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When to Give a BB rib fire the wood??!!

A31unit
Posts: 199
Do you guys mix the wood chunks into the lump or put the wood chunks on the clear burning fire a half hour before putting the ribs on?
LBGE. Plate setter, PS Woo2, Flame Boss 200. Moorestown, South Jersey (about 15 min outside of Philly, Don't hold it against me. I would most likely rather live where you are)
Comments
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Mixed into the lump for me, with a few on top as well.
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@Eggcelsior that is what I did the first time with apple wood. They were a bit too smoky according to my family. I got some pecan to try out want less smoky this timeLBGE. Plate setter, PS Woo2, Flame Boss 200. Moorestown, South Jersey (about 15 min outside of Philly, Don't hold it against me. I would most likely rather live where you are)
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A31unit said:@Eggcelsior that is what I did the first time with apple wood. They were a bit too smoky according to my family. I got some pecan to try out want less smoky this time
Big Green Egg: Large & Mini Max
Kamado Joe: Classic
Chicago, IL -
Another vote for mixing the wood in the lump load. Get everything in order, then when the smoke is good load 'er up and go.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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I used to mix it in the lump, but the last few times I've lit the fire without wood or plate setter, and only when the temp was stabilized I added wood chunks radially around the fire, put in the plate setter, put on the meat, and for me, at least, I had better luck that way getting nice blue smoke throughout most of the cook. For now, at least, that's what I'm going to keep doing for low and slow.
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So here's an honest question: if you mix lumps/chips in the lump won't you have newly ignited wood throughout the cook? Doesn't that means you'll have 'bad smoke' contribution throughout the cook?
I pretty much always put my lump on right away when I get the fire going and allow all the smoke and temps to stabilize/clear before putting the meat on. Pretty much everything I've read suggests you're going to get maxomum smoke flavor within the first 1.5 hrs of the cook, so why expose well flavored meat to new, chemically, sooty smoke from a newly ignited wood chunk 3 hours into a cook?
Not saying my strategy is 'right' or 'better', just curious what the various thoughts are.
Cheers all -
B_B
Finally back in the Badger State!
Middleton, WI -
I think I read that the VOCs are burned off by heat and not fire. Hopefully one of the seasoned eggers might be able to provide clarity.XL, Large, Medium, and Mini Max
Northern Virgina -
This was posted on a different discussion. I will try to link it to thus discussion.stike said:VOCs aren't simply trapped in the charcoal and only allowed to escape when they burn. the vast majority of them will evaporate (that's the 'volatile' part of the equation in this case) simply by being exposed to the draft and having the additional heat from the fire drive them out.
if you never lit the fire, and simply induced a draft through the egg, you'd air out quite a bit of the VOCs. as your egg is coming up to temp, there's a constant draft, and building heat. the heat makes the compounds even more volatile, and they readily evaporate. by the time you reach stable smoking temps, say an hour later, you will have blown off most of the VOCs. what little is left is insignificant. the fire for a 250 degree cook is minimal
open a bag of fresh charcoal and smell it. that fume-iness is the VOCs.
in this case, 'volatile' doesn't mean flammable, it means that it readily forms vapor. perfume is 'volatile', for example, whether or not it is actually flammableXL, Large, Medium, and Mini Max
Northern Virgina -
Hopefully this works.
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1138028/burning-off-the-voc-s-for-a-low-and-slowXL, Large, Medium, and Mini Max
Northern Virgina -
VOCs are 'burned off' by fire sure, but their volatility (ability to vaporize, be carried away by air, etc.) is increased by the heat.
if you have brand new lump, it will have these VOCs. yesterday's lump will have much less (or none) whether it actually burnt or not, because it will have been in a hot environment and vaporized, then been carried out the top vent.
as far as adding WOOD goes, chunks or chips, and their VOCs... well, it's a little different. it's a smoldering fire, and you have a lot going on. sure, there are VOCs in the smoke from the wood, but it isn't like burning brand new charcoal, which has a lot more VOCs entrained in it from the manufacturing process where it smoldered in the retort for hours on end, bathing in its own smoke (which is filled with a ton of noxious stuff).
wood has a lot of other pleasing stuff in the smoke too, which probably exists in greater amount than the VOCs, and helps mask it.
long story short, VOCs in new charcoal are horrible. wait til it burns off. in your wood chunks or chips, andin older used charcoal (leftover), the VOCs are a virtual non-issue, but still present in some amount sure.
(for anyone wondering if this is some nefarious novelty account, or if i'm pretending to be anyone.... it's not, and i'm not. -stike)
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A31unit said:@Eggcelsior that is what I did the first time with apple wood. They were a bit too smoky according to my family. I got some pecan to try out want less smoky this time
I will mix in the lump a few pieces then maybe on just before.
Here's the original thread.
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1804817/#Comment_1804817
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Thomasville, NC
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Maybe he forgot about his previous thread and all the time others took to give well thought out answers........
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2 Large
Peachtree Corners, GA -
I've done it both ways. Didn't make a differenceLBGE (still waitin' for my free T-Shirt), DIgiQ DX2 (In Blue, cause it's the fastest), Heavy Duty Kick Ash Basket, Mc Farland, WI.
If it wasn't for my BGE I'd have no use for my backyard... -
does the smoke taste good, but there's just too much? i.e. too strong?
or does it taste like it's BAD smoke?
if the first, then you are using too much wood.
if the second, then the fire has not burned cleanly.
smell the smoke before you put the food on
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I usually mix the chunks throughout the lump, but my last low and slow was odd because I only started the fire in the middle of the pile to keep it low and slow, but to my surprise the next day, it all burned straight down leaving unburnt lump around the fire, kinda like a donut. Which is why my the pork shoulder wasn't very smoky because it only burned what was in the middle of the Egg, and left a lot of unburnt chunks?? Anyone else experience this?Toronto, Canada LBGE
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YYZegger said:I usually mix the chunks throughout the lump, but my last low and slow was odd because I only started the fire in the middle of the pile to keep it low and slow, but to my surprise the next day, it all burned straight down leaving unburnt lump around the fire, kinda like a donut. Which is why my the pork shoulder wasn't very smoky because it only burned what was in the middle of the Egg, and left a lot of unburnt chunks?? Anyone else experience this?
Gerhard -
put your chips or chunks up and down in a column in the center of the egg, rather than throughout the lump or spread on top.
if you start the lump on top, the fire will follow the source of the oxygen coming in from the lower vent and burn pretty much downward. so you need to stash the wood chips/chunks in the same place the fire will be heading.
sometimes you get a straight burn downward, and the fire goes out. that's rarer. but generally the fire goes down rather than outward.
people used to put the chunks in a spiral on top. damn, if they can train their fore to burn in a spiral they really have got it down pat. ...truth be told, they were thinking the fire would spread out from center, not actually in a spiral. but still...
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I only use maybe two chunks of whatever wood I am using .Total amount is about two fist size or less at the most . Got to make sure there is no billowing white or gray smoke and then food goes on . Too much smoke = bad flavor (creosote taste) in my book . For quick cooks have been soaking chips and lightly spreading them across top of fire after charcoal get's going .Again I wait for heavy smoke to go away . If a chunk is putting out too much smoke when I am putting on food I will move it away from hot coals to the side and let it smolder real slow .
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No need to even soak the chips. At lower temps they won't even catch fire. Heck, even at nuke temps they will only burn because you had the dome open to add them. After shutting it, they will lose their flames in a moment and stay smoldering as long as the lid is shut. No spare oxygen in the air which has come through the fire. Can't ignite. Can smoke though.[social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]
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I've been pondering this question a lot lately. Reading only has me confused so I've been trying different things....
People with off set stick burners put fresh wood in their fire box all throughout a cook and don't get creosote. Why? From what I've read, the creosote is from wood burning w/o enough oxygen. In an off set stick cooker there is a large amount of flowing oxygen.
So what about the egg? Egg's supposedly are known for very low air flow during a slow and low cook compared to other BBQ methods. This had me in the boat of getting my lump to temp, then adding chunks and waiting for the blue smoke. IMO this took way too long and I wasn't pleased with the amount of smoke flavor achieved.
Last week I smoked some ribs and a brisket. I brought the lump to temp and threw on 2-3 chunks (total) of hickory and apple. I only waited about 5-10 minutes and put the meat on. Sure there was still some white smoke, but the meat tasted great and had the smokey flavor I was looking for.
The only time I hated what I cooked was when I put the meat on before the lump hand burned clean.
What does all this mean? I have no idea. The more I read and see on TV (Cooking with Franklin) the more confused I get. I think all we can do is go with trial and error. With some sense of knowledge of cause and effect we can make better informed decisions with every cook to get the flavor profile we're looking for.
I'm sure this helps no one, but I thought I'd share my experience.
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Like many before me have suggested I mix chunks throughout the lump mix from bottom to top. On a long L&S about I've found 8-10 first sized chunks is sufficient.LBGE 2013 & MM 2014Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FANFlying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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Theophan said:I used to mix it in the lump, but the last few times I've lit the fire without wood or plate setter, and only when the temp was stabilized I added wood chunks radially around the fire, put in the plate setter, put on the meat, and for me, at least, I had better luck that way getting nice blue smoke throughout most of the cook. For now, at least, that's what I'm going to keep doing for low and slow.
Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD. -
Has anyone found much of a difference between soaking the wood chips ahead of time? I am a noob but I always heard that you should soak them ahead of time. The first time I soaked them over night. Seemed to come out fine. I tried non soaked last Sunday and I could not really notice a difference. Any thoughts?
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My apologies for my lack of response to the last several comments on my thread. It got away from me. I used pecan wood and about 3-4 chunks mixed into the lump and the ribs were perfect 2 other times I made them.LBGE. Plate setter, PS Woo2, Flame Boss 200. Moorestown, South Jersey (about 15 min outside of Philly, Don't hold it against me. I would most likely rather live where you are)
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dieseldare said:... Last week I smoked some ribs and a brisket. I brought the lump to temp and threw on 2-3 chunks (total) of hickory and apple. I only waited about 5-10 minutes and put the meat on. ... the meat tasted great and had the smokey flavor I was looking for.
... What does all this mean? I have no idea.I had the same experience. Chips and/or chunks mixed in the lump just didn't work well for me, but putting chunks where the fire is and is going to go just before adding the plate setter and the meat has given me results I'm really happy with, with good smoke throughout the cook, and great tasting smoky meat.
GroveEgg33133 said:Has anyone found much of a difference between soaking the wood chips ahead of time? I am a noob but I always heard that you should soak them ahead of time. The first time I soaked them over night. Seemed to come out fine. I tried non soaked last Sunday and I could not really notice a difference. Any thoughts? -
At 250 degrees your wood is just smoldering in the egg it's not clean smoke ever. That's why you can only use a small amount. Haven't you ever wondered how a stick burner can cook on straight wood and not get too smoky? It's because they keep a hot clean fire going but they are not as efficient so that hot fire doesn't make the cooking temp too hot.
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