Firemonkey

In my smaller grills I’ve had good results putting the wood underneath the fire basket. The distance to the fire is close enough to burn the wood, and the smoke burns cleaner since it has to travel through the entirety of the basket. It’s not quite the same as using the pot, but it’s definitely better than mixing it in the basket. And you can add more through the vent door if you need to, which is handy.

Once I got a Breeo smokeless insert for my firepit, I realized there’s no such thing as being set for wood. That would be gone in a couple months at most😁 Despite what my wife may say, theres no such thing as too much wood. FIREWOOD! As a bonus I haven’t bought lump in a long time. I harvest coals to fill the grills when I’m done with the fire.

Give it a try. I can tell you that after a few hrs over an open fire, there’s plenty of flavor imparted. No, you won’t have a smoke ring, but you’ll have some damn good brisket. I’ve done it over the fire pit as well as in the grill (direct heat) and both are good. One benefit is that after the water bath you can chill the meat, still in the bag, and then finish it at your leisure. Pull the bag, put it on fire for a few hours, and it’s golden. To your point about not taking flavor here is what Kenji Lopez-alt had to say about it on serious eats: Is it better to apply that smoke before or after cooking sous vide? Well, according to folks like Meathead Goldwyn, author of the eponymous book Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling at Amazon, the flavorful compounds in smoke will adhere to and penetrate raw meat much better than they will cooked meat. This is true, but I find that the amount of smoke flavor I get out of a post–sous vide session in the smoker is plenty for my taste buds, and smoking at the end makes the process so much more efficient. I'll stick to the post–sous vide smoke. https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-barbecue-smoked-bbq-brisket-texas-recipe#toc-to-smoke-or-not-to-smoke They also suggest a little pink salt in the bag during the sous vide to get the “smoke” ring, but that juice isn’t worth the squeeze, IMHO.

Why not go the other direction? Sous vide the brisket first, then put over a fire to build the bark and add smoke? I do this sometimes over my fire pit, and it’s OMG good. IMG_3473.mov IMG_3474.mov IMG_3467.mov

Not so shiny anymore...

@tekoboHere where I live the only thing the neighbors would find offensive about that smoke is that they didnt get any of the ribs. once that smoke gets on the wind it makes people hungry.

I concur that smoke that far into the burn is likely fat dripping @PenultimateGriller use your nose. What’s the smoke smell like. Fat burning and a nasty chunk of not fully carbonized lump will smell very different. It’s also ok to open the grill and look down in there to see what’s going on. since you say it’s not fat, getting pieces of lump that aren’t fully carbonized does happen. Royal oak seems to make it their trademark sometimes.

@tony b Lowes and home depot both carry KJ Big Block. If your local stores don't stock it you should still be able to get free ship to store on their websites.

Rockwood is good as well, but the cost was a little higher when I tried it. Since you mentioned Wicked Good, JD does remind me some of Wicked Good competition blend. I had a stash of some WG competition blend and weekend warrior years ago and there are some definite similarities in how it burns. Its definitely more dense than RO, burns much longer and after a hot cook, there is noticeable more left in the basket.

I just stopped at Walmart to get some cheap charcoal, and to my surprise they had Jealous Devil for not much more than RO. $23 for 20lb bag of JD. Roughly $1/lb for the RO. Nice to have more sources for some good charcoal opening up.

it had some issues (since corrected in manufacturing) and needed to be replaced. My old kk was a very early model. There’s been lots of evolution in the manufacture since it was made.

I’ve been rather impressed with JD as well. The local tractor supply put the remainder of their stock on sale several months ago (nobody told them WINTER is grilling season here in FL) and I bought a few hundred pounds. Still have about half of it because I have a fire in my fire pit almost every night through the winter and just harvest big chunks of charcoal from the fire to refill the grills. Toss some nice chunks in the grills, close them up and let them snuff. Free oak charcoal. … and yes - cowboy is the one of the worst charcoals I’ve used over the last 20-some years.

I was thinking like briquettes 🤣. Which is why I wasn’t really planning to cook on it during that time. I’m also in sort of a unique situation - this grill has been in the warehouse for years. The grout is fully cured and completely dry so there won’t be any pressing of tiles back into place if it vents. So I’m thinking I will burn it for a day at 325 just as insurance to try and dry out any humidity it’s absorbed. then maybe gradually work it up to higher temps over several hours. And then…. I’ll commence with getting it greasy in there to help seal it up. I’m considering putting some oil in a spray bottle and seasoning the walls just because.

I want to get some cheap charcoal and give it a nice long break in burn before I start cooking. But before I do that I need to seal this cold smoker port install. Some fresh grout should be here tomorrow and then if the weather gods agree, fire will happen.

Ive got this shiny new toy, and I need some fresh inspiration to get it dirty. Is it okay if I hang out in this playground for a while?