On the fence

[magilla60]

I have been using a cheap vertical water cooker for 5 years now and want to step up to the big league after doing a lot of research I'm thinking Backwoods is the way to go. an offset would require to much wood and a lot of learning. I am a week end smoker for friends and family, although my friend would like me to smoke some ribs for his restaurant. I think the party would be the best fit. Never using a charcoal cooker what type of charcoal do you use and when do you put in the wood chunks. I know these must be rather dumb question but up here in the north east we don't have any BBQ stores to go to. Thanks for any input.

[RickC]

I am a week end smoker for friends and family, although my friend would like me to smoke some ribs for his restaurant. I think the party would be the best fit. Never using a charcoal cooker what type of charcoal do you use and when do you put in the wood chunks. I know these must be rather dumb question but up here in the north east we don't have any BBQ stores to go to. Thanks for any input.

There are no "dumb"questions. We all started off without the knowledge we now possess.

I use lump charcoal in all of my cooks. Others will swear by briquettes, so there is no hard line as to what is wrong or right. Experiment with each and choose what you like.

Add your smoking wood at the same time as you start off your charcoal. If you are using chunks, which you should, chips will burn to fast, put about 4-5 chunks scattered around your charcoal.

[fire&spiceBBQ]

I agree...

Also I like to get the wood close to the beginning of the cook, as that's the best time to help form the ring, any more questions ask away...

Eric

[cosmic dave]

I am by no means an expert since I just got my extended Party a couple of weeks ago but if spare rib cooking is in your future you might consider the Extended Party. It is 3 inches deeper than the standard Party which means you can fit racks of spare ribs parallel to the sides of the cooker on each rack and will not have to angle them to fit. Should significantly increase your rib cooking capacity. I was all set to get the standard Party with stainless steel doors but spent an extra $60 and got the Extended Party with regular doors.

Just something to think about.

Dave