Wood on top for big meat smokes

I never bother to layer mine. Would it be better if I did? Beats me.

Meat will take on smoke flavor as long as there is smoke, not just for a while. 

Smoke is never actually absorbed. But it can land on the meat at any time during the cook and add smoke flavor at any time

cook ribs with no smoke in a microwave. Then smoke for an hour. They will still taste like smoke

the 'no smoke is absorbed after an hour' thing is a bro-science misundestanding of smoke *ring* formation. 

Bro science is that official sounding stuff a dude tells you at a cookout

like, "don't poke the meat or all the juices will run out". 

And fwiw, because i have been seeing "layered" referred to a few times lately... Let's nip this in the bud

it isn't a painstaking process, it isn't layering. It is simply "if you want smoke, put the wood where the fire is coupled with "if you want a lot of (or more continuous) smoke, put the wood also where the fire will be later in the cook"

which generally mean in the center, and within the vertical column of charcoal below it

Darby_Crenshaw said:

And fwiw, because i have been seeing "layered" referred to a few times lately... Let's nip this in the bud

it isn't a painstaking process, it isn't layering. It is simply "if you want smoke, put the wood where the fire is coupled with "if you want a lot of (or more continuous) smoke, put the wood also where the fire will be later in the cook"

which generally mean in the center, and within the vertical column of charcoal below it

AND , since we all know the egg is hotter in the back , I leave a trail of wood from center to back that never survives the cook:-)

@Darby_Crenshaw - interesting comments re: smoke. I have read the same thing before. So essentially we are only imparting flavor to the surface when smoking? And any bite of meat which does not include a surface portion will not have a smoke flavor? 

Don

Powak said:

Dondgc said:

@Darby_Crenshaw - interesting comments re: smoke. I have read the same thing before. So essentially we are only imparting flavor to the surface when smoking? And any bite of meat which does not include a surface portion will not have a smoke flavor? 

Don

I've only done one butt on the egg and it was partially frozen when it went on.
I layered the wood and coal down to the grate in the center of the egg. there was plenty of smoke throughout the cook but the meat didn't not have a smokey flavor past a half inch or so of the exterior. I've done briskets the same way minus being partially frozen and they were smokey throughout. This is why I wonder if smokiness has more to do with the meat and its temperature than the method of layering smoke wood or putting it on top.

A brisket is not as thick as a butt, higher surface area to meat ratio, more smoked surface.

Smoke flavor doesn't penetrate. It just doesn't. Not significantly anyway. Not actively. Only if there is a way in. Like an actual physical opening larger than the smoke particle

When we mix pork butt together when shredding, we comingle the exterior with the interior. Transferring some flavor (including rub), but even then, not a lot


smoke is pervasive and invasive. Sure. It gets into every nook and cranny and can really make it seem like it is everywhere. But the stuff is physical. It's soot. There are chemicals that wick into the meat, like those that create the smoke ring, but those aren't 'smokey flavor'. 

At some level sure it can be said that smoke 'penetrates'. But don't for a second believe it Penetrates(!) with a capital P. Meat is muscle. There are no 'pores' in meat that open and allow smoke deep inside. It's got waterproof membranes, fascia, fat, silverskin....  

But that doesn't mean it doesn't get into damn near every crevice and taste great. 

If smoke could penetrate, it would penetrate you. It doesn't. You can wash it off

so add it whenever you want

and don't not add it because you think it won't take anymore. If you want more. Add more.