Going to get charcoal version.Do I need to even use the charcoal or can use just wood and water? Little of both? What is best?
207923
I also have a charcoal smoker and have used charcoal and wood chunks for smoking. I have not used wood to provide the heat for the smoker however I would imagine you could experiment trying a combination of wood and charcoal or just wood.
207924
You can use wood or charcoal. I mainly use Kingsford but have use wood chips once in awhile to add flavor
232601
I use a few large pieces (6-8) of wood chunks, such as hickory, mesquite, cherry, or apple mixed in with the charcoal (Kingsford). The more wood mixed with the briquettes the deeper the smoked-in flavor becomes. Wood is for flavor and the charcoal is for sustaining heat, so you don't want to overdue the wood, but don't use wood chips as it burns off too fast, with the chucks you don't need to add more. Good luck and enjoy your Pit Barrel Cooker. Jerry Z.
511802
Never use charcoal or lighter fluid, use royal oak and a starter chimney. Buy the book "Low and Slow", follow the directions and your friends will think you have been smoking meat your whole life.
2128636
To season it i just did acouple of cooks with some fatty foods. Bacon or meat that you do not wish to eat just to seal up all the holes. To start the charcoal I use a chimney starter with some newspaper under it which lights it up real quick!
948285
Hi I have used this Barby all summer and it uses very little charcoal.It is agreat little unit for 2 people.Noel Dalziel
877575
I have switched to lump charcoal. The lump charcoal holds the heat longer so you are not constantly adding charcoal to the fire especially when you are smoking meat for several hours.
1936382
I don't know but we have cooked pizza on a pizza stone. It depends on how long you let the wood burn. Charcoal would be hotter. Always depends on outside temp.
1765612
Charcoal consumption would depend on the type of charcoal and the size of the bag, but it seems to last as long as it did on my last barbecue. I have used a chimney to light charcoal for years. It is fast and does not contaminate the coals with toxins or bad flavors. The only thing I don't like about the Weber is the container for the ash detritus. It is difficult to remove.
1446702
certainly no water, unless you are prepared to re-season the grates. Also, less abrasion is best for your grates. I recommend scraping off large chunks with a spatula, and smaller residue with the sort of plastic scrubber you use in the sink, or which are sometimes included on the scraping tool in a barbecue kit. Fire cleanses all, so you shouldn't worry too much about getting grates squeaky clean.
1543860
I use Royal Oak lump charcoal, works great. Walmart has it. I have only used the Cook Air a couple of times but I can tell you its great! Awesome! I would think one 2x3 chunk of real wood would be enough. Do a google and see the lump charcoal its the best. Its real wood that has been burnt down to charcoal. Works really good and you don't need a lot...Mark
2080334
I haven't had any issues with excess charcoal coming out. Like with faucet filters, there may be a little bit of dusty charcoal ash that's washed out very quickly before first use. I liked using the filter with my Tower Garden enough that I reordered the same kind for this growing season. Hope this helps.
2235845
Tomorrow my son n law will be using his Kettle as a smoker and be using some wood, not sure how all wood will work. Are you going to smoke or grill using wood?Question for you, what do you cover your Smoker with? I can not find a cover for this monster. Thanks Don
1314778
I prefer lump charcoal such as Royal Oak. The larger pieces hold heat much better and break down slower than briquettes. Lump charcoal seems to burn the fresh wood I sometimes use at a slower rate as well. I love using my smoker and hope you have a similar experience.
2081986
Yes, is the short answer to part 1, you don't 'have to, but I do, to part 2. I end up putting some chips (I don't worry about soaking, just throw them directly on the coals) so for me it infuses the smoke also. You'd have enough heat if you step up to 10-12 briquettes to grill steaks just fine, and it will last a long time also. I tend to keep around 9 or so for the new style Kingsford and cover it so I get the wood smoke infusion. I don't know for the large charcoal parts, I use regular briquettes as I can control what I want for heat better by varying the number of them. Keep in mind that I'm a Dutch Oven cook guy, so I might be more hung up on heat control than most people.
2244695
It's ok but does not hold temp well with charcoal alone. If you use hardwood it works fine. For smoking I use my weber smokey mountain. Uses very little charcoal/wood to maintain temp for hours. Char-Broil is decent grill but in hind sight I wouldn't buy.
318002
Get yourself a grillbasket. I use a stainless steel Weber intended for holding food, but I use it to hold charcoal or wood. After the fire dies, I can gently lift it out and sift 99% of the ashes wherever I want. What's left underneath is easy to wipe or vacuum out, Any unburnt coals are left for reuse.
967328
Well, I'm no expert either, but here's what we do. We use Cowboy brand hardwood lump charcoal. It doesn't look at all like the usual briquette. It looks like black pieces of wood in varying shapes and sizes. It is supposed to have quicker and hotter fires, and we find this to be true. Also, we don't use the baskets at all. We pour the charcoal into the middle of the bottom grill rack and kind of mound it toward the middle. Once the charcoal gets hot enough, we spread it out as evenly as possible. We're usually putting food on within 20 minutes of starting the grill. One other thing. You mentioned putting the lid on. Not sure if you mean you leave it on the whole time while waiting for the charcoal to ash over. Again, I'm no expert, but I think the lid should be off in order for the charcoal to properly heat up.