Woodman1
Executive Chef
Larry Wolfe said:Woodman said:Personally, I will use 6-10 chunks of wood when I cook. I always see where guys will not want to use too much and "oversmoke" but I have cooked with all wood enough times to know it won't happen! Keep the exhaust wide open. I cooked chicken and meatloaf Sunday and used at least 6- chunks of wood in 3 hours and everything turned out fine. Don't worry or sweat it. I believe "oversmoking" is a myth. DO NOT SOAK THE WOOD>
It is not a myth, it's a fact.
Depending on the size of chunks 6-10 chunks in a WSM is overkill in my opinion. It also depends on how your fire is burning (as Witt states below) and what you are cooking on whether or not it will oversmoke. for the other.
It also depends on your tastes, some people want/like mild smoke, others like a heavier smoke. So what's over smoked to one, may be just right
I cook predominately with hickory chunks and will use 4 fist size chunks for a load of butts, briskets and chucks, 2-3 for spare ribs, 2 for loin backs and turkeys, 1 for whole chicken or parts and meat loaves.
wittdog said:Couple of things here...comparing an offset and a WSM are two different animals..
and by tossing the chuncks in the chimeny you are preburning them and getting rid of alot of the "stuff" that would cause the meat to be oversmoked....
No matter how much or how little wood you use the fire needs to be clean...you can "oversmoke" meat with just one piece of wood if the fire isn't clean
Its a matter of what you like..you need to experiment and see what works for you
I agree.
I think the comment in red above is basically in agreement with my point?