The Smuggler's Journal

⚓ SMUGGLER'S LOG — ENTRY No. 449
Dated this 29th day of August, 2026.

Today the hold smelled like a campfire before I'd even cracked the hatch. Two new crews had stowed their cargo aboard while my back was turned — one lot hand-cut on a South Australian farm, the other freighted in from Texas way. Nobody paid customs. Let's see what they smuggled in.

Every so often a couple of new names turn up on the manifest at once, and this week it's a proper pair: Natural Smoke BBQ Woods out of Myponga, South Australia, and Western BBQ Products, in from the United States. Different sides of the planet, same mission — better smoke, no shortcuts.

Behind the Label: Natural Smoke BBQ Woods (Myponga, SA)

Natural Smoke started in November 2018 as a small online venture run by a couple, Russ and Sarah, from a property about an hour south of Adelaide near the township of Myponga. Before they sold a single bag, they spent months building relationships with Australian fruit and nut farmers to source proper timber — and they still collect, process and bag every load themselves, by hand, with family and friends pitching in on the weekends. That's not marketing copy — that's how a bag of Aussie Oak or Cherry actually gets to your shed.

The range runs to wood chunks — Aussie Oak, Cherry, Peach, Pecan, Ironbark, Olive, Red Gum, and a Wine Barrel chunk that's genuinely wine-soaked oak from old barrels. Chunks are the low-'n'-slow option: they smoulder for hours in a kettle, bullet smoker or Kamado, which is exactly what a long cook needs.

Chasing the Source: Western BBQ Products (USA)

Western Premium BBQ Products has been cutting smoking wood in the United States for decades and now sits under Duraflame — the same outfit behind the firelogs you've probably burned in a fireplace without knowing it. Their own product pages back up exactly what's on the Rub Hub listing: 100% real mesquite, kiln-dried for consistency, described in their own words as delivering a "rich, distinct" flavour that's "tangy & bold," best on beef, steak and lamb, with Post Oak recommended as the wood to blend in if you want the character without the full punch.

Where Natural Smoke sells chunks, Western's range on the Rub Hub is wood chips — Mesquite, Hickory, Cherry and Apple. Chips burn faster and hotter than chunks, so they suit a shorter cook, a gas grill with a smoker box, or a quick burst of smoke flavour rather than an all-day session.

Chunks vs chips — which one does your cook actually need?

This is the bit worth knowing before you buy either brand. Chunks (Natural Smoke's whole range) are dense and slow-burning — drop two or three straight onto lit coals or nestle them in an unlit charcoal snake, and they'll smoulder for hours, which is exactly what a brisket or a lamb shoulder needs. Chips (Western's range) burn up fast — soak them or not, wrap a handful in foil with a few holes punched in it, or use a smoker box, and they're built for shorter cooks: a rack of ribs, a butterflied chook, or forty minutes of extra smoke on a gas grill that doesn't naturally make any.

Neither is "better" — they're different tools. A weekend brisket wants Natural Smoke's Aussie Oak or Red Gum chunks. A Tuesday-night smoked chicken wants a foil pouch of Western's Apple or Cherry chips thrown on the gas burner.

Recipe: Aussie Oak-Smoked Lamb Backstrap

Serves 4 · Prep 15 min · Cook 25 min · Total 40 min

Gear: kettle or bullet smoker, meat thermometer.

Ingredients:

• 2 lamb backstraps (about 800g total)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Your favourite all-purpose or lamb-friendly rub
• 2–3 Natural Smoke Aussie Oak wood chunks

Method:

1. Set the smoker up for indirect heat at 130°C and add the Aussie Oak chunks straight onto the lit coals — no need to soak them.
2. Rub the backstraps with oil, then season generously and let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes while the smoker comes up to temperature.
3. Smoke indirect until the internal temperature hits 63°C for medium (a few degrees either side to taste), roughly 20–25 minutes depending on thickness.
4. Rest for 8–10 minutes under foil before slicing against the grain.

Darryl's tip: Aussie Oak is rated excellent on lamb and poultry precisely because it's dense and slow — it lays down flavour without turning bitter the way a fast-burning wood can if it flares.

Recipe: Mesquite-Smoked Reverse-Sear Rump

Serves 2 · Prep 10 min · Cook 35 min · Total 45 min

Ingredients:

• 1 thick-cut rump steak (about 400g, 4cm+ thick)
• Salt and a beef-forward rub
• 1–2 handfuls Western BBQ Products Mesquite wood chips, in a foil pouch with a few holes punched through

Method:

1. Season the steak and rest it uncovered in the fridge for an hour if you've got the time.
2. Set up indirect heat around 120°C, place the mesquite pouch near the coals, and smoke the steak until it reads 45–48°C internal.
3. Pull it, crank the heat (or move to a hot cast-iron pan), and sear hard on all sides until it hits 52–54°C for medium-rare.
4. Rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Darryl's tip: go light on the mesquite the first time — it's one of the boldest woods there is, and a little goes further than you'd think. Western's own advice is to blend in a milder wood like apple if you want the character without the full punch, and that's genuinely good advice.

The Smuggler's Secret

Don't soak your wood — not chunks, not chips. Wet wood mostly steams before it smokes, which cools your cook and delays the flavour you're after. Dry wood lights and smoulders straight away, and you control the intensity by how much you use, not how wet it is. It's the one wood myth every rookie inherits from someone who never questioned it.

Grab the gear

Natural Smoke Aussie Oak Wood Chunks · Natural Smoke Wine Barrel Wood Chunks · Western BBQ Products Mesquite Wood Chips

Follow Natural Smoke: Facebook · Instagram · website. Follow Western BBQ Products: website.

Reader level: Backyard.

Next haul's a beauty — keep the smoker warm. The whole haul's at the Rub Hub →
— Cap'n Darryl ⚓