rangerrick19 Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Hey Guys and Gals, New guy here. Interesting forum, and I'm sure this subject has been discussed many times under different headings or subjects. I only grill and smoke with wood because I have an unlimited supply of hickory, oak, different fruit woods, wild cherry, etc. in my rural area. Can I cook and smoke with wood only in a komodo grill. Yes, initially there's a fire as the wood gets lit, but once caught up, lowering the lid and adjusting air intake it will burn quick down to embers. It does require additional wood depending on length of time cooking. It appears I may have to remove grill grate to add wood? Currently I have a side burner smoker and a cheap webber type grill. Maybe someone knows of a few past threads they could give me the address for and I could read thru the discussions. Of course, experienced advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 The Komodo Kamado is designed to be used with charcoal. I have made experiments with wood. In my experience the effects were not desirable. The well-insulated KK is engineered with much less airflow than a typical wood-fired pit, so off aromas from incompletely burnt wood become much more apparent. The refined approach to wood is of course to have two fires. Get the embers perfect in the first fire, move them to the second fire, and cook with the second fire. One approach to preparing embers for a KK could be this nicely engineered unit: Solo Stove Bonfire (I have their campfire on order, as this can also be an issue with lump charcoal, if one has fussy tastebuds. I want one for the engineering; my excuse is to prepare embers for a Moroccan majmar. Think of it as a chimney of the gods.) Alternatively, it's not actually hard to make charcoal. If you have all that wood, you should figure out how. I also experimented with this, which lead me to come up with the "smoke pot" favored by various people here for controlling smoking wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Charles (aka ckreef) built a retort for making his own charcoal from local wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 Why we don't want to cook with wood.. When wood or any biomass is heated the biofuel/wood alcohol/methanol in it turns to gas/vapor.. Because the gas is hot it rises and mixes with the available air/oxygen.. When the fuel-air ratio/mixture is correct it ignites and burns as a flame. If this takes place inside a grill where there is no available air/oxygen it then turns into a thick fog like smoke with large very sticky droplets. This thick smoke burns your eyes of course because it's wood alcohol. Imagine misting your eyes with alcohol. These large molecules of wood alcohol also stick to your clothes and makes you smell like a forest fire. Condensation is how the vapor and flavor is transmitted to your food.. If this vapor condenses on your food it is extremely bitter and acrid.. Nasty stuff. It's my hypothesis that many people smoke their food with this first thick smoke, that's why so many rubs and sauces are ridiculously sweet using high fructose corn syrup because adding sweet to this bitter flavor make can make a semi-palatable "tangy" flavor.. We want the organic material that is released just after the flame or thick fog/smoke is vented.. It's translucent and can have a blue tint.. one often hears to it referred to as blue smoke. Truth is cooking with wood when there is a flame is really cooking with gas.. Old school BBQ joints burn their wood outside until the flame is just about gone and then immediately shovel the remaining charcoal into their grills/smokers.. That's the magic smooth smoke that makes Q out of this world.. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big E Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 do you not use wood chunks with your charcoal to smoke? If not are you using the smoker like a smoke daddy only? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 This discussion was about using wood as the main heat source, like in a sidecar stick burner smoker. This is not recommended in a KK, as Dennis explained. We all use smaller chunks of wood for smoking, but not at the sole fuel in the KK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Cooking! Posted August 25, 2018 Report Share Posted August 25, 2018 That was good info for me thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
