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.
Let’s be honest. When you bought that charcoal grill you were likely thinking that you could both grill and smoke without needing to add anything. Soon, you realized, that just wasn’t the case. Now, you’re contemplating whether you need to purchase a smoker. Well, hold on the shopping trip until you read this. We can help you turn your charcoal grill into a smoker!
You can turn your charcoal grill into a smoker with these simple steps!
Is it fresh, is always a question that comes from new smokehouse products wood chips customers only! Our old customers know that at Smokinlicious® we are cutting products daily and measuring moisture to produce the best smoking wood in the world!
I always find it interesting when we receive a new inquiry about providing specialty products for commercial-grade smokehouses. I’m speaking specifically to the large commercial-grade smokehouse. The type that utilize walk-in, wall smokehouse units that can turn out hundreds of pounds of product each cycle.
First, there’s always the question if we can duplicate the current wood chip product. That’s where the education begins.
The questions are quite frequent: “Since (the equipment) uses lump charcoal, do you need to add wood for smoke flavor?” “Do wood chips or chunks work best if they are needed or desired?” “Generally, how much lump charcoal does equipment use for 10 hours of smoke?”
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”.
Everyone starts their grilling career on this convenient, inexpensive, small piece of equipment. But do we do it correctly? Let’s review the basics.
First, this is for grilling over an open fire; it needs high heat to cook. It has a low (height) fire pan and generally no hood or lid. Great high heat cooker/grill – not a smoker.
Lesson #1 Hibachi Wood Grill:-plan what you cook properly!
Now, let’s review how to set up the fire. The region that gave the hibachi its popularity is the Far East which has access to a type of charcoal called “bichiton”. This is a very dense, heavy charcoal made from oak that is direct fired to a high carbonization level. This charcoal produces an extremely high heat; 3-4 times the heat level of an American charcoal!
Can’t locate “bichiton” charcoal or don’t want the expense if you find it? Well, you can use SmokinLious® products to get close to the results. Let’s begin with charcoal – North America produces lump charcoal pieces that are too large for the small Hibachi. So take 2-3 pieces(depending on size), put them in a small paper bag (lunch bag size) and press with your hands to break them into smaller “thumb” size pieces (or you can use a meat mallet). Then pour into the firebox. If the firebox is not full –repeat until you fill it. If you don’t have a small torch available, put some paper under the charcoal, then ignite. Or, you can place the original charcoal pieces in small paper bags, then break the pieces apart, and place the bag in the firebox for lighting.
Once the charcoal burns down (gray in color), start adding Grande Sapore® wood chips as this will provide for immediate heat and eventually, some flavoring to the food. Once the charcoal/chip combo’s flames settle down, you can begin cooking! Remember, hibachis are traditionally used for thin meats so adjust your cook time to what you’re cooking.
What I like about hibachi cooking is the ease of adding more wood chips when more fuel is needed!
Once you master the fire set up, you will enjoy some wonderful food and some really fun cooking the Hibachi way. Think Korean BBQ! Yum!
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.
The foil pan for smoking is the handiest and, we believe, the indispensable part in all the stages necessary for cooking, functionality and sanitary purposes.
Many people have their favorite tool when it comes to outdoor cooking. It might be a wireless thermometer, specific grill grate, awesome fire safe gloves, or the go-to chimney starter. For me, it’s likely the least expensive item you can think of – the disposable foil pan. I’m going to list for you my top 6 uses for a simple and inexpensive foil pan.
We are approaching that exciting time of the year when just about all of North America can start to enjoy cooking outdoors again! Make it the best outdoor cooking season yet by learning the steps to using wood for cooking and grilling successfully, avoiding the common wood cooking mistakes that can sink those outdoor meals.
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.
In the Wood Bark or Not debate, this Diagram shows the two key elements of the tree that can effect your Barbecue results. Smokinlicious® only harvests wood from the heartwood of the forest grown tree and recommends that cooking with wood bark not be done.
Not all wood supplier is like Smokinlicious®, cutting their product from forest grown fresh harvest. Rather they use recycled material.
WOOD SUPPLIER- ARE YOU GETTING WHAT YOU PAID FOR?
One of the things we do at SmokinLicious® for commercial-grade customers is take in a sample of their current smoking wood and analyze it. When you’re a Company producing a food product, you need consistency of the final product. When it comes to smoked foods, this can be a challenge as wood is a plant material that can be highly variable when put through the stages of combustion. If a mixture of woods is used in the process, combustion rate, biochar production, volatile burn off, and other parameters of the wood can be affected in a negative way.
Like a Game of Roulette
If a price is the only factor guiding your decision on a wood supplier, then you are playing a game of roulette. Just like any other business transaction, you should be looking for authenticity of the wood. Let me give you an example:
Germany is the only country currently taking direct steps to protect woods on the endangered species list. Yes, there is such a list of 183 countries participating in some level of enforcement. The direct goal of The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is to prevent deforestation but the challenge, as with most lofty goals, is personnel to enforce the regulation. Germany is uncovering case after case of fraudulent wood sales and finding that less expensive woods in the manufacture while invoices reflect another more expensive wood.
Now, look at smoking wood products. There are no regulations. A company can package wood product of pretty much any condition, label it as a specific species, and put it into the marketplace. There is no accounting for:
▪ how the wood was collected
▪ what the wood pieces are made from
▪ treatments conducted on the wood
▪ if the wood is 100% of a specific species
▪ the origination of the wood
▪ the age of the wood
Mixed Product Dominates
I can’t even count how many times we’ve visited a Company’s location to view their wood supply and find that what they thought they were purchasing is not what’s present. Some suppliers have gone so far as to including softwoods in the product labeled as hardwood! This doesn’t happen with just the larger pieces of wood either. Microchips commonly used in industrial smokehouses rarely contain 100% of a said wood. Perhaps this is the reason why packaging regulations for a smokehouse bacon or ham can state it is Applewood smoked when Applewood may have only made up 10% of the wood used in the smoking process!
Ask and Demand
The budget for wood can be substantial for companies and restaurants. You have every right to demand a product’s accountability. Ask questions!
What is the origin of the wood? Remember, many smoking wood suppliers are not involved in the manufacturing process. They are the seller, not the manufacturer meaning they likely have little or no knowledge of the history of the wood.
Has the wood undergone any processes? Kiln dried? Preservation chemical added? If the wood didn’t start out for cooking, it is likely that processes used to stabilize the wood for its main purpose, say flooring, were applied. That won’t make it the best choice for a cooking method or even a safe choice.
You have every right to request a Letter of Guarantee or Letter of Authenticity. Remember, woods used for food preparation or cooking currently have no universal regulations. The only wood regulation that exists in the USA is regarding moving firewood and that is regulated primarily by the individual states.
Why be so concerned about the wood when we don’t consume wood?
We may not consume the wood in its natural form but we certainly consume food products cooked over or near that wood, that infuses many of the organic compounds of the wood. Not all organic compounds are good. There are many known toxicities in certain species of wood with softwoods containing the highest risk. That is the reason why you should never cook with a softwood. Other wood has the potential to cause sickness and in some cases, if a person’s system is already compromised, death.
Take the time to learn about the wood you will use in the cooking method and ask the questions that could be the difference between a successful venture and partnership with your wood supplier or a disaster you simply didn’t need.
Proving you with additional information on woods including the science behind the fire, along with tips, techniques, and recipes. That’s why you should subscribe and follow us so you don’t miss a thing.
Dr. Smoke- know your wood supplier “As one of the premier cooking wood manufactures in the world, always use caution on sourcing wood, especially when you’re going to cook with it- too much is being labelled “green” and it’s not fit for cooking.”
We explore the question “is wood-tar creosote” bad for your BBQ food?
IS CREOSOTE THE ‘MONSTER’ TO WOOD-FIRED COOKING
There are lots of stories out there in the BBQ world about creosote! Most have the same tone: creosote is not something you want when you cook with wood.
Unfortunately, that can never happen as creosote is always present in wood.
So, why has creosote become the monster of BBQ cooking?
Likely because there is confusion with another type of creosote: coal-tar creosote, commonly used to preserve such things as railroad ties, telephone poles, bridges, etc. You know when material has been exposed to coal-tar by the black, charred appearance.
Wood-Tar Creosote- Advantages
One of the primary advantages to having creosote in hardwood is its ability to act as a preservative. Long before equipment was designed for cooking, people would dig holes in the ground to produce a smokehouse for preserving game meats they hunted. It was the only method of ensuring safe consumption when refrigeration wasn’t readily available.
Wood-tar creosote is colorless to yellowish and presents as a grease or oil consistency. It is a combination of natural phenols which are the natural compounds that produce the flavors of BBQ when the wood is combusted or burned. In addition to the distinct flavor, phenols are also responsible for the aroma and color of BBQ foods.
Guaiacol is a compound derived from methyl ether and is responsible for BBQ’s smoky taste while the dimethyl ether syringol is the chemical responsible for BBQ’s smoky aroma.
Wood-Tar Creosote- Risks
Now that you know not all of creosote’s chemical composition is bad, what are the risks to a wood-tar creosote?
The biggest risk is in burning wood that is not at an ideal combustion rate. I’m sure you’ve had experience with campfires that produce an acrid aroma and literally cause a foul “taste” in the air from poor combustion rate (too slow burning). That is the challenge and risk when using wood products with food for hot smoking. Remember, hot smoking requires temperatures that are lower – generally below 275°F. To achieve a consistent low temperature, you must control air intake and damper or exhaust. If you don’t achieve a good balance, the result will be a sooty, bitter tasting and smelling food outcome.
How do you know if your crossing into risky and poor outcome territory?
By the color of the smoke. A poorly balanced combustion of wood will produce a black smoke. Repeat these conditions and you’ll stimulate creosote deposits within your equipment which can reduce the draft needed to ensure the fire gets enough air to optimally combust. Remember, creosote on its own is highly combustible which is why there are many wood stove house fires occurring due to poor maintenance/clean out of these units.
Not All Hardwoods Are Equal In Compound Percentages
Now that your aware that phenolic compounds, specifically guaiacol and syringol are key to tasty, flavorful BBQ foods, let’s talk about these compounds in specific hardwoods.
Interestingly, Beech wood is highly prized and used in Europe for smoking particularly in meat processing facilities. This is no surprise to me since Beechwood has one of the highest percentages of guaiacol when at a high heat level (distilling). Know that the phenolic compounds present in all wood distill at variant percentage levels and usually require a combustion temperature of nearly 400°F to peak. Yet another reason why you want to keep a balance to your fire so combustion is optimal. Thus the resulting flavors and aromas are pleasant.
More Related reading on “What Wood for Smoking” and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques
Dr Smoke- “We as chefs need to always monitor how much wood tar creosote is good for our BBQ by balancing the time of each cook versus the taste of our results.”
