My BBQ team is borrowing a trailer pit smoker for the Pasadena cookoff and I would appreciate any advice on the best way to heat it. Questions: 1. As far as wood goes, do you ONLY use wood in the firebox or some wood and some charcoal? 2. What type of wood is best for brisket, chicken and ribs? 3. What is a good place to buy wood? 4. Any other tips? Thank you very much! c+a+d
Haven't used a trailer smoker much (although I'll be on one this weekend), but I use a smaller offset box design at home, so I'd go with the same formula as I use there: I start the fire with charcoal and wood, then go to just wood, but it MUST be aged and dry wood. Best kinds of smoking woods for offset box -- oak or pecan. Avoid mesquite. Mesquite is fine when you're doing a more indirect heat with coals type approach. I have no idea where to buy wood -- I am cajoling folks into donating for our cooking this weekend. You might try firewood places in the yellow pages? Or, you might call a bbq joint and buy some from them (one of our smaller places here gladly sells me wood). tip -- drink beer and have fun. If your bbq is great, you'll have a good time. If your bbq sucks, you'll laugh at it and still have a good time.
What Brisketexan said. Oak and Pecan can be used with any type of meat. I usually use oak. You shouldn't need to use any charcoal. This is what I use to start the pit. You will have a full blown fire in about 5-10 minutes. You still have to wait for the wood to burn down, but it definitely speeds up the process. If possible, I would borrow the smoker before the cookoff to see how it cooks. Every pit is a little different and has its own quirks. If you are trying to do well in the cookoff it would probably benefit you to have a practice run. If you are just going to drink beer and cook some BBQ, then its not a big deal.
Oak wilt has no flavor. Aged wilted oak is also not a danger to spread oak wilt. At least not according to people that I trust. I know it has no special "wilt" flavor.
Yes, I'd like a brisket -- extra "wilty," please. Yeah, from what I understand, no problem cooking with that wood. Aged means that it sat out in the sun for 1-2 years to dry out, which makes it burn much more cleanly. Green wood gives off a strong creosote taste, whereas aged wood gives off a clean smoke.
When using any charcoal, I prefer to only use the cheap stuff (briquettes) in my chimney starter; it's good to make sure the wood stays burining once I dump it out... but I switched over to a mini propane torch without much luck. I've got a cactus burner like in the link, but since I'm a roofer, it already has roofing cement stuck to it. I may need to pick up this $ 25.00 unit you posted (have a Harbor Freight really close to me in Oak Hill). [/sigh] My cholesterol is elevating just replying to all the 'cue threads I've viewed tonight.
I don't know about using those proprane torch things for starting wood but I can tell you that as a 10 yr old boy, those babies can get you into a ton of trouble. Carry on.
My only problem in using the smaller handheld propane torch is that it doesn't really get the wood going enough. I think the cactus burner works well 'cause it's spits out a larger surface area of burn space. The handheld is too location specific... surgical burning, if you will. Oh, & I dropped the charcoal for other than starting 'cause it's got all kinds of nasties in there. If I AM going to do charcoal, I use Oak Lump. Less garbage products in it.
