Grilling with wood 101?!
Grilling with wood 101?
I wood like to grill some steaks tonight for my wife who loves good, grilled steaks. But I am looking at grilling over wood instead of charcoal. (Don't like the gas or charcoal tastes). Do you have to use mesquite with charcoal? Can you use a particular type of wood alone? Any grilling experts out there that can give some good ideas. I appreciate your time!
Answers:
Find yourself a 'charcoal' chimney, and buy some wood chunk charcoal. This is not the square briquettes stuff. Use the directions on the chimney to start the charcoal, DO NOT use lighter fluid.
This kind of charcoal burns clean and hot, your steaks only take 5 minutes each side, so using wood to cook them makes no sense, unless you are camping.
For BBQ'ing with wood, there is a lot to know. Some woods can give a very strong flavor off, mesquites are one of these. My preferred smoking woods are, fruit wood - peach, apple, apricot. These give a smoother flavor then the traditional strong flavored hard woods. To learn more about wood flavoring do a quick google on Wood Smoking and checkout a couple of websites. Like I said, there is a lot to know about it. Good Luck
You can use any kind of wood you want with a charcoal grill! Cedar (as in salmon, yum!), Oak (beef, game), Hickory (strong..best with beef, game), Mesquite (strong, slightly sweet...best with beef)...whatever you prefer.
Charcoal is made from wood...... So if you don't like the taste the charcoal gives, you may not like this taste either because wood creates more smoke and has sap and many other flavors that may infuse the meat.
You can use any hard wood such as mesquite,oak, hickory, pecan,etc. with these woods you don't need to have any charcoal you just want to make sure your wood is dry and not green. You can also try using chunk charcoal which is actually wood that has already been burned then put out. It takes less time going that route if you are going to use wood make sure you burn it long enough to get some of the bitter flavors out of it.
wood has a stronger taste than charcoal. so if your trying to avoid the taste, i would advise against this.
Real wood is used for smoking meats, not grilling them. However, you can grill with charcoal and add mesquite or hickory chips to the coals when you place the meat on the grill. The hot coals will cook your meat evenly, and the wood chips will add a nice sweet and smokey flavor. Good luck!
I wonder if you're actually opposed to the taste of lighter fluid rather than the charcoal itself. Use a chimney starter with no lighter fluid, just light the newspapers underneath & let the coals catch on fire naturally.
Anyway, here is a good website for everything you need to know about grilling:
http://www.bbqu.net/smoking4.html...
Mesquite works well with the heavier tasting meats like beef. For fish, I'd use a lighter taste like alder. Sausages just scream for hickory. And ribs can take oak (or any mix of oak, hickory, or mesquite). You can use wood only, but I like a bed of charcoal briquettes under the wood. I don't use starter fluid (I hate the taste of gasoline). Get one of the chimney starters that let you put about 6 sheets of old newspaper under them to get them started.
For a real treat, get a bag of Jack Daniel's (yes, the whiskey people) oak chips. Whiskey makers can only use the barrels one time. Jack Daniel's grinds up the used barrels to make wood chips. Put them over a bed of coals, and you won't believe how good the food tastes. (btw, there's no alcohol left. Alcohol evaporates at 165 F, and the fire will be much hotter than that.)
***** added info *****
Here's an example of a site that sells Jack Daniels wood chips. Try a local hardware store (I get them at OSH).
http://www.grillmastersgarden.com/store....
Go to Wall-mart or what ever you got local and look for natural charcoal. This is wood that has been cooked in a kiln not compressed sawdust.
As far as smoking my favorite is pecan but a steak has such a short grill time I just go with the flavor you get from the fats and juices dripping on the charcoal.