Hello all,
I'm new to smoking, and so far I've smoked only three times with my brand new #1.
I've been reading quite a bit on the topic, pouring over books and recipes, but I still don't know how to figure out how much wood to use. How does one go about it? I know that in electrical smokers the rule is "less is more", and the max is 8 oz. But I don't know much beyond that.
Does it depend on the amount of food (volume? weight?)? The type of food? The length of cooking? Type of wood? All of the above? Some of the above? Something else?
Is there some rule(s) of thumb I can follow?
I realize that this might be in part a matter of personal preference, with some liking a stronger flavor and some weaker, but I don't know where to begin, and how to gauge the amount of smoke that quantity X of wood produces. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I thought I would ask the pros here.
Just as a concrete example. Tomorrow I'm smoking a full chicken (3.75 pounds). It's resting nicely in the fridge in a marinade that I prepared from a good book. How much wood should I use? I'm thinking of using cherry.
Many thanks in advance!
Zvi
