End of BBQ season - Pulled BBQ Chicken Recipe

Getting the BBQ going

As you'll will immediately notice, this that my BBQ is no ordinary BBQ - it's an offset smoker, something I've been learning to cook with for about a year now. They are great cooking devices but far more complicated than anything I'm used to in my everyday cooking.

We start off the process using a charcoal chimney which makes lighting the charcoal much easier than in the traditional methods. In terms of charcoal, good quality lump wood is essential with large pieces available. Otherwise the charcoal burns out too fast and managing the heat becomes incredibly difficult. This is a long term game, with a 'smoking' session taking 4 to 12 hrs - though some larger pieces of meats may be even longer!

After watching innumerable videos online about getting a good burn going, I experimented with different kinds of fire:

- Lumpwood Charcoal
- Charcoal Brickets
- Lumpwood Charcoal with Cherrywood
- Charcoal Brickets with Cherrywood
- Lumpwood Charcoal with Olivewood

And in-spite of all the useful advice online regarding, I found that using any form of wood (Oak, Cherrywood or Olivewood) did not work. Too much smoke was created and the foods took on a bitter taste, so I was rather surprised when just using lumpwood produced the best results!

Maintaining an even & consistent heat is the key a successful smoker BBQ session.