how long do wood chips last?

gerrythegreat

How long do wood chips last once the bag is open?

and does mesquite go with pork greek style?

thank you

Cory430

They last until you burn'em all up.

Go light on the chips with that mesquite, it's got a pretty strong flavor.

gerrythegreat

merci beaucoup !!!

Ripnem

chips don't go bad, as long as they stay dry. But chunks work a bit better.

little to no experience with mesquite (it can be strong). Fruitwood for me.

gerrythegreat

meant hickory not meskite @#$%#$% sorry

Cory430

Hickory is typically what I use for most pork. What cut are you using? It is a full flavored wood, so if you don't want as smoky of a flavor you might want to try a fruit wood as Adam suggested.

gerrythegreat

I'm in rural Canada so hickory is all I have on hand. I am cooking filet greek ( olive oil and lemon juice) style

Cory430

It'll be fine, just go pretty light (small handful) with the chips.

gerrythegreat

thank you Cory

Doug in Eggmonton

Rural Canada is about 15% of the worlds land mass. Can you be more accurate? :laugh:

Doug

Celtic Wolf

2,697,987 years as long as they stay dry and they are not submitted to 50,000 tons of pressure.

Chunks are still better..

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i keep asking for someone to explain why chunks are better.

not trying to start anything, but when i make a recommendation, i usually explain the rationale. most people find it tiring maybe to read all that, but my point is to give an answer with a reason.

i have never understood why chunks are definitively better than chips or small bits.

"Sparky"

I agree Jeff.I use chunks when available,but for most fruit woods,I have to get chips.I've never noticed a difference I would like to hear the rational behind the chunk theory also

Carolina Q

I'll give it a shot. If you have one solid chunk, it will burn/smolder longer than it would of it was split up into chips. Same smoke, same flavah of course, but the chunk will last longer. Same reason you start a fire with kindling, not logs. That said, I use what I can find.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i agree that a chunk of wood burns longer than the chip next to it, but that doesn't really solve any problems that i have encountered with getting continuous smoke.

i have used both, but mostly use whatever is at hand.

i have noticed a few things w/r/t chunks.

one is that if you simply put a fist sized chunk into the fire just before putting the meat on, that fire isn't very big. the chunk needs to keep falling into the fire for there to be continuos smoke. sometimes it's fine, but sometimes the fire travels down and away from the chunk which sits there supported by other unburnt lump.

in an effort to make sure i have smoke, i have spread chunks (guava) around. one in the middle, a couple down below in the middle, some out to the sides, so that if the fire travels around, it might find them and give me smoke later in the cook . if those chunks aren't found by the fire, they often spend their time turning into charcoal.

if i had a pound of wood, and wanted to have nice trickle of smoke for a good long time, i wouldn't bet it all on one chunk. i'd break it up and concentrate it in the middle, of course near the top where the fire is started, but also in a column in the middle.

that;s how i do it when i use shagbark hickory, whose bark is sweeter than its chunks i find).

if the rationale is that smoke "doesn't flavor the meat after the first hour", so smoke after an hour isn't necessary, well, that's not correct at all.

the only advantage i can see to one type of wood or another (meaning chunk, chip, twig, etc.) is that whatever you have on hand is the way to go.

"Sparky"

So,you're saying that a fist-sized chunk will produce more smoke then the same chunk split into chips I'll just continue to use what is readily available It's been workin for me for years now

Carolina Q

A chip you have is always better than a chunk you don't. And vice versa of course.

When I'm using chunks, I pour the lump into the firebox. Then, I place chunks in 1, 2 or 3 places. Then, I light those places. The lump starts smoldering right away and continues throughout the cook. If lo and slo, I might bury a chunk or two for later.

If I'm using chips, I wait til the fire is established and I'm ready to put the meat on. Then, I remove the grid and/or platesetter, sprinkle some chips on the coals and replace the parts I removed.

Works for me. But then, we are being anal.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i just see references to "fist sized chunks" all the time. i can;t imagine needing three or four fist sized chunks.

heck, i use sticks, twigs, bark. hahaha

that's not very anal at all.

Fidel

Anal and fist in the same post? I just finished eating...thankfully.

You disgust me you pig.

Carolina Q

I haven't found many fist sized chunks in any bags I've purchased. In any case, a chunk that size would smolder for about a month and a half.

Use whatcha got, Jeff. Unless it's galvanized. I'd say away from that I think.

Celtic Wolf

Personally I have started using pellets used by the Pellet Cookers mixed in with my lump..

However, Chunks do last longer; however, your point on the fire pulling away from it is valid. I never light my lump in just one place and when I used chunks they are mixed in with the lump.

My biggest problem is people thinking that just because a chunk of wood is black it's not producing smoke or if they don't see smoke it's not there.

chips are fine, but in my opinion chunks are better. Pellets so far seem best. As we all know my opinion is not law.

Fidel

Chunks are better because they last longer than chips, but pellets are best???

How does this work out. What makes the pellets better than chips or chunks?

Carolina Q

Oh, I am SOOOO glad I didn't have a mouthful of dinner when I read that. Man, you gotta preface that stuff with a spew alert!

Celtic Wolf

Bigger, more compressed and easier to mix into the lump evenly.

Pellets are just saw dust packed into a uniform shape and size.

Fidel

I didn't realize they were bigger. The only pellets I've seen are the Traeger pellets, which are tiny.

Celtic Wolf

bigger than chips, smaller than chunks, but highly compact.

WessB

Good to see you back in the ring....still no response from the powers that be...did get an inside phone call to pass it up so to speak..