Chunks vs. Chips

SLMWinds

I was just wondering if you guys use wood chunks or wood chips when smoking meat. Is there a definitive answer to that question? Are there certain instances/meats where one is better than the other? I primarily smoke pork and cook chicken with my BGE, although I do other meats as well. Thanks!

 

Griffin

I use chunks for low and slow, chips for fast cooks, or just whatever I have on hand and grab.

Squeezy

I prefer chunks to chips ... larger pieces burn longer than small pieces.

The most fun controversy is to soak or not to soak. Due to the fact that I get pummeled for my opinions, I'll just say wet wood doesn't burn ....

lousubcap

Below is an article I found about chips and chunks while searching on the "old" BGE web site (now unaffiliated at greeneggers.com).  Didn't save the author info but good article...

"in the BGE chips can be mixed throughout the lump to maximize smoke during a lo and slo. your fire crawls around, so you want chips where the fire will be. you won't use up all the chips because the fire won't use up all the lump. don't screw with wet chips. in a ggasser, you wet chips to keep them from burning outright, and flaming. they can't do that in the egg. you can have a raging fire, and toss in wood, and it WILL NOT CATCH FIRE as long as the lid is shut and the airflow is dialed in. open the lid, and the wood WILL burst in to flame. shut it, and it goes out. it WILL smoke though. and that's what you want. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

chunks are fine too. you strategically put them around the lump, and maybe push one into your fire right at the start, just to make sure.

put in as many chips/chunks as you want. smoke flavor is added as long as there is smoke. that means, if you had a butt going 20 hours, and the smoke only showed up for the last hour, it'll still smell like (and taste like) smoke. it's the smoke RING that only forms in the first hour or so. and the smoke ring is color, not flavor. so don't worry about when smoke kicks in. if you like a lot, add a lot of chips or chunks.

chunks vs. chips is the same as "ford vs. chevy". much ado about nothing.

oh, as for high temp cooks. i like to toss a couple chips in sometimes when a steak is finishing. did it last night, actually. and again, no worry about flames. i tossed the wood in, shut the lid, and got some decent smoke. only when the lid was opened did it catch fire. i flipped the steak, then shut the dome, and the chips went out. that's nice to know. flames are actually bad for steak. they look pretty, but flamed is less desirable than direct heat from the lump. flame isn't as hot, either.

whew. lotta typing.
but this is something that comes up a lot...."

 

stike

no one gets pummeled, they just feel pummeled. if someone constantly feels corrected, they may want to consider other  reasons besides assuming they a being persecuted.

you don't see many people correcting jdenby, for example.  just sayin'

as for the O.P., chips don't burn either (soaked or not). there's no spare oxygen to allow it

as a practical experiment, simply toss in some sticks or chips when the dome is open.  when they catch fire, shut the dome. they go out.

it's why chicken fat and rib eyes also do not flare up in an egg.  the egg is airtight, unlike most other grills.

open the dome, flare-up.  shut the dome, flames go out.

sure, one chip does not equate to a chunk in terms of how long they will generate smoke, but a like amount of chips (pound for pound) will.

as a scrounger, i will use whatever i have, and don't feel an allegiance.  that said, if i am using chunks, i may use them differently than chips.  for one thing, betting it all on one or two chunks means the fire can travel away from the chunk and it'll stop smoking.  don't just place one chunk on the fire and let it ride.  the fire can burn down and away.  make sure you have chunks close by and somewhat downward in the center of the lump.

when it's chips on deck,i build the fire in handfuls of lump, with chips intermingled, up and down in the center in a column.  the fire in my BGE goes downward, not outward, or in spirals (some advocate a spiral of wood... ??).  that way, when the fire goes where it goes, it finds new chips or chunks.

all said and done, you won't ever have chips that simply burst into flame, even at high heat.  dome open they will flare up, but a pound of chips takes as long as a pound of chunks to burn.  and i think the fire has a better chance finding new wood when it is spread out.  you won't ever burn all your chunks or chips anyway in one cook

(and that 'author' was me, now that i read lousubcap's reply. i should have read it to begin with)

lousubcap

Stike-I have updated my library to reflect the author---great post BTW.

stike

no need. i wasn't worried about authorship. i was joking that if i'd read it, i wouldn't have bothered typing it all over again.
hahaha

Shawn

I soak my chunk with water, wine apple juice etc......

AD18

I've always used chunk because it lasts longer and I have more control of what I want.  But on long burns your chunk could get left behind and go out.  By sprinkling chips all over the place, what if you do not want that particular wood on your next cook, do you have too pick them out?  Not a biggie and I don't know if I could taste the difference, just always sort of bugged me if I got hickory in the egg and want to use pecan next time, guess which way the fire will move:)

stike

whatever unused wood there is is charcoal the next morning.  heating wood to higher temps in an oxygen free environment is what makes charcoal, and drives off much of the organic stuff in the first place.

i don't advocate sprinkling chips "all over the place".  the fire doesn't burn that way.  place the wood (chips or chunks) where you want it to go, in the middle, and down.

chips burn no more quickly than chunks, it comes down to whether you have as much wood in chip form as you would use in chunk form.

i agree, a fist sized chunk takes more time to burn out than a chip of wood.  but a fist-sized amount of chips will last as long.  actually, if i had one choice: fistful of chips versus fist sized chunk, i would bet on the chips giving longer continuous smoke. 

that chunk would sit in the fire for an hour or so until the fire burnt from under it and kept going down.  those chips could be placed in the center up through the charcoal.  the fire would find new wood as it moved.

it's hairsplitting.  chips and chunks are cheap.  it doesn't save money to use one or th other.  people argue about it because they imagine that the chips flame up and burn out quickly.  they don't.

it's all wood, just a different shape.  you should use what you can get, and what works for you.

soaking not required... but you are also free to do it, too

stike

you assume the entire surface is the contact point. um. no..  unless the entire surface area is magically in contact on all sides with the burning lump, which i find odd to contemplate, then you'd be right.

i'll put it more bluntly.

if i want four hours of continuous smoke, i can get that better with chips, because i know how to use them.

if people think that chips burst into flame, they are incorrect.  seems like they would, but they don't.  something you can prove tonight to yourself.

ribmaster

The correct answer is chunk. and no soak.

stike

The correct answer is that anyone with a basic understanding could use chips chunks twigs or whatever

stilllaughing

Stike,

You do this for self-amusement don't you?

Squeezy

stike-{stahyk} verb.(originates from the word strike) to ignore or cut off
communication to a person or group. 

billyray

I did an experiment the other day. Soaked some red oak chunks (approx. 1-1/2"x1-1/2") for 4 hours, then cut them open. The water only penetrated about 1/16". It would seem that after these were put on the fire that the moisture would evaporate rather quickly and leave you with raw wood. My conclusion is there is no need to soak. Since hard woods by their nature are dense, I assume other hard woods would produce the same results.

Squeezy

@billyray  I think you've got it, although you're not left with raw wood, you will have dry wood.

billyray

I should have said dry not raw, dry is what I meant.

fishlessman

i dont want my tday turkey in the smoke for too long so i use pecan pellets, use what you got how you like it

geospam

Found this on site called www.amazingribs.com

I have not soaked chips in quite a while

No need to soak. Here's a myth
busted: It is conventional wisdom that you should soak wood before using
it to slow its burning. I strongly disagree. In separate batches, I
took wood chips and wood chunks labeled "apple", and soaked them 12
hours in room temp water. I weighed them on a fairly precise digital
postage scale before soaking. After soaking I patted the exterior
lightly with paper towels and weighed them to see just how much was
actually absorbed. Chunks gained about 3% by weight and chips about 6%. I
cut the chunks in half and penetration was only about 1/16". DOH! That
must be why they make boats out of wood! Wood doesn't absorb much water!

If you toss wet wood on hot coals,
the small amount of water just below the surface will evaporate rapidly,
negating any effect of soaking, and the wet wood will have the
deleterious effect of cooling off the coals when the goal is to hold the
coals at a steady temp. For charcoal grills, put the wood right on the
coals.

Little Steven

stike-{stahyk} verb.(originates from the word strike) to ignore or cut off
communication to a person or group. 

I think you are paying a little too much attention to this.

Squeezy

Not to worry ... I'm done!

chuckl

Where do you guys buy chunks of wood?  All Lowes and Home Depot have in chunks is hictory, and I'm looking for cherry and apple wood.

 

Chuck

GreenhawK

Do you have an Academy Sports near by? They have several different kinds year round.