Weighing in on the Amount of Wood to Use

Would you mind posting a pic of what 2 oz looks like?

thanks NY, good info.

pigskins.

I'd get a scale. It would help to know the actual weight and you can use it for things like weighing your ribs (I highly recommend)

Ya' all make a good point on weighing wood...BUT, I'm always over-thinking things so here it goes.

Wouldn't a 2 oz piece of wood that was thinner produce more smoke at once than a piece that is thicker that weighed the same or is it the opposite? I know that little bit wouldn't make any difference,right? Just thinking too much today.

I like to think in terms of sight and experience. One oz to me is a golf ball size of wood and if I want 2 oz than I use a piece that is twice the size of a golf ball and so on.

I know Pigskins, this isn't helping much, but until you get a scale it is all just relative to what size you are a custom to using and how you like the taste, I think!

Smokin' makes a FINE point on knowing the weight of your ribs.

Yea I thought of that after I posted my reply. I do have a postal scale which will work perfectly.

I don't want to weight my ribs, I just want to eat them! But seriously, why weigh the ribs? If I get a 2-rack COV package I figure the weight of each rack is going to be close to 50% of the total package weight.

quote:

Originally posted by pigskins:
...

I don't want to weight my ribs, I just want to eat them! But seriously, why weigh the ribs? If I get a 2-rack COV package I figure the weight of each rack is going to be close to 50% of the total package weight.

You can do them your way or listen to our advice, your choice.

#1 way to improve your ribs are to weight them.

Who says they'll be the same weight? No rule for that.

In a 6lb pack you could get one 3.5 and one 2.5 and guess what they won't cook up the same. You know the total weight, but you're only guessing.

BEST way to repeat success is to know exactly what you started with.

Again, I've seen a lot of people not perfect their rib cooking and I ask how much they weigh and they never know. My contention is that the #1 way to improve your ribs is to weigh them so you'll know how much they weigh, then keep good notes on times, temps, wood, rub etc.

If you want to discuss it more, start a separate discussion on ribs down in the rib forum, since we'd be thread jacking.

Same idea, to weigh your brisket after trimming, otherwise you won't know how much fat you trimmed off, I've trimmed off lbs of fat before.

quote:

Originally posted by nysmoke:
I realize that this has been discussed many times and the forum has lots of info regarding this subject, but I'd like to pass along my 2 cents worth anyway.

I have a Smokette and have done a number of racks of ribs. They were all great, but something just wasn't right about the taste. They were too smokey, to the point of being slightly bitter. I was saying to myself, I only used a "chunk" of apple or a "chunk" of hickory. Well, obviously those chunks were providing way too much smoke for my taste. Yesterday I actually weighed and then trimmed the chunks so that I placed exactly 2 ounces in the wood box. When I saw what 2 ounces of wood looked like, I realized that I was using maybe 4-5 oz for ribs and thats what was causing the bitter taste. The 2 ounces worked perfectly for my taste, with the ribs being my best ever!

Listening to the advice in this forum I have weighed my wood every smoke since I got my SM025 a few weeks ago. I use an old digital scale I bought for postage when I had a home office.

I record the weight, type, and source of the wood chunks used. I'm starting to get pretty good guessing the weight of chunks now, but I still weigh each chunk before I use it for the coming cook.

Seems I read where one guy weighed all his chunks and wrote the weight on each chunk? Sounded a bit extreme, but, y'know, there is no sense weighing the same piece more than once, is there?

I'm starting to discover the amount of wood needed for my prefered smoke flavoring (just like Smokin' said I would).

SmokinMAINEiac (wondering what to smoke next)

The reason why I started this thread is to point out that you may THINK you know weight of a chunk of wood by looking at it (as I thought I did), but you'd be surprised (if you haven't had that much experience)at how much it actually weighs. By weighing the chunks, you can make smoke adjustments much more accurately than "just a little bit more" or "just a little bit less"

I think size maybe as important as weight. I think 4 1/2 ounce pieces will produce more smoke than 1 2 ounce piece. Pellets, sawdust, small chips will be a stronger smoke flavor than a single big piece of the same weight.

Well, well Ranger!

Doesn't 2 ozs produce the same amount of smoke... or could it be how quickly it produces the smoke and for how long? This is something to "think" about and definitely something that needs good notes taken on, because 2ozs of wood can be totally different, as you pointed out.

I tend to think that it is equally important to know your wood box hotspots and make sure the wood is always close to the same position in your wood box on all smokes. One must be able to reproduce his/her product with consistency and accuracy.

Wow, you guys think waaaay to deep for me.

Size does matter. Think of it this way. The more surface area exposed to the heat, the quicker it burns/smolders/smokes.

You can get lots of heat with pellets/sawdust for that reason, but it burns up sooner.

Chunks burn slower because less surface area.

Just use your own experience. No WAY can we document the size of the chunk so you can get the same size every time. You'd also have to account for the wood type, the wood age, the humidity level of the wood, all sort of things.

Me, I throw a couple of chunks in and off I go.

everyone needs to get a 3D scanner scale to calculate the surface area and weight of their wood chunks. I'm sure we can develop some surface area to weight ratios to determine the best for smoking. This is an exact science and you cannot be too exact.

I have to agree with Smokin!!

Throw 2 or 3 or 4 chunks in, depending on the lengt of cook and be on your way.

Quit all the analitical BS and smoke somthing!

KISS applies to the rub, the wood and the overthinking!!!

Here's my final thought (yeah, right)

Your OWN experience is what matters, with your smoker, with your wood.

If it burns up or almost completely don't change.

If it's not, then adjust. Cut the chunks smaller.

Weigh them, keep good notes and adjust as needed.

When I first got my Smokette, I used a scale to check the chunks (for about 6 months ).

After a while using Cookshack chunks, I got to a point where I could estimate the amount of wood chunks to put in my Smokette.

I can honestly say that I have never cooked a product in my CS that tasted bitter from to much wood.

I don't even know where the little scale is now!

I have been smoking for some 40 years now, and used just about every kind of smoker out there even my 500gal X oil tank with smoke box to the side. Wow I was so proud of that creation. A little over a year ago I bought a Cookshack SM 150/160. Holly sheep (well you know). This is the best I have ever had, and I never use anything else. It can be 35* below outside and the thing cooks flawlessley.

I usually put 2 picies of charcoal in and a couple pices of apple,or oak, or hickory. The charcoal gives it that pink smoke ring. I am starting to take notes now as I perfect something. It is all about your individual taste. I like smoky

I have been responsible for 5 of my friends purchasing Cookshack smokers. That says a lot for a great piece of equipment.

Steve