GREAT info for stick-burners like me...

[Jaxon]

Okay, I was reading a post from KBQ.  It was an article on how wood burns...very similar to what I have read from Aaron Franklin. 
One of the last paragraphs read thusly:
Power control of a wood fire - choking a wood fire to reduce its power produces creosote. This is the grandest conceptual error in barbecue - pit makers design elaborate dampers and throttles, practitioners debate the merits of inlet vs. outlet throttling, novices get frustrated and give up. The only way to make clean smoke from a typical wood fire is to maintain good, hot geometry and control pit temperature by rationing fuel, rather than throttling combustion air.  (emphasis mine)

I do not throttle the air flow by even closing the firebox door with the EXCEPTION of days when strong wind is blowing thru the firebox.  Controlling the fire by rationing the fuel has completely and altogether changed my approach to offset cooking and has taken my finished meat to a new level...absolutely no more creosote and no more black coating on the meat (disclaimer...this works for me on the Pecos smoker.  I am just a backyard jack - your results may vary)

This article is VERY helpful...http://www.kbq.us/content/stick-burner

[Hub]

Amen!  All the various good and proven cooker designs deal with CONTROLLING COMBUSTION by various means.  Out of control combustion is out of control cooking 

Over the years I've learned some things about cooking meat using wood:

1.  Many people don't have the patience to learn how to best utilize their cooker.  The old adage "Know your pit" couldn't be truer. 
2.  There are a lot of folks who actually like "creosote" (or, similarly, smoke as the main or only flavor component) and they should please themselves but not spend lots of money on a cooker that has to be mistreated to do that or, worse, can't.
3.  Generally, you get what you pay for.  Cheap cookers are hard to control and will worry you to death.  But, super-expensive cookers don't guarantee good results either if they are misused.
4.  Match your cooker to what you're going to cook with it.  Some cookers are close to "universal" in capability but there are still trade-offs.  If you mostly grill steaks you need a cooker that grills steaks very, very well.  If you mostly smoke chunks of critter low and slow you don't need an infrared searing machine.  The list goes on.  That's why you see so many people on this forum list several cookers in their profile.
5.  As we go through life, our tastes change and our knowledge grows.  Don't be afraid to admit it when that happens 

End of sermonette . . .

Hub

[jjjonz]

Good post Jack ....really makes a lot of sense .

[Big Dawg]

Good post Jack ....really makes a lot of sense .

X2 . . . . passing this along to a friend who just bought a stickburner.





BD

[1Bigg_ER]

I'm knee deep in researching this very topic. I'm dead serious about getting a stick burner.
I think throwing wood onto a fire is the epitome of caveman tendencies.

[teesquare]

I'm knee deep in researching this very topic. I'm dead serious about getting a stick burner.
I think throwing wood onto a fire is the epitome of caveman tendencies.

That and the urge to drag a woman back to the cave by the hair of her head.....Alley Oop

[Jaxon]

I'm knee deep in researching this very topic. I'm dead serious about getting a stick burner.
I think throwing wood onto a fire is the epitome of caveman tendencies.

I guess that's why I love my offset so much...it's primal, it's REAL, and I'm a born fire-poker.  I got my butt whipped real bad when I was about 7 yr old for catching the woods on fire.  Always fascinated with fire.

B T W, unless you plan to cook for a crowd, you really shouldn't need to spend big bucks on a big smoker.

[sparky]

I'm knee deep in researching this very topic. I'm dead serious about getting a stick burner.
I think throwing wood onto a fire is the epitome of caveman tendencies.

Me too.

[muebe]

I love my stick burner. It burns 20 to 30 sticks at a time. Those sticks are really small however. Some people call them pellets.

Ok back in my corner

[smokeasaurus]

Great info Jack.

[tailfeathers]

I love my stick burner. It burns 20 to 30 sticks at a time. Those sticks are really small however. Some people call them pellets.

Ok back in my corner

X2. If I want to mess around tending a fire I use my fire pit, but I love my Rec Tec and Bradley when it's time to make meat. (Or cheese, or nuts, or chex mix.....)


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[1Bigg_ER]

I love my stick burner. It burns 20 to 30 sticks at a time. Those sticks are really small however. Some people call them pellets.

Ok back in my corner

LOL!! I have zero interest in pellets.

[1Bigg_ER]

I'm knee deep in researching this very topic. I'm dead serious about getting a stick burner.
I think throwing wood onto a fire is the epitome of caveman tendencies.

I guess that's why I love my offset so much...it's primal, it's REAL, and I'm a born fire-poker.  I got my butt whipped real bad when I was about 7 yr old for catching the woods on fire.  Always fascinated with fire.

B T W, unless you plan to cook for a crowd, you really shouldn't need to spend big bucks on a big smoker.

Yeah, I just need a small size like the Lang 36. But Lang shipping cost more than 2 WSM 22.5s.
I saw one made by All Season Feeders but I still find myself drawn to the karubecue.

[Pam Gould]

I mostly cook over and open fire with a cast iron grate. My 2 tire rims are set up with a cut out square hole in the top one to feed the sticks. Have learned to do this for over 35 years now. I have a tripod set up in case I wanna cook soups & stews or whatever. I make a bed of coals, then keep feeding it slowly..works for me.  .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

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[Jaxon]

Talk about "primal"....
Pammie, that takes us back almost to the beginning - maybe farther.

That would be a whole 'nuther set of cookin' instructions and another 5 years for me to learn, but I'd love tending the fire.