SmokinLicious® Log burns cleaner than Compressed Sawdust
USING COMPRESSED SAWDUST-WHY NOT DO IT OUR WAY? LET’S COUNT THE REASONS!
I read a lot. It is the nature of a scientist. It doesn’t matter if it’s a plant molecular-biology journal article or a cooking/food magazine that is readily available on any newsstand. I love to read and analyze the content. So, when I came upon Bon Appétit’s “Best of 2016” list (September 2016 issue), I was drawn to #11 on the list: a reference to using compressed sawdust blocks for cooking.
Now, if you follow us on our Blog, Flipboard, or our social media platforms, you know our stand on wood used for cooking: no bark ever, only specific hardwoods known to be free of or minimally contain toxins that can accumulate in the human body, use of heartwood only in our manufacturing process, and moisture-rich products so we can control that variable for the specific cooking technique.
I certainly have knowledge of compressed sawdust products used in the heating industry for standard wood stoves and fireplaces, but I had never come across a reference to using them for cooking aside from the pellets commonly used in pellet-style smoker equipment, products that have been around for years. So why did the red flag come up when this reputable magazine referenced a renewable heat product? Because none of these compressed wood product manufacturers ever referenced using the product to cook with. In fact, most stress the use of caution for the intended use in fireplaces and wood stoves, stressing that the BTU level of the product is much higher than standard firewood or cordwood. But let’s take a look at a number of other factors you should weigh before considering these products for the cooking application.
If you checked out our previous article on the Maple tree (“Oh, The Mighty Maple”) then you know that maple is a great addition to cooking with wood whether your hot smoking, grilling or ember cooking. Time to take a closer look at how this hardwood actually flavors the foods you cook.
Wood contains a variety of complex organic compounds with two that contribute to actual flavor – lignin and cellulose. In short, these compounds are sugars (cellulose is an indigestible carbohydrate). Here’s the kicker – wood, regardless of species, burns incompletely and unevenly. It is directly dependent on oxygen as well as the percentage of water it contains – what we call moisture content. The four stages of combustion actually occur simultaneously which is why you have great variation in temperature of the actual fire.
That being said, woods do have different percentages of lignin and cellulose and so we tend to lean towards certain hardwoods over others for specific cooking techniques. Tip: Not every hardwood is a good choice for cooking!
Why we Don’t Use or Sell Apple wood for Smoking– Those of you living outside of New York State may be surprised to learn that we are the number two state for apple production behind Washington state. However, we do rank number one for the greatest number of varieties of apples. Annually, our state produces nearly 30 million bushels of apples. So, why not use apple wood for smoking of foods?
With an abundance of apple trees, the assumption would be that our number one hardwood offering must be apple. However, you would be wrong.
Apple Wood for Smoking? Abundance Comes at a Cost
Just because apple wood is abundant in our state doesn’t mean it should automatically be sold as a cooking wood. This is without question, a favorite fruit. When something is at high demand it is protected in order to assure the supply for that demand. For this reason, growers of apples put their priority into preserving the fruit production.
Keep in mind, an apple tree may not start producing fruit for the first 8-10 years but it can produce for 50 or more years. In fact, with careful and frequent pruning, these trees do remain in the orchard bearing fruit if they don’t become infested with a disease or pest.
Good Agricultural Practices
Around the year 2001, the New York apple industry began working on a strategic plan in conjunction with Cornell University to develop what they referred to as an integrated fruit production program. The purpose of the program was to ensure apples were produced using environmentally friendly processes to include eco-friendly insect, mite, disease, vertebrate and weed pest management. In other words, this was meant to use more “friendly” pesticide applications and methods. What didn’t change is the that chemicals were still being used.
The USDA has done extensive study on pesticides and their life on agricultural products (USDA Pesticide Data Program). As a result of the studies, here is a list of the common pesticides found to be present on apples in what is termed residual form.
USDA Findings:
Diphenylamine (DPA)
82.8%
Thiabendazole
81.0%
Pyrimethanil
75.2%
Chlorantraniliprole
41.2%
Acetamiprid
28.7%
Imidacloprid
20.2%
Carbendazim (MBC)
17.3%
Tetrahydrophthalimide (THPI)
16.7%
Methoxyfenozide
15.9%
Fludioxonil
13.4%
Thiacloprid
12.7%
Boscalid
12.7%
Pyraclostrobin
11.8%
Phosmet
9.6%
Azinphos methyl
9.2%
Fenpyroximate
8.5%
Endosulfan II
8.1%
Myclobutanil
8.1%
Diazinon
6.5%
Trifloxystrobin
5.8%
Spinetoram
5.0%
Endosulfan I
4.3%
Etoxazole
3.3%
Pendimethalin
3.3%
Fenpropathrin
2.8%
Fenbuconazole
2.7%
Carbaryl
2.4%
Endosulfan sulfate
1.9%
Flonicamid
1.6%
Chlorpyrifos
1.6%
Cyhalothrin, Total (Cyhalothrin-L + R157836 epimer)
1.1%
Spinosad
0.9%
o-Phenylphenol
0.9%
Imazalil
0.5%
Chlorpropham
0.4%
Difenoconazole
0.3%
Permethrin cis
0.3%
Esfenvalerate+Fenvalerate Total
0.1%
Buprofezin
0.1%
Thiamethoxam
0.1%
Pyriproxyfen
0.1%
Tebuconazole
0.1%
Pronamide
0.1%
Methoxychlor olefin
0.1%
Dicofol p,p’
0.1%
Permethrin trans
0.1%
DCPA
0.1%
The premise for using all these pesticides is the common belief that apples cannot be grown without chemical pesticides. Despite efforts to institute ecofriendly practices, we remain dependent on chemicals. But here’s the kicker: apples are ranked number 4 out of 12 as a fruit most contaminated by pesticides. Washing with water doesn’t do enough either. The chemical pesticides can penetrate the skin into the flesh of the apple making every bite a risk.
Apple Wood for Smoking? In the Fruit, In the Tree
So what does this mean for the actual tree growing the apples? Spray the tree with chemical pesticides to protect the fruit production and consequently, you compromise the tree for any other purpose including cooking. Pesticide applications embed into the soil base of the tree, which then enters the root system, and is on the way to the other parts of the tree. Pesticides can also become air born as they turn into a vapor and travel by airflow (think wind). The bark of any tree is a great absorber of these air particles. Once pesticides enter the human body, they are stored in the colon. Symptoms then progress to stomach pains, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Certainly, toxicity can advance and produce colorectal cancer. Know that once the chemicals are absorbed into the tree’s roots and nutritional supply center, they are there for life.
As a company, SmokinLicious® just can’t participate in risk to the public’s health. If we can offer products that are as natural as possible, bark-free to prevent absorption of pollutants captured by the bark, we will do it.
Our Forest Fresh Symbol
Given there are so many other choices for safe hardwoods free of potential chemical contamination. We opt to dismiss apple wood for smoking even though we are a state in apple abundance.
In conclusion SmokinLicious® makes you an informed consumer through valuable articles like this one. So leave us a comment and follow us or subscribe for more great recipes, techniques, tips, and the science behind the flavor and fire. Most importantly, that is SmokinLicious®.
Without question, electric smokers are by far the easiest smokers to manage as they require no charcoal lighting, no constant checking of the fuel supply, and usually no messy ash pan. These are units that are designed to run on very little wood product, usually between 2-5 ounces because the actual ‘fuel’ is an electric coil. No gas, charcoal, or pellet.
We are going beyond the obvious and the traditional when it comes to items that you can smoke. It’s time to up your skills and menu items with the top things you would never think of to smoke.
Keep in mind, we are not just referring to hot smoking. We’re including the quick technique of handheld food smoking as well as stove top smoking in a pan.
We’ve all been there! You purposely made a list of all the things you would need for the weekend BBQ. Carefully selected the meat, cleaned the grill or smoker the weekend before, and purchased the wood chips to impart that great flavoring you can only get from hardwood! You marinated the meat 24 hours ahead and woke up on grill day full of excitement.
WILDFIRE SMOKE TAINT grapes may add some bold tastes
WILDFIRE SMOKE TAINT IS THE BBQ COOK’S UMAMI
Summary:
The Wine Spectator article has us thinking how Wildfire Smoke taint grapes can make smoke taint in wine! Think what a smoke taint wine with a smoky taste can do for your Barbecue sauces! These vineyard grapes caught in the California wildfires by the traveling smoke can add some smoky boldness to our cooking!
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I came across a fascinating article in Wine Spectator (June 15, 2018) that made me salivate. The article focused on the wildfires of California, specifically Northern California, in October 2017 that had vineyards struggling with grapes that had not yet been harvested for wine production and were exposed to the fire’s smoke.
Smoke taint. That is the smoky flavors grapes will pick up from traveling smoke gases and particles that become airborne with the wind. Even if a vineyard did not experience the fire directly, it can be affected by the traveling smoke. That is the key though: a vineyard may or may not contain smoke taint in the grapes.
There are many opinions out there in the BBQ world when it comes to the wood used for smoking and grilling. Some people preach it doesn’t matter where the wood comes from as long as it isn’t a treated lumber. Comments include, “don’t worry if there are bugs or bug holes – if they’re in there, they’ll just burn up”, or “fires are hot so anything on the wood just burns so you can grill with moldy wood”.
Cross section of a harvested hardwood tree showing the heartwood of the tree
IS HEARTWOOD REALLY THE ‘HEART’ OF THE TREE?
By now you’ve come to recognize SmokinLicious® as the Company that produces it’s cooking wood products from only heartwood. Yet, there are still many questions out there as to what that means for the individual using our products. Is heartwood where all the life forces of the tree thrive?
The short answer is, no, but there are benefits to using woods derived from this part of the tree for cooking. Let’s explore!
Mini molecular-biology course: wood is an organic material that is porous and fibrous. It contains hundreds of organic compounds but there are three primary compounds responsible for the cell construction in trees: Cellulose which is a glucose that is tasteless and odorless but comprises 40-50% of the cell. It is crystalline so it provides for the strength of the cell wall. Hemicellulose is also a glucose and carbohydrate but unlike cellulose, it has little strength and makes up 15-25% of the tree’s cell structure. Lignin is the cell compound that is responsible for the structural materials in the support tissues of wood and bark and makes up 15-30% of wood cells. Lignin is what fills the cell wall spaces between the cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin components and is crucial for conducting water. Lignin yields more energy than cellulose when burned. Most importantly, lignin is what gives wood-fired cooked foods their flavor and aroma.
Barbecue is one of those methods of cooking that is loved by many but not truly understood by those who love it! I’m always entranced by the fact that barbecue gets mingled with the word grilling when the reality is, these two methods of cooking mean very different things. One common denominator though is the meat used for these cooking methods that simply becomes a variant of color so completely different from traditional cooking methods like the frying pan, slow cooker, and oven.
Let’s take a closer look first, at what meat is and then how color develops when cooked.
How to keep food interesting during the quarantine
You may be one of the unlucky families faced with the task of social distancing or voluntary/involuntary quarantine. Without question, this will test the limits of each family member’s patience, flexibility, and cooperation.
Not only are you responsible for ensuring everyone’s safety, you’re tasked with keeping them entertained and fed. Right now, with internet and utilities intact, you have the option to stream programs, movies, videos, etc., as well as use electrical and gas appliances. This helps to keep our sanity. But have you paused to plan for when those items become interrupted or permanently halted?
I’m going to list for you some ways of how to keep food interesting and ensuring that you can remain comfortably fed while also enjoying foods that you consume when you’re not quarantined
Price is NOT everything-THE TOP THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PURCHASING COOKING WOOD
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PURCHASING COOKING WOOD
We have your top things to consider when purchasing cooking wood! We are getting closer to peak season in North America for outdoor cooking. What a perfect time to start thinking about what you want to get out of your outdoor cooking time this year so you’ll be able to source the supplies you’ll need and feel confident in your decisions. This includes the wood used for cooking.
There are many companies who offer woods for cooking in the United States. We thought we’d assist you in determining the perfect fit for your needs based on what you’re looking for in the cooking wood as well as a match for your equipment.
Today, we are going to compare 7 popular cooking wood companies who may use the terms cooking woods, grilling woods, wood, and BBQ, or BBQ products. The comparison will include 9 key areas: Established date of the business, where the wood is harvested or sourced from, wood types offered, how the wood is sold, shipping costs, treatment process the wood is exposed to, packaging of the product, if bark is present, and primary claim made by the Company. Following this listing, I will highlight any information that you may want to question further.
Our goal is to arm the purchaser with needed information to ensure that they are getting the perfect wood for the cooking technique(s) they plan to do. Remember, there are different variables needed in a wood for different methods of wood-fired cooking which you can read about further in our blog Taste is Aroma.
Cherry wood for smoking will bring out the sweetness in anything in the smoker!
WILL CHERRY HARDWOOD SWEETEN EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES?-Without question, Cherry is one of the most popular woods for wood-fired cooking, particularly when it comes to hot smoking using traditional smoking equipment. Despite information SmokinLicious® has provided on this hardwood species (Put a Cherry on It blog & Cherry Wood Question blog), there are still many questions posed and many misunderstandings about this wood. My intention here is to speak on the cherry varieties in North America and ensure that you can make an informed decision when selecting this hardwood for cooking.
Wood Smokers need Charcoal for fuel/heat/combustion and smoking wood for flavor!
WOOD SMOKERS & GRILLING- RETURN TO THE BASICS! – I recently received an email from a new customer who was questioning the moisture level of the wood she recently purchased. Her claim was, she thought the moisture wasn’t ideal as she was finding that the wood chunks “weren’t catching fire.” That got me thinking that despite what we publish for information on the various methods of wood-fired cooking, when it comes to smoking, the very basics of this method may not be understood, as well as the basics of grilling with wood.
My goal with this article is to remind you of what is needed to be successful with each type of wood-fired method.
One of the knowledge areas I feel is weak is understanding what is needed from the wood for different styles of wood-fired cooking. Let me get you educated.
Smoking
Hopefully you know that hot smoking means you are cooking with wood material to affect the color, aroma, texture, and flavor of the food. This method requires a lower temperature, a longer cook time, fuel for temperature and wood for flavor. Certainly, you can use wood for both flavor and fuel but a more cost-effective method is to use charcoal or briquets for fuel and wood just for the flavor, aroma, color, and texture to food.
For cold smoking, you still need the same items listed above but the temperature needs to be under 80°F which means the fuel is often wood which will flavor, color, provide texture, as well as the minimal heat level.
What’s the difference for these methods? Moisture of the wood product.
Hot smoking needs hardwood that is at least 20% moisture and preferably under 30%. Cold smoking needs hardwood that is under 15% moisture.
Wood-Fired Grilling
This method of grilling generally requires the use of wood both for higher temperature and for flavor. Here’s a big difference with this method: you can vary the type of food used on the grill but how you position the food to the active fire versus the hot coals is another need. Often operators of a wood-fired grill will have a couple of stations to the fire. One will be direct fire or flame cooking. This is for mostly animal proteins that you want to get a great char on the outside while cooking relatively quickly. Then there is wood grilling with the hot coals from the fire. By raking hot coals to one side, you can direct fire items that need less char to them like fish, vegetables, fruits, etc.
Another option with wood-fired grills is you can do both direct heat cooking and indirect. These two methods can also be done directly on cooking grates or by using grilling accessories like high heat tolerant cookware, grill baskets, and grilling pans.
Animal Protein Preparation
Everyone has their own preference when it comes to preparing meat or poultry for the grill or smoker. But did you know that marinating meat or poultry should be done for shorter periods of time not over night or longer. Why? Marinades contain oil and meat contains water so… just like the old saying “oil and water don’t mix”. Don’t take a risk of breaking the fibers down too far and stick to short marinating times. Don’t forget – any marinade left in the bag or pan after removing the meat or poultry should be discarded as it CANNOT be reused due to bacteria growth potential from exposure to raw product.
Now if you’re thinking about a dry rub, feel free to marinate just as long as you want. In fact, I’ve been known to marinate up to 3 days!
A wet rub, however, goes by the rule of a marinade. If you’ve included oil in that rub, short marinating time is best.
Wood Smokers- Wood Quantity Doesn’t Make It Better
If you’ve made the commitment to introduce wood flavor to the grill or smoker, then know up front, it doesn’t take a lot of wood to add flavor. As mentioned at the start of the article, you need to be sure you select the right wood chips, chunks or charwood with the right moisture level for the right application.
When smoking, about 6 ounces of hardwood is ideal to start. Although you may need to add wood during the cooking process dependent on what your cooking (larger cuts of meat may require you to feed additional wood every hour), always start with a reserved amount.
When grilling, the same quantity of wood applies – about 6 ounces. Wood is the ingredient that works with the other flavors to bring out a balanced wood-fired flavoring of the food. Put too much wood on and you’ll have food that tastes like an ashtray. Put wood on that contains too much moisture and it will produce an acrid smoke that will leave bitter flavors and black coloring to the skin or bark.
Let’s summarize. Decide what method of wood-fire cooking you plan to do, if you plan to set up a direct cooking method or indirect, and the hardwood you plan to use. If smoking, plan on that hardwood to smolder given a moisture level of at least 20%. If wood grilling, plan on that hardwood to be drier, between 15-20% to allow it to release flavonoids quickly. Start with about 6 ounces of wood regardless of the method you select and add only as the previous wood has combusted. That’s the basics to having a fun, positive experience no matter what you elect to put on the grill or smoker.
Making you an informed consumer through valuable articles like this one. Leave us a comment and follow us or subscribe for more great recipes, techniques, tips, and the science behind the flavor and fire. That’s SmokinLicious®.
