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Small logs....

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dougcrann
dougcrann Posts: 1,129
in EggHead Forum
Was cooking pizzas yesterday...was sitting in a chair, patiently waiting, and got to wondering...which almost always gets me in trouble. While cooking pizza in an Egg we are relying on fire, correct?  I have over a cord of firewood for my Reverse Flow...which likes very small logs..why not pull out my table saw and cut them into smaller chunks and use them in the Egg on pizza day? 
We use Lazarri mesquite in our Eggs. In our Large, using a Ceramic Grill Store rig and extender to push the stone up into the dome I can get the dome temperature up to 800* or so, my Raytek Mini temp IR thermometer tops out at 750*...Pizza stone was apparently over that as it didn't register...hmmm......
Perhaps I am just sleep depraved...thinking odd thoughts...
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  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
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    It is personal preference but I don't like any extra wood when making pizza in the egg. I only burn lump.  At those temps you are running it may be fine as you would have a fairly full fire so it may burn nice and clean. 

    You could always start off small with one or two chunks. Make a couple of breadsticks from your pizza dough and see if you like the flavor. It is too strong let it burn for 10 minutes or so and the wood will be gone. 

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • lkapigian
    lkapigian Posts: 10,768
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    If I want to use wood in that scenario, I would use it from a burn pit, taking the already red hot coals...
    Visalia, Ca @lkapigian
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2017
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    I think this falls into the, too much work for no reward category.

    Have done the red flower ember method in my WSM, could not tell a difference from using original K.

    The Indiana burn barrel method is better in the WSM IMO, using a fire built with splits to cook whole chickens on the raised rotisserie.

    When I have a campfire going, I like to cook with the Steve Raichlen CI Tuscan grill, and pie irons using the red flower embers.  It's more of a fun factor while tending a live fire than anything.

    Cooking with sticks in the KBQ is an entirely different "animal" altogether, where the smoke gets pulled through the red flower.

    WTH, give it a try, report back.  
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • dougcrann
    dougcrann Posts: 1,129
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    Focker said:
    I think this falls into the, too much work for no reward category.

    Have done the red flower ember method in my WSM, could not tell a difference from using original K.

    The Indiana burn barrel method is better in the WSM IMO, using a fire built with splits to cook whole chickens on the raised rotisserie.

    When I have a campfire going, I like to cook with the Steve Raichlen CI Tuscan grill, and pie irons using the red flower embers.  It's more of a fun factor while tending a live fire than anything.

    Cooking with sticks in the KBQ is an entirely different "animal" altogether, where the smoke gets pulled through the red flower.

    WTH, give it a try, report back.  
    Curiosity got the best of me. Cleaned out the Large. Put a layer of small, previously burned chunk charcoal in it. Hit it with the weed burner. Put 5 small, about the length of a 12oz soda can, about a third the diameter of a soda can, in the Egg, put Ceramic Grill Stores pizza stone up on top of the Rig/Extender. Pretty smokey while the small Cherry logs were getting lit. Smoke cleared...have a recently calibrated 1000* thermometer in the dome...was well past the 1000* mark. 
    Fire went out, cleaned all the ash out. Gave the Egg a thorough inspection...now have a VERY clean Egg. Gasket survived. Was expecting the band/spring assembly to protest...but dome still shuts correctly...hmmm...may have to try this on my next pizza cook...
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  • dougcrann
    dougcrann Posts: 1,129
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    Focker said:
    I think this falls into the, too much work for no reward category.

    Have done the red flower ember method in my WSM, could not tell a difference from using original K.

    The Indiana burn barrel method is better in the WSM IMO, using a fire built with splits to cook whole chickens on the raised rotisserie.

    When I have a campfire going, I like to cook with the Steve Raichlen CI Tuscan grill, and pie irons using the red flower embers.  It's more of a fun factor while tending a live fire than anything.

    Cooking with sticks in the KBQ is an entirely different "animal" altogether, where the smoke gets pulled through the red flower.

    WTH, give it a try, report back.  
    Pardon my ignorance...Indiana burn barrel? Guessing it is just a drum located in Indiana?

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  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490
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    i use mesquite wood trimmimgs off my  trees this way...mesquite burns hot and i get more mileage out of it than any other wood...but i get a fire going an hour or two before thinking of placing a za on the stone because i dont want an overly smoky pizza

    Now, the wood fired pizza joints dont have this problem despite putting sticks in the oven.  This is because the smoke rises above the level of the pie and the fire is at the same level as the food.  If raw wood were used in bge, the food is above the fire, the smoke rises above the fire to food level and beyond and well you get smoky flavored za as opposed to a more subtle wood fired flavored za

    The uuni is a mini version of the wood fired oven that the pizza joints use..., the fuel is wood pellets and they are slightly above food/ stone level so the smoke, as long as theres a flame and not a smolderimg mass, will go up through the stack and the flames spread out along uuni inner ceiling and radiate onto the pizza top located just below without making the za overly smoky.  


    So, raw wood for za in bge is ok as long as it burns out the resin and other stuff that would create too smoky of a pizza....
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  • dougcrann
    dougcrann Posts: 1,129
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    The wood I used the other day was very well seasoned. It was taken from my wood pile about a year ago, sawed into small pieces and stored in the garage. It was a very smokey process to get them all burning but once they ignited there was no visible smoke. 
    I am planning on building a wood fired, brick oven...course planning and doing are very often a VERY long trip for me lol...
    I lived in Mesa Az up to 2008. Had a gigantic Argentine Mesquite in the front yard. Damn shame I wasn't interested in this back then. 
    Here in Eastern Washington, least my area, is nothing but Ponderosa Pines. I had to resort to Craigslist to get wood for my Reverse Flow. Recently was introduced to a guy that owns a tree trimming business. He told me that he has a few customers that have Oakes trees...will hopefully be getting me some Oak this summer...
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,406
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    @dougcrann - regarding wood, if you have any BBQ joints in your area you may want to ask them where they source their wood.  I did that here and found a good and steady supplier.  Regardless, good luck with the oak.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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