How much wood to use for smoke?

Stuart

I just purchased Jamison and Jamison's "Smoke and Spice" and read with a grin that "Ceramic smokers....More common in the States a generation ago than today, they seem to be disappearing just as the market for water smokers has boomed." It was published in '94, I wonder how they feel about those smokers now? (See Sublime Smoke). [p]Beyond that observation, the authors seem to prefer all wood fuel for smoking rather than charcoal (of any variety) and wood combinations. My question; anyone use all wood in their egg? If so, results?[p]Stuart

Cornfed

Stuart,[p]Hi, Stuart. I'm curious as to what is said in Sublime Smoke about ceramic cookers. I own Smoke and Spice and noticed that comment and just assumed they favored other types of cookers. Has their view changed?[p]Thanks,
Cornfed

Stuart

Cornfed,
In the section on equipment titled "A guide to home smoking equipment" the authors dedicate about a page of copy (pg.s 10-11) to describing the Big Green Egg and all it's attributes. Beginning with a brief history of the kamado they go on to write a very postive review of the egg including a statement early on that "the kamado we use is called the Big Green Egg."[p]What a difference two years make (Sublime Smoke copyrighted in '96). Cheryl and Bill obviously realized what a fantastic cooking device this egg is.[p]Stuart

Cornfed

Stuart,[p]Very interesting. Thanks for posting that. I've been thinking of getting that book since I really like Smoke and Spice. I'm interested in checking out their summary of the BGE.[p]Thanks again,
Cornfed

Unknown

Stuart, last Sunday I decided to do pork back ribs ala the BRITU recipe, using apple wood burned down to coals. I added a some lump to the apple coals for added burn time. These turned out to be the best ribs I have done to date as regards smoke flavor, and as good as I've done in texture. The ribs reached 199 deg in 4 1/2 hrs, indirect, with water in the pan. I doubt the water was necessary. Next time I'll burn-down more apple and eliminate the lump and the water, for a comparison.

Tim M

<p />Stuart,[p]I have never tried all wood in the Egg, lump is too easy and adding apple or hickory gives me wayyyyyyy more smokey flavor than I want if I add too much of it. The picture is my old BBQ pit in my backyard. Its rude and crude but I do burn down wood to use in it when I do 25 chicken breasts or 10 racks of ribs. I like the ribs better on the Egg but I can't do as much as in the pit. [p]I have to burn down a lot of wood to get to the red hot coals, seems a lot of work and mess in the Egg - but that's my opinion. Add 2 chunks of apple or hickory to your next rib cook and see if you don't agree.[p]Many more pictures at my link below[p]Tim M

[ul][li]Tim's BGE cookbook[/ul]

Tim M

<p />Stuart,[p]I have never tried all wood in the Egg, lump is too easy and adding apple or hickory gives me wayyyyyyy more smokey flavor than I want if I add too much of it. The picture is my old BBQ pit in my backyard. Its rude and crude but I do burn down wood to use in it when I do 25 chicken breasts or 10 racks of ribs. I like the ribs better on the Egg but I can't do as much as in the pit. [p]I have to burn down a lot of wood to get to the red hot coals, seems a lot of work and mess in the Egg - but that's my opinion. Add 2 chunks of apple or hickory to your next rib cook and see if you don't agree.[p]Many more pictures at my link below[p]Tim M

[ul][li]Tim's BGE cookbook[/ul]

Tim M

<p />Stuart,[p]I have never tried all wood in the Egg, lump is too easy and adding apple or hickory gives me wayyyyyyy more smokey flavor than I want if I add too much of it. The picture is my old BBQ pit in my backyard. Its rude and crude but I do burn down wood to use in it when I do 25 chicken breasts or 10 racks of ribs. I like the ribs better on the Egg but I can't do as much as in the pit. [p]I have to burn down a lot of wood to get to the red hot coals, seems a lot of work and mess in the Egg - but that's my opinion. Add 2 chunks of apple or hickory to your next rib cook and see if you don't agree.[p]Many more pictures at my link below[p]Tim M

[ul][li]Tim's BGE cookbook[/ul]

djm5x9

Tim M:[p]Next time you use this pit, try soaking the walls with water. Do so in a carefull manner not wetting the coal area. On long cooks, whole pig, lamb, etc. try adding more water as it evaporates.[p]Do you place a piece of tin over the cooking meat when you use this pit?

Tim M

djm5x9,[p]I don't use it for anything but chicken and ribs. This was the only way I could figure out how to do ribs without boiling them - that was pre-Egg. I do a lot of basting so they don't dry out too much. [p]
PS. - don't know why sometimes the posts duplicate themselves - I didn't send it 3 times.
Tim

Nature Boy

Cornfed,
It's a pretty good book, and has some off-beat recipes with different influences (a lot of Asian influences in their recipes). They have cool ways to add smoke to foods. Some are "Spanish Fish Caldo", which suggests 2 kinds of white fish marinated in OJ, lime juice, olive oil and garlic, then low smoked, chopped up, and cooked in a nice sounding soup. And then "Curried Winter Squash Soup" with smoked squash. Wild Mushroom Soup with smoked mushrooms. Lots of stuff like that.[p]The egg section, has a paragraph or two, and a drawing of humpty. Says "it is easy to maintain steady cooking temperature anywhere between 225 and 300."[p]Also "the ceramic construction keeps food juicy without the use of a water pan, yielding results with the desireable contrast of a crunchy exterior and moist interior."[p]Anyway, they don't say a whole lot more, but they like it. There is a picture of the Jamisons on the back with their variety of smokers, and the mini egg is sitting among them.[p]Enjoy
NB

djm5x9

Tim M:[p]We both enjoy our cookers, but some days you just have to have a "pit" and a lazy spring or summer day.[p]I think you will notice less drying with the moist CMU and tin. If you want to get fancy, you could put holes in the tin for dome thermometers placed at an angle so it reads the temperature at 1 1/2" below the tin. The tin could even be broken so that it fits the perimeter of your pit and has a depth of 4" to 10" to allow it to fit over what you are cooking. Thoughts for consideration.[p]Careful with this CMU and metal business, you could be mistaken for others . . .

Grill With Bill

Stuart,[p]I was watching "The Graduate" the other day and noticed that Dustin Hoffman's parents have a Kamado-style cooker in their back yard. I guess they were popular a generation ago.[p]Bill