Is it ok to add hickory wood chunks while cooking a butt?

reload · October 2015

Is hickory a good choice to add while cooking a butt?

SmokeyPitt · October 2015

Hickory is a great choice for pork. I normally don't add during the cook just because it is difficult in the egg, but if you already have the butt going and not enough smoke there is no harm in adding some.

Chef_Hobo · October 2015

What SmokeyPitt said. Hickory does burn a little hotter than oak, but not as hot as the fruit woods. Just don't add too much at once or spread it around so that it doesn't burn all at the same time and you'll be fine.

WeberWho · October 2015

+1 what they said above. I would add it to the lump at the beginning of the cook. Your meat absorbs the most smoke at the beginning stages

Darby_Crenshaw · October 2015

WeberWho? said:

+1 what they said above. I would add it to the lump at the beginning of the cook. Your meat absorbs the most smoke at the beginning stages

smoke will actually flavor the meat no matter when you add it. the smoke ring is what is affected earlier in the cook. but you can add more smoke at any time.

WeberWho · October 2015

Darby_Crenshaw said:

WeberWho? said:

+1 what they said above. I would add it to the lump at the beginning of the cook. Your meat absorbs the most smoke at the beginning stages

smoke will actually flavor the meat no matter when you add it. the smoke ring is what is affected earlier in the cook. but you can add more smoke at any time.

You can add smoke anytime you want but your meat won't penetrate it as it would in the beginning of the cook

logchief · October 2015

WeberWho? said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

WeberWho? said:

+1 what they said above. I would add it to the lump at the beginning of the cook. Your meat absorbs the most smoke at the beginning stages

smoke will actually flavor the meat no matter when you add it. the smoke ring is what is affected earlier in the cook. but you can add more smoke at any time.

You can add smoke anytime you want but your meat won't penetrate it as it would in the beginning of the cook

+1

Darby_Crenshaw · October 2015

smoke doesn't penetrate the meat at all.

the wicked- in nitrates do, which cause the smoke ring.

but the flavor doesn't penetrate

even if it did, how could the smoke (a physical particle many thousand times larger than a nitric acid molecule) penetrate further than the smoke ring (which has no smoke flavor itself), which is being wicked/drawn into the meat?

many myths about bbq. the biggest is smoke penetration

the "early in the cook" myth is a direct result of people observing smoke ring formation, and yes, that stops when the meat hits 140 or so (i.e. 'early in the cook'), but the smoke never penetrates. which means it always adds flavor, just only on the outside.

WeberWho · October 2015

Good video with Arron Franklin that describes science and smoke

https://youtu.be/ccqOVmsybO4

Darby_Crenshaw · October 2015

i like harold mcgee. nothin to sell, no brand to pimp.

WeberWho · October 2015

MaskedMarvel · October 2015

Starring this thread for an potentially awesome argument *

nolaegghead · October 2015

Smoke is the combination of particulates, gasses and water vapor. The particulates settle on the surface, condensable gasses condense on the surface, nitrous oxides react with moisture and do permeate the meat (smoke ring). Water vapor is what gives us a little more humidity over a more open smoker but we generally don't give a F about it. CO2 doesn't have any effect and goes out the stack.

Is it ok to add hickory wood chunks while cooking a butt?

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