Why It's Better on the Barrel

Let's talk about smoke; there are two primary types of smoke used in BBQ, Wood Smoke and Fat Smoke. Today,...

Let's talk about smoke; there are two primary types of smoke used in BBQ, Wood Smoke and Fat Smoke. Today, we're diving into the latter. Fat Smoke is a sweet and savory aromatic. It is produced when fat renders and drips directly into hot coals. The Burch Barrel is different in that you don't have to use a heat deflector or cook indirectly in order to avoid flare ups. On the Barrel you can quickly adjust your temperature and manage the flare up while adding the ultimate flavor. Below are some general tips for smoking on the Burch Barrel as well as achieving that highly sought after Fat Smoke flavor.

“The kind of flavor I got was something that is indescribable. It's this sweet, smokey, wonderful, juicy, awesomeness and the reason behind it is fat smoke” -Jeremy Yoder of Mad Scientist BBQ

TIP #1

Burgers are a great place to start while learning how to BBQ with fat smoke. Get a good bed of evenly distributed coals and set your coal pan at the 4th notch down. Add a few pieces of chunk oak for some flame and wood smoke. This pairs well with the fat smoke flavor. Practice raising and lowering the grill grate to find the right temperature and manage flare ups.

TIP #2

Fat smoke, like wood smoke, has a sweet spot. The sweet spot is an ambient temp between 215 and 250F for slow and low and 500 to 600 for a great sear and smoke flavor on a rib eye steak. The more clear or the purer the fat produced, the sweeter the smoke flavor.

TIP #3

Coal prep. Flip the coal pan grate upside down and set the coal pan at the lowest setting. Start with a handful of lump coal or briquettes, a ball of packing paper, and a tepee of wood from pinky to wrist size. Start the fire. Once it’s established add 2 pieces of equally sized cooking wood of your preference. Burn them down to a controlled and very low flame. Add protein, hovering at whatever height to achieve ideal ambient temperature.

TIP #4

This is about the most hands on way to smoke on a Burch Barrel We are building our own coal bed by burning down Post Oak for very clean wood smoke flavor and fat smoke flavor. We aren’t using lump charcoal because the wood smoke flavor has been carbonized out of it. Lump Charcoal primarily provides heat not flavor. Burning down our own coals provides a long and clean smoke flavor.