Log Burner

Log burner attachment? First I've heard of this. Do tell more.

I heard about it on BBQ Central Show. The top dog at CS was talking about it. I called CS sales Dept and they sent me one at no cost. I think they come with the new FEC's. It is a shelf that you attachon the side of the burn pot using existing screws. I think you put some wood on the shelf beside the flame and the fire makes it burn and smoke. the idea is to use actual wood to smoke the meat. I haven't seen anything on the posts about it however. I was just looking for some input.

Ahhh ok...gotcha.

Coach modified something very similar a few years back on his FEC and has gotten good results. I'll look into getting one.

The log burner is brain dead easy to use. Just put small piece of hardwood so that the end just barely hangs over the edge of the firepot and will catch fire. A small piece of wood will generate a lot of smoke because of the slow burn you will get. I like to use cherry that is a couple of inches thick and several inches long. Wood goes on with the cold meat, but I never add wood after my meat has hit 145 internal.

I have learned that it is possible to oversmoke big meat using the log burner if you really try. I like to run the FEC100 overnight at 180 to 190 degrees using 100% hickory pellets, then ramp the temperature up when I wrap in the morning. If you add wood to the log burner several times over the course of the night, you can overdo it. Just because some is good does not mean a whole lot is better.

My suggestion is to balance the amount of wood you use with the quality of the pellets you use. If you use 100% pellets, then only put wood on the log burner once at the time you put the meat on. But if you use a pellet with a lot of filler wood, then you may want to put on a small piece of wood several times.

Can't speak as to the particular equipment mentioned but will say any kind of tightly air controlled pit can get the goods over smoked real easy when burning regular old raw wood. The worst culprits are the strong flavored woods such as but not limited to hickory..pee can..and mesquite. Make friends with Oak and use it sparingly. Course most all fruit woods are nice cept for cherry..that stuff drives me crazy. Can turn a brisket blacker than the ace of spades. I would save that for making furniture.

First cook with the log burner. Pork butt and spares. Couldn't be happier. I used pecan wood and every thing came out great. I recomend it highly. JT

Care to snap a pic of it. Curious what it looks like.

quote:

Originally posted by AndyJ:
Care to snap a pic of it. Curious what it looks like.

It's just a little shelf that sits at the end of the firepot. I'll see if I have a photo but it's very basic.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:

quote:

Originally posted by AndyJ:
Care to snap a pic of it. Curious what it looks like.

It's just a little shelf that sits at the end of the firepot. I'll see if I have a photo but it's very basic.

It's basically an 'L' bracket with folded edges. The two front screws are removed on the burnpot, and you simply screw the shelf attachment on. Cookshack sent me one for my FEC-120 recently - However, I won't be using it yet. It's too long for an FEC-120, and really blocks me from being able to clean under the burn pot on the smoker. I'm going to cut it in half, should be perfect.
Rick
Edit: Here's a pic

Mine arrived yesterday. I'll snap a pic once it's attached and post. Stuart tells me that any chunk wood or log wood will work, so long as the firewood is of proper size.

Here it is attached. Planning on some chicken for dinner. Will let you know how it does, smoke wise.

Click on the photo for enlargement.

quote:

Originally posted by MaxQ:
Here it is attached. Planning on some chicken for dinner. Will let you know how it does, smoke wise.

Click on the photo for enlargement.

Max,
Are you sure that's not backwards?

Pretty sure but no mounting instructions were enclosed. Given the screws on the fire pot and the cut out holes on the wood tray, that's the only way it attaches, keeping the tray level flush with the firepot.

How much $$ was it?

quote:

Originally posted by MaxQ:
Here it is attached. Planning on some chicken for dinner. Will let you know how it does, smoke wise.

Click on the photo for enlargement.

Max how did the chicken go.

@ Joe -
Tony & Bill were out the day I called & Stuart called me back. He sent it gratis. We go back a ways so I'm not sure if he was being overly kind.

@JJ -
I used some cherry chunks that were several years old. I ran the birds at 350 start to finish. Some smoke, not a lot. The wood was throwing off white smoke at a temp you'd normally not see it.

I have some maple saplings on property that I'll try next time around. I suspect green wood will boost the smoke profile.

In any case, as usual, the FEC produced excellent, juicy chicken.

I used a good sized chunk of pecan so it would burn longer with good results. I could see the smoke as well as smell it. I think it worked ok. JT

Just be careful not to get a chunk or log too big as it may catch fire...heat up the grease pan and catch it on fire as well. It's happened before

I just saw this on Youtube on a FEC 100/120 comparison video. I'll call Cookshack next week an see how much it is. I've got to order a door gasket kit anyway. I wonder if it will still smoke the wood at a low temp, like when smoking bacon or ham at 180 or so.

I have used a shelf like that for years that I made from sheet metal. The process is real simple, you only have to monitor the wood position and not interfere with the pellet flow into the fire pot. Also, the only fire I have ever had was when I had a really "seasoned" piece of wood in it. Really dry wood can flair up on you. If you use it, make sure you clean all the drippings and have a fresh sheet of foil on the drip pan before each cooking. It will add some flavor to your finished product. Practice is important to get used to it. Good luck.

Something I might suggest to Cookshack next time I'm on the phone with them...about 12 equal distance 1/4" holes on the bottom of the tray would promote air-flow and probably negate the need for keeping the wood in proximity to the fire pot.

I recently added this shelf to our FEC-120, and am enjoying the benefits. The shelf is a bit long for the FEC-120, and interferes with cleaning ash out. So I cut the 'shelf' portion down to about half the length. Perfect. I used to set a block of 'supplemental' hickory on the edge of the burn pot, but it tended to burn up too quick. Now with the shelf, I can use a much larger block of wood, and set it further from the burn pot. After 20 minutes, I give a quick peak to see that it's smoldering, although I can usually tell from the aroma alone if the hickory block is smoldering and not just burning up. For my purposes, this has been working out very well - adding much more smoke flavor to ribs, etc. Should satisfy some of the local folks who like more of a 'log burner' smoke flavor profile. Although, we haven't had any complaints - most find what we do to be the right amount of smoke flavor. Another added benefit is that it makes adding a 'flavor wood' much easier than emptying the pellet hopper to replace with another type of wood pellet. It's much easier to just set a big block of cherry, apple or whatever wood on the shelf.

Rick

quote:

Originally posted by MaxQ:
Something I might suggest to Cookshack next time I'm on the phone with them...about 12 equal distance 1/4" holes on the bottom of the tray would promote air-flow and probably negate the need for keeping the wood in proximity to the fire pot.

I just got mine in the mail yesterday afternoon along with my new door gasket and installed it this morning after my yearly cleaning. Can't wait to try it. I've got 37 pounds of bacon curing which will be the first candidate. I'll go pull a couple of green limbs of our hickory tree and strip the bark off of them.

So are you fellers happy with the results your getting on this?

Yes, I am using it pretty constantly. I used some green hickory limbs smoking my bacon and it worked fine. I even used a huge 4 inch diameter Oak log on some chicken when I first got it, it really smoked a lot, so I had to back off with it. Adds a lot of versatility to the FEC.

The Log Burner attachment is certainly an improvement. Not only do I get the smoke from the hard wood, but it gives me a whole host of options for different flavor profiles. JT

I was in a contest in a region famous for oversmoked/green wood flavored food. I actually loaded up my FE500 with 75 racks of ribs and TRIED to oversmoke them with the log burner.

It added some, but not a lot of flavor and I burned green mesquite.

It works better in the FE100 (smaller environment) but your taste buds will have to tell you.

One man's oversmoked is another man's undersmoked (TM pending.. LOL)