Chunks vs. Chips

nutshellml · June 2017

So I've owned my XL BGE for about 1.5yrs now. I've always used Chunks vs. Chips, but what I have realized (and maybe this is my own error) is that while using the chunks, following recipes, posts, suggestions on amount of chunks and mixing them. I find that I don't get a consistent smoke throughout the cook.

For example, I did 3 racks of Ribs the other day on my XL BGE. I used 3-4 chunks of wood. I found that for a good hour maybe I got a nice smoke and then it died down. I've tried two methods 1) placing / burying the chunks randomly prior to starting it up, and 2) letting it get to within 50* of target them then throwing the chunks in and around. I still find I rarely get a nice continuous smoke.

Maybe I'm just to picky or shouldn't worry. I've read that the smoke is most important within first hour.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

THANKS All!

Photo Egg · June 2017

You really should not see smoke coming out of your Egg. You want a very light bluish grey smoke, not white smoke. You should still be able to smell smoke if you wave your hand over the top and draw the air towards you. To much smoke and it will give a bitter taste. If 3-4 are not enough try 5-6 next time. After the cook, are your 3-4 pieces burned?

Photo Egg · June 2017

For quick cooks like steak or chicken breasts I still toss in a small amount of chips and skip the chunks.

nutshellml · June 2017

Photo Egg said:
You really should not see smoke coming out of your Egg. You want a very light bluish grey smoke, not white smoke. You should still be able to smell smoke if you wave your hand over the top and draw the air towards you. To much smoke and it will give a bitter taste. If 3-4 are not enough try 5-6 next time. After the cook, are your 3-4 pieces burned?

Yes, So I let the bitter/gray smoke subside, get it to the blue/ish sweet smoke. That's what I'm talking about. And yes, there are many times when there are unburnt chunks.

Maybe because it's the XL BGE and w/ RIBs avg 4 hours, the fire doesnt travel to all parts of the egg? ? So I need to adjust chunks since I can't figure out where the fire will travel.

So was possibly thinking to use chips and really mix them in everywhere, but I will prob have same prob of unburnt chips. OR other option is get something like this: https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/bge-xl/products/xl-open-bar-ring

Theophan · June 2017

Different people swear by different things. Some like scattering chips throughout the lump. That seems sensible, but it hasn't worked well for me.

For cooks where I want a lot of smoke, I do better with a chunk or two buried in the lump in the center, so the fire burning downward will eventually get to them, plus some more chunks on top sort of radially around the fire but close to it, one of them, at least, on the edge of the fire. I usually get several hours of visible blue smoke and a good smoky flavor that way.

kindaquick14 · June 2017

I have chips, but typically go with chunks for cooks on my XL and Medium Eggs. My experience is that the chunks get used up in the first portion of the cook - plenty of white smoke. Depending on how hot the egg is, the smoke is more prevalent or more subtle. For me, at 275 degrees (where I cook my ribs) the egg is like a forest fire in the beginning. Lots of chunk smoke and it definitely shows on my rib and chicken cooks. For low and slow (225 - 250 degrees), I find that the chunks are consumed at a slower rate and the smoke from the chunks is much less. In any event, the egg gets to that blue smoke in the first hour to 90 minutes after the chunks have been chucked into the Egg. One thing I do find is that if I shuffle the coals underneath the platesetter with my fire poker, the white smoke may return for a little while thereafter. My guess is that it found some hot coals after the shuffle and fired up. I've only done that a couple of times to see what would happen.

Hans61 · June 2017

Chips mixed into center do 3 handfuls use the ash tool to knock them around so they go below the surface then light - before putting meat on add s nice size chunk so it's just on the edge of the fire I usually put it in the back or on the right side -

so my answer is combo for long smokes

nutshellml · June 2017

Thanks... I'll give both a go next smoke...

lousubcap · June 2017

Next time you run your BGE for low&slow look at the burn pattern at the end of the cook. Depending on where you light it (I initially light slightly forward of center) the pattern should initially tend down and toward the back roughly center of the lump load then move on from there. Concentrate your chips or chunks in that area for the best chance of fire interaction. FWIW-

SoCalTim · June 2017

** Smoke is a spice, it is a subtle .. most times, the only one who notices it on the food is the person who cooked it.

SmokeySailor · June 2017

What Lou said. I know that my XL likes to burn in the back center so I concentrate my wood chunks back there. It was said before the air flows into the vent and to the back wall of the grill then up, which makes sense and explains what I see. I don't necessarily like it for long cooks where I'm using the platesetter being that it causes the back to be hotter. Someone posted the Open Bar Ring from CGS that would help with getting a more even smoke and in my case, keep the fire concentrated under the platesetter and provide more even heat. Just my relatively inexperienced thoughts.

vb4677 · June 2017

That's what I do - so for like beef roasts - hickory chunks and mesquite chips...

gdenby · June 2017

1st, smoke always affects the food, not just during the 1st hour. That is the approximate time it takes to get a good smoke ring in meat, which stops forming when the meat reaches 140F. The smoke continues to penetrate the meat as long as the surface does not dry out. And when the surface dries out, the smoke chemicals continue to coat the surface. Unfortunately, any sugar there will start to burn, so a little added moisture is good, tho' it may wash off some the smoke.

Because of the way the Egg works, the spice flavors of the wood smoke may be all but invisible. Not even faint blue. The Egg controls air flow so well that during low and slow cooks, almost all the oxygen is grabbed by carbon. All the smoke wood "pyrolizes" (great word). The wood simply decomposes into vapors and residual carbon.

A couple of chunks at different levels work. So do chips. Chunks are better for really long cooks, and easier over all to handle. I sometimes put a 1 1/2" thick branch in down the center. At the end, I often have a new piece of charcoal for the next fire.

BackYardClint · June 2017

You could also mix some chunks soaked in water, and others not. The dry ones will smoke the first half of your cook while the wet ones basically just steam until dry then they'll start smoking too. Generally I don't soak but if i wanted smoke for a long period of time thats one strategy without needing to open and add more wood halfway through.

Chunks vs. Chips

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