Just learned how few competition teams actually run a full wood fire

I was reading an old interview with a pitmaster from Kansas City, and he mentioned that in the 90s, almost everyone used just wood. Now, he guessed less than 15% of teams on the circuit run a pure wood fire, with most using charcoal or even pellets as a base. Found that in a forum archive from 2012. It makes sense for consistency, but it feels like a piece of the old craft is gone. I always figured the big names were all about that post oak smoke. Anyone still run a 100% wood setup for their comp cooks?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_margaret8d ago

Didn't I see that Myron Mixon mostly uses charcoal now?

nora_park727d ago

Yeah he totally did... I switched to charcoal last year and the flavor is just better.