Wood use?

jvencius

Is there any reason I couldn't use properly seasoned oak/hickory logs vs chunks/chips when cooking on the egg?  The fall before last we had two hickory trees taken down on our property (both overhung the house, otherwise I'd have dropped them myself) and the wood is nicely seasoned now, running appx 15-20% moisture the last time I checked the pile which lives right next to the ~1/2 cord of oak I have left over from last winter's firewood purchase.  So, instead of buying wood to add to the lump, am I ok with adding logs from my stash?

Biggreenpharmacist

I'd cut them in half or thirds and split them into smaller slivers. Thats how I do it so I have more room for lump and I can put several splits mixed throughout the lump. 

DMW

Do you have a saw? I would cut them down and use like chunks mixed in with lump.

jvencius

Should have mentioned--all the wood is split, usually into 1/3-1/4 (depending on size, but the smaller stuff is 1/2'ed) and all is ~12"-16" long

DMW

Yep, I would cut the splits down and mix in with the lump.

Skiddymarker

You have a life time supply - go forward and smoke. It does not have to be drier than what you have to use in the egg. I do envy you, my house is surrounded by Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar, about all I can do is plank some salmon or some exotic German smoked ham. 

bgebrent

Question answered.

Spooner

I'm new here too and hello.

I would think that would make great smoking wood. I don't think I'd put a 12 - 16" log in my egg though. A couple 2-3" chunks maybe. Both the oak and hickory seasoned should add some good flavor.

A week are so ago I posted a thread of how I was making my own lumps out of oak slabs I had access to. That has been working great for me and the few that has gotten to try what I'm making seem to agree. I like the idea that I know what I'm cooking with. I've been adding peach and pecan pieces to some of my cooks because I had a few of those limbs down and dried also to get flavor.

High winds in my area took down an apple and peach tree near by this week that I plan on getting to season out this weekend. Just keep your wood good and dry and a little airy and I'd think that be good.

Darby_Crenshaw

As smoke wood sure. Fuel no

nolaegghead

You need an abundance of air to burn splits as fuel.  Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the design of the kamado cooker and trying to run it as a stick burner.

1.  You really have to have very little fuel and keep a hot fire with lots of air.  This requires adding more fuel almost constantly.  Hard to do with a kamado.
2.  If the fire isn't blazing hot, you get all kinds of terrible white smoke. 
3  There's no way to introduce enough bypass air to keep the temperature of the fire low enough (through dilution) to smoke anything without an incinerating temperature.

I have done a couple experiments in my n00b days.  One was a low and slow and I threw in a few pecan splits on to lump.  About 25% pecan.  Result: terrible.  Inedible.

Second experiment I decided the super hot fire would fix the bad smoke problem.  Lit a fire of all oak splits, let it burn for a while, cooked pizza, temp gauge needed to be removed after wrapping around.  Result: Pizza looked great, tasted like an ashtray.

There's a reason the stick burners have the fire in a separate box.  You run the fire small and full blast (small because it's full blast and you only need so much heat).  The offset firebox and metal construction bleed heat, and the bypass air in running an oxygen rich air (convection draws all kinds of air in that isn't needed but cools the effluent entering the cooking chamber) dilutes the heat and smoke.  And the firebox design makes it easy to tend the fire and add fuel.

In other words, don't use it as a fuel source in an egg, unless you're just cooking stuff wrapped in foil.  On the upside, you have a lifetime supply of smoke wood.

shtgunal3

In short...... Yes

Darby_Crenshaw

nolaegghead said:

You need an abundance of air to burn splits as fuel.  Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the design of the kamado cooker and trying to run it as a stick burner.

1.  You really have to have very little fuel and keep a hot fire with lots of air.  This requires adding more fuel almost constantly.  Hard to do with a kamado.
2.  If the fire isn't blazing hot, you get all kinds of terrible white smoke. 
3  There's no way to introduce enough bypass air to keep the temperature of the fire low enough (through dilution) to smoke anything without an incinerating temperature.

I have done a couple experiments in my n00b days.  One was a low and slow and I threw in a few pecan splits on to lump.  About 25% pecan.  Result: terrible.  Inedible.

Second experiment I decided the super hot fire would fix the bad smoke problem.  Lit a fire of all oak splits, let it burn for a while, cooked pizza, temp gauge needed to be removed after wrapping around.  Result: Pizza looked great, tasted like an ashtray.

There's a reason the stick burners have the fire in a separate box.  You run the fire small and full blast (small because it's full blast and you only need so much heat).  The offset firebox and metal construction bleed heat, and the bypass air in running an oxygen rich air (convection draws all kinds of air in that isn't needed but cools the effluent entering the cooking chamber) dilutes the heat and smoke.  And the firebox design makes it easy to tend the fire and add fuel.

In other words, don't use it as a fuel source in an egg, unless you're just cooking stuff wrapped in foil.  On the upside, you have a lifetime supply of smoke wood.

I think he means as smoking wood

been a few threads lately were peeps are calling things lump and wood and blurring distinction

handy reference (not for you, nola):
-lump=charcoal, fuel
-wood=added for smoke flavor

fishlessman

you need to cut the pieces smaller. theres one cook you can add a whole split, fast cooked brisket, but after 3 hours it needs to be foiled, thats the only cook i add a log too