offset smoking - how ?

[curious aardvark]

Okay I'm getting some serious withdrawal symptons here. Fingers twitching to roll a fatty, bacon sitting there all naked and unclothed in smoke.
My electrician says the bradley heating element is beyond repair.
And the uds is still missing some vital components for the build.

Now, what I do have is a ruddy great big american chargriller outlaw bbq.
Not got the side box, but have heard of offset smoking.

As far as I can see you build a small pile of briquettes at the air vent of the beast, put your food at the other end by the chimney, as far away as possible from the coals and cook like that.

That seems logical, that's not the question :-)

The question is this:
How do I get the smoke ?
Do I just put a chunk of wood on top of the coals, do i put woodchips in a foil pan and put that on top of the coals. If I'm using a branch do I strip the bark first or what ?
How much wood do I need ?
etc

bear in mind to date I've done all my smoking with bradley bisquettes - never used raw wood.
There's plenty of oak trees in the woods - do I want green wood, do i want dried wood, does it matter if it's been on the ground for a bit ?

So advice wanted - 'cos I got to get something smoked soon !

Please help.

[wutang]

I usually place a fist-sized wood chunk near my charcoal (within a couple inches) this will allow it to smolder/smoke without actually bursting into flames like it does if I put it directly onto the charcoal. This gives me a steady flow of thin smoke. Once it is pretty much used up I move it over in to the coals and add another chunk or two near the fire. I don't worry about stripping bark off. I use one or two of these chunks about every half hour or so.

[Richtee]

Get a pile of coals going in yer basket (you DO have a basket, right?) on the side away from the exhaust stack. Place meat opposite. Add wood sparingly, keep the thin blue as long as possible. I would imagine the sawdust that the Bradley uses will work.

Find an orchard and get a SFB! Enough wattburning I say.

Also look for a comparable oven heating element for the toy.

[Vlap]

Now, what I do have is a ruddy great big american chargriller outlaw bbq.
Not got the side box, but have heard of offset smoking.

You can order a side fire box separately.

As far as I can see you build a small pile of briquettes at the air vent of the beast, put your food at the other end by the chimney, as far away as possible from the coals and cook like that.

That seems logical, that's not the question :-)

The question is this:
How do I get the smoke ? See Question 2

Do I just put a chunk of wood on top of the coals? Yes or on the side, at least that's how I would do it.

do i put woodchips in a foil pan and put that on top of the coals. I personally would not due to the fast burn. I don't care for chips and won't use unless I have to.

If I'm using a branch do I strip the bark first or what ? You can but I don't bother.

How much wood do I need ? Enough to last the entire smoke. Its hard to say.


bear in mind to date I've done all my smoking with bradley bisquettes - never used raw wood.
do I want green wood? If you use green preburn it before adding.

do i want dried wood? This would be the seasoned wood people refer to I believe.

does it matter if it's been on the ground for a bit ? I do not know

So advice wanted - 'cos I got to get something smoked soon !

Please help.

Hope the bold / italic answers help.

[curious aardvark]

forget buying the sfb - like I said they run at about £150 plus over here (approx $200).
So that's not an option.

Why would I have a charcoal basket for it rich ?
It's a humoungous grill, I generally spread the charcoal around to give me a larger cooler cooking area - concentrating the coals in one spot has not been necessary lol

Okay - so little chunks of wood left near the heat and dried branches I drag back from the woods should be okay :-)

Also look for a comparable oven heating element for the toy.

lol - not actually a toy. But a very expensive bit of kit that will smoke a decent amount of food at one go in a very compact space (some of us don't have 2 acres of playground to store all our toys on ;-).
If it weren't a dead toy lol

Right some decent advice there folks - thanks. Let you know how I get on :-)
Now all I need is someone to start selling charcoal briquettes - bastards are waiting till after easter. I say the clocks have gone forwards, If it's light enough to see and it's not raining then it's bbq time !
Actually I have portable floodlights for when it's dark :-)
But alas my pop up awning for when it was raining died last year :-(

ps. as a woodturner seasoned wood to me would be wood that had been slowly and very carefully dried over a long period of time (sometimes years) to minimise splits and cracks.
Dried wood is just wood that's left in the sun to dry out and nobody gives a damn about whether it's cracked or not.
So dried and seasoned wood are not the same thing :-)
In fact for smoking the best thing is to get one of those little plastic greenhouses with shelves. stack the wood and leave it in the sun. Acts like a kiln and dries the wood out in no time. Completely useless for wood turning - but probably what you're looking for for smoking (These are things you find out when you don't read the books before doing stuff lol)

[Vlap]

I can get the sfb here for around $50. Send me your address and I can check shipping prices and see if we could save you a few $$$

[Richtee]

Why would I have a charcoal basket for it rich ?
It's a humoungous grill, I generally spread the charcoal around to give me a larger cooler cooking area - concentrating the coals in one spot has not been necessary lol

I just thought ya wanted to smoke, not grill is all. My bad.

[blues_n_cues]

stick the wood on 1 end- meat on the other w/ maybe a cookie pan propped in between for a directional heat. a water pan under your meat to save juices- done.... wood- i doubt over there you have anything harsh enough to warrant stripping the bark & in myho no need anyway.

thats just my humble opinion. remember bbq started over wet sticks as a grate over a pit. and wet leaves as a lid.
do it your way- it'll come out.

[davidmcg]

CA, I really like your enthusiasm. You definitely have smoking deep in the bones. As we all said in the beginning, this hobby gets in your skin and you can't go long without smoking something. After a couple of days everytime I drive by a house with a fireplace or smell somebody out burning a brush pile I go nuts. Like today we burned a brush pile and didn't have the smoker around, so I sent the neighbor kid to the store to get hotdogs, brats and buns.

I believe you stated at one time or another, but I do not remember. Do you have Wal-Mart there? If so, Wal-Mart has some of the lower end smokers with offset fireboxes. With a few mods they are fantastic. But in the end, a UDS will do everything you need as soon as ya get it completed. If your going to drag falling wood and use it, give it a good look over for mold and such.

Also, any luck on recruiting any new smokers over there?

[curious aardvark]

nah we don't have waldemart in england.
And there is no such thing as a cheap smoker in the uk.
It's not a common practice so we don't make our own - all the smokers are imported and the importers charge the earth and then add tax !

Cheapest I've seen a unit with a ofb is about £250 ($350)
Average price for an upright charcoal or wat burner is around £300 ($425)

Hence the uds and the disgust at the sheer crap build quility of the bradley :-)

As for recruiting disciples if the uds works then I'm pretty sure simon (guy who runs the garage where I'm getting the drum) will also make one. Got him making his own sausages and he loves all the fattys, jerky etc I fed him :-)
I'm going to get him hooked on curing his own bacon next :-)

[Gunslinger]

nah we don't have waldemart in england.

What! Wait.............hold the phone.
No China-Mart in the UK?!!!!
Do you have McDonald's?
Maybe you could order a smoker straight from China, have it shipped via Chinese donkey UPS. That would only take 18 months. Hey them donkey's can climb, but they gotta eat and sleep. Now if you could find a Chinese UPS man with a mule........................

[davidmcg]

I am a little surprised Wal-Mart hasn't invaded ya'll yet. Kind of odd that they haven't. Well its a bummer a smoker costs so much over there.

Sounds like you got a recruit right close to going over the edge.

Ya know, if the UDS build goes good, you or somebody could have a new line of work if ya play it all right.

[jbchoice1]

Hope the bold / italic answers help.

Originally Posted by curious aardvark
Now, what I do have is a ruddy great big american chargriller outlaw bbq.
Not got the side box, but have heard of offset smoking.

You can order a side fire box separately.

As far as I can see you build a small pile of briquettes at the air vent of the beast, put your food at the other end by the chimney, as far away as possible from the coals and cook like that.

That seems logical, that's not the question :-)

The question is this:
How do I get the smoke ? See Question 2

Do I just put a chunk of wood on top of the coals? Yes or on the side, at least that's how I would do it.

do i put woodchips in a foil pan and put that on top of the coals. I personally would not due to the fast burn. I don't care for chips and won't use unless I have to. I do not use foil... it will melt directly on a fire...

If I'm using a branch do I strip the bark first or what ? You can but I don't bother.

How much wood do I need ? Enough to last the entire smoke. Its hard to say.


bear in mind to date I've done all my smoking with bradley bisquettes - never used raw wood.
do I want green wood? If you use green preburn it before adding. !!! otherwise it will taste nasty

do i want dried wood? This would be the seasoned wood people refer to I believe. seasoned is great

does it matter if it's been on the ground for a bit ? I do not know... no it doesn't... but wipe off the dirt...

So advice wanted - 'cos I got to get something smoked soon !

Please help.

[curious aardvark]

I am a little surprised Wal-Mart hasn't invaded ya'll yet

Well they have bought out asda - a supermarket chain - but it was a cheap and nasty supermarket chain before wallmart bougt it and it still is.
Not a wallmart clone in any way shape or form, which is a shame :-(

On the positive side we do have costco - and I get a lot of american stuff from there :-)

Selling uds smokers as a business ? hmm.
We'll see how the first one goes - but you might have something there :-)