Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I don't wax my parchment. I'm embarrassed to say I have a brisket flat in the freezer that's almost a year old. I need to step up my game. Ima cook it naked and covered in S&P.

 

What do you think holds all the sawdust and charcoal together?

 

Love.

 

Exactly

 

I googled "binder in Kingsford" and this is what popped up.

Kingsford ingredients
Kingsford sends a form letter in response to consumers' questions about the ingredients. According to the form letter sent in August, 2000, Kingsford contains the following ingredients:

• wood char
• mineral char
• mineral carbon
• limestone
• starch
• borax
• sodium nitrate
• sawdust

Purpose of ingredients
There so many ingredients because the addition of each requires another to offset its negative affect. For example, in order to make the briquets easier to light, sodium nitrate is added. But then limestone is added so that, when the briquettes get started, they have the typical light-ash color.

Here are the purposes for each of the ingredients:

• wood char: for heat
• mineral char: also for heat
• mineral carbon: also for heat
• limestone: for the light-ash color
• starch: to bind the other ingredients
• borax: press release
• sodium nitrate: to speed the ignition
• sawdust: to speed the ignition

I'm not sure of the validity of the aforementioned but I'm confident that lump charcoal is only wood and breaks down like this:

• Charred wood: for heat
• mineral char: N/A
• mineral carbon: for heat
• limestone: N/A
• starch: N/A
• borax: N/A
• sodium nitrate: N/A
• sawdust: N/A

 

Compression, the nuggets are squeezed under several thousands of pounds of pressure, just like every tablet of medication you have ever taken.

https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...firing/science-charcoal-how-charcoal-made-and

 

I'll play:
Sure the binder is there - same as all the pellet guys use - what's the difference? They both are economical sources. Burning real wood requires a source for real wood so the offset guys have that area nailed down. Commercially viable products such as pellets and KBB are found at retail stores easily - sometimes natural wood charcoal is not or too expensive to be viable.

I have a choice to buy KBB, natural wood charcoal or pellets with ease - I don't have a pellet machine but I do have both KBB & natural wood on hand. To be honest, I haven't done a cook with 100% KBB since I was about 20 y.o. and had a 'hibachi" grill. Stop laughing some of you other old guys, you had one too (young folks, it's the same as a mini-bike...)

Although the last 4 annual pig roasts have been all KBB, rotisserie pits on a trailer with cooks shorter than 8 hrs with zero - zero - bad results. Distinguished pallets of trained chefs, picky eaters and carnivora agree - on a scale of 1-10 I give it a "More Please".

So take a step back - unless you work as a chemist for KBB, Traegar, pellet guys, etc. and have direct knowledge about how briquettes, etc., are made, listing very specific chemicals and processes - I suggest taking advice from Uncle Hulka...

Burn a bunch and see how it goes. Who knows, maybe some old guy's know stuff you don't yet. Bring back your specific findings - do a blind test, whatever. I welcome the objective testing results. Smashing without backing is weak at best - offer personal results at least.

And show your Q rigs & results - I may have missed them in the past so just point me in the right direction.

This coming season I will be using a mix of KBB & natural coal to maintain temps, extend temps and minimize refueling - I'm currently 3 hrs before a refuel. I have crappy apparatus - or "Craparatus" - that is fussy to use but makes great product. I'm not a snob, just open to good practices.

 

I has a pellet pooper also....hell. Glue in my briquettes, glue in my pellets....

 

So clue me in - how are pellets made vs briquettes? I know my friends with wood stoves don't have "pellet saws" they have chain saws. Neither one burn briquettes - nor do the "remote outside furnace" folks. Educate me. Jokes ans such aside I must be missing something.

 

My Lumberjack pellets use Elmers glue. Nothing is better than Elmers!

 

If you haven't eaten glue you never went to kindergarten.

That said, here's the ribs that were apparently smoked in glue and glue by product all afternoon about to come off the Traeger

 

Good chance you're more right than I regarding the makeup of the stuff! Now that I think of it, parchment is designed to bake cookies at 400*, so no reason it wouldn't be plenty safe in a smoker at 250*.

Regardless, I think your point still alludes to the fact that it doesn't really "breathe" that well. If it isn't going to breathe, then I'd just use foil for ease of use, but it wouldn't approximate the same cook using butcher paper.

 

The glue is how you get 'sticky' ribs .

Those look good!

 

This thread is the best.

Call a spade a spade.

 

Stubbs briquettes ftw if you’re gonna go briquettes.

 

Made an awesome pork tenderloin today, side of sweet potato.

I need up change and up my rub game. Anyone have/use rub/spice/marinade-specific cookbooks they would recommend?

 

She got away from me, cause I got distracted with my regular Sunday phone call with my Ma. Or maybe it was all the glue in the kingsford.....either way, Pitfaced bbq rub steak, roasted root veggies and toasted focaccia bread.

 

Pitfaced rub its in the non-automotive group buy.