for quickly and easily lighting lump charcoal without a chemical taste. A box contains 24 cubes.

I have not tried those before. I do use one of these:

which really makes lighting charcoal a breeze. It doesnt take long to have good ignition with this thing.

Jeff, how do you like the Green Egg? They look good, but the price------wow. I'm in the process of building an upright smoker out of a 250 gallon propane tank. Hickory is what I use, plenty behind my house. Soak it good and let the smoke roll.

I really like the Big Green Egg! It is extremely easy to use, and it hardly burns any wood. It retains heat like you cannot believe. Metal smokers lose their heat very quickly because of the lack of "insulation" in the walls of the smoker. The Egg is 1 inch thick ceramic, and the outside never get's any hotter than a cup of coffee. The ceramic not only insulates bery well, it retains heat better than anything else on the market. It also re-directs the heat inside back down towards whatever you're smoking, resulting in MUCH quicker smoking times.

I can smoke 2 big pork shoulders at 225-250 in about 11 hours, with an internal meat temparature of about 185-190 degrees (this is the PERFECT temp for tender pork by the way). The amount of wood charcoal burned is only about the size of a volley ball.

The only drawback to the egg is the amount of food you can smoke at one time. There are times that I'd like to smoke 15 or 20 racks of ribs, but the Egg is far to small for that. I can only smoke 4 or 5 racks at a time.

Everyone that has tasted the "Egg Meat" is blown away, and often comment that it is the best BBQ they have ever had.

I do like my Big Green Egg!

I just bought a large Green Egg today based on what I've heard, which is exactly what you posted. Looks like I'll be using it this weekend.

Try using a chimney to light your coals or lump. I put about 12 sheets of crumpled up phone book pages and in 15 minutes I have a nice bed of hot coals with no lighter fluid or other starters.

Please feel free to call me if you have any questions about it...

Why do you soak your wood, it just adds water that you have to evaporate off? I use electric heat in my smoker and hickory, or alder, or vine maple. No fruit trees around here I like the hickory but have to buy it, the alder and vine maple are here for just going and getting it. I usually run the smoker until the meat starts to glaze and then run 2 pans of wood chunks, the wood lasts for about an hours worth of smoke on each pan. The rest of the cycle is just heat . It comes out really good and I don't use very much wood and get a good smokey flavor. I guess what ever you get used to and works is what a guy will stick with. I used to have a big wood 'outhouse' type of smoker, you could load up over 100 lbs of salmon in it at a time. I used wood for a heat source (alder) and it did a great job until it and about 100 lbs of salmon went up like a Roman candle. That was a real bummer and it was on its last hour or so before it was done.

Lighting it with a chimney lights ALL of the coals, and you wind up using more wood than you need. Getting a small amount of coal going, like about the size of a soft ball, is all you really need, especially in an Egg. The Egg will retain just about ALL of the heat and will maintain 225-250 very easily while using just a very small amount of wood charcoal.

Once you have teh small amount of wood going, add your wet hickory, or whatever your using, and watch the smoke start rolling.

Using these parafin firestarters is fast, easy, and works every single time, while using just a small amount of wood.

Wet wood does not burn nearly as fast, and it gives off ALOT more smoke because it's smouldering, and not neccessarily burning.

The time to "Smoke" the meat is when you first put it into the smoker. Lot's of smoke will make a very nice smoke ring inside the meat. Once the meat starts to "glaze" after about and hour or two, the smoke is not able to penetrate the meat nearly as well because once it starts to "glaze" it forms a "bark" on the outside. If you smoke from the very beginning, the smoke will penetrate the meat, and teh "bark" will have an AWSOME smokey flavor, as will the rest of the meat. If you start the smoke after the meat "glazes" or the "bark" forms, the smoke cannot penetrate as deeply, if at all, and the smokey flavor will be GREATLY reduced.

Be sure to get the smoking stone & a round water drip pan for the drippings to land in, or you may wind up with a "sour" smoke.

Thanks Jeff I will.

Pecan wood works well for smoking also.

It's Illegal in most places.... Oops.. I misread,,you stated WOOD, not Weed...

Seriously, I like Hickory if I want a strong smoke flavor, Mesquite if I want a 'tart' flavor, and Apple if I want a milder smoke flavor... I usually will soak my wood chunks the night before and that way I have to use very little to achieve the desired flavor..

When we used to have the B&B, I did a lot of smoking using one of the big barrel smokers with the segregated fire pit and used to keep it going all night for a couple of turkeys, pork loins and ribs...By the time everything was ready to come off, I had the neighbors panting at the door from smelling it all day... ...Our guests would sometimes book another night so they would be there for dinner..

Try some pecan wood if you can ... I like it ... can mix in some red oak .

We're blessed with lots of Mesquite wood in S. Texas so don't use charcoal, just a good mesquite fire in a brick pit, close up after about 45 minutes and let 'er smoke. Doesn't get much better than that!



Regards,
hm