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Thoughts on wood through lower vent door

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busmania
busmania Posts: 414
in EggHead Forum
I have found lately that if you put a chunk of wood into the bottom of the egg under the coals it smokes very nice and even.  I think I read it on this forum actually.  Anyway, what are ya'lls thoughts on just putting a piece of wood down there every hour or two rather than putting it throughout the lump?  Today I was in a hurry to get some ribs on.  I didn't have time to build the coals from the bottom up while dispersing wood chunks throughout.  So, once the fire was lit, I threw a stick from an apple tree on top of the lit pile.  That stopped smoking relatively quickly so I just put a chunk in the bottom and now it is smoking nicely.  Just thinking out loud I guess and work is slooooooow, so here I am.
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  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
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    To add to that, my friend who owns several restaurants say his commercial smokers do just that.  They push one chunk of wood into a fire at a predetermined interval of time.  So I guess this ist he same idea but with an egg.  I realize it is a pain in the ass to do so, but does it produce more consistent smoke? 
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  • HarrisFrampton
    HarrisFrampton Posts: 104
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    Sounds like a good idea. Might give it a try this weekend.
    Wimberley,TX
    X-Large,Large, Medium and Small
    17" and 28" Blackstones
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    Never thought about it, but I don't see why not. As long as the chunks will fit thru the hole. :)

    When I use smoke wood, I usually just stir old lump, put a couple of chunks on, top it off with new lump and then 2-3 more chunks. I'm not a big fan of smoke for most cooks so its no big deal to me. Tonight I'm doing a couple of chicken breasts on the mini. I won't smoke at all.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    Never thought about it, but I don't see why not. As long as the chunks will fit thru the hole. :)

    When I use smoke wood, I usually just stir old lump, put a couple of chunks on, top it off with new lump and then 2-3 more chunks. I'm not a big fan of smoke for most cooks so its no big deal to me. Tonight I'm doing a couple of chicken breasts on the mini. I won't smoke at all.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,471
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    I remember reading about that technique.  I've not tried it (I use a trowel to pour chips into my lump past the platesetter "legs up", and that works for me) but if I ever had the grill down with meat, this would be a good way to introduce more smoking wood without fussing with the pounds of protein.  
     
    Chips would fit through the lower door better than chunks, but how to deliver?  Maybe fill a length of pipe and blow it in?  
    :-?
    _____________

    Remember when teachers used to say 'You won't have a calculator everywhere you go'?  Well, we showed them.


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  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
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    I've been pushing the chunk in with the ash tool.
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  • wbradking
    wbradking Posts: 351
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    I've always thought of that but haven't tried it.  I light my Egg with an oil soaked paper towel through the bottom vent so I tend to get some hot embers falling down pretty quickly.  I'm betting some wood _chips_ would smoke a lot longer from the bottom and would be pretty easy to shove into the vent.  It might be harder to get _chunks_ in there though.  I'll give it a shot the next time I smoke something.
    Franklin, TN
    Large BGE+PSWoo2
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
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    Great idea. For long low and slows my ash pit has lots of burning chips of lump in it. The restricted air flow keeps the smoke wood from flaring. I've not had any issue with smoke wood mixed throughout the lump, I just pull some lump aside and drop in as many chunks as I want, spreading more lump on top. On most cooks, there is still some smoke wood in the unburned lump. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • dstearn
    dstearn Posts: 1,702
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    Harry Soo from Slap Your Daddy BBQ recommends this method as well. 
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  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
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    Depending on where the fire is in the firebox, the outside air temp, and/or the grill temp, it may never get hot enough to smoke.  If you're running 275+, it will probably work.  But at 225F, there's wood in the firebox that sometimes doesn't light.

    Kindling temp on firewood is in the 300's, and that's cold (non-heated) air coming in that door......you have to have some good amount of heat coming from above to get it smoking.
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  • dstearn
    dstearn Posts: 1,702
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    stlcharcoal said:
    Depending on where the fire is in the firebox, the outside air temp, and/or the grill temp, it may never get hot enough to smoke.  If you're running 275+, it will probably work.  But at 225F, there's wood in the firebox that sometimes doesn't light.

    Kindling temp on firewood is in the 300's, and that's cold (non-heated) air coming in that door......you have to have some good amount of heat coming from above to get it smoking.
    Correction, I thought the OP was recommending placing the wood on the grate below the lump. That is the method that Harry Soo recommends.
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