Talked to an old pitmaster in Lockhart last weekend and he said he never uses wood chunks, just splits, and now I think I've been doing brisket wrong for 3 years.

He told me chunks burn too fast and give you dirty smoke if you're not careful, and after trying his method on a 14 pound packer I got the best bark I've ever had, has anyone else made that switch and stuck with it?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicecraig14d ago

Wait so did he tell you WHY chunks give dirty smoke? Because I keep hearing that from old school guys but nobody ever explains the actual SCIENCE behind it. I've been running chunks in my WSM for like 4 years now and I get good results but maybe I'm just used to the flavor. My neighbor swears by splits too and he says he gets a much cleaner burn with WAY less temp fluctuation. I'm tempted to try it but honestly the idea of chopping up splits to fit in my smoker sounds like such a PAIN.

jakewhite14d ago

@alicecraig I still burn through chunks like a man who doesn't learn from his mistakes.

max_brown12d ago

You tried soaking your chunks first? I started doing that and it cut down on the dirty smoke a ton. Worth a shot before you go hacking up splits.