Smoke is also the very lifeblood of regional American barbecue. Without it, there would be no Carolina pit-roasted pork, no Texas brisket or Kansas City burnt ends, no slabs of Memphis style baby backs smoked low and slow, and no salmon kissed with alderwood smoke from the Pacific Northwest.  

Few among us have access to a steady supply of the hardwood trees to create the magic—not to mention the time to chop the wood, stack it, and season (dry) it for a year or more. Fortunately, there’s a better, easier way.

It’s our pleasure to announce the latest addition to Steven’s line of barbecue products: Barbecue Essentials Wood Chips and Chunks. They will add incomparable flavor and authenticity to your next grilled or smoked meal.

Four Varieties of Wood Chips and Chunks

These natural kiln-dried woods—sourced from Europe and the U.S.—can be used in charcoal grills, gas grills, and smokers to generate the thin blue smoke so prized by pit masters. Currently, four wood varieties are available.

Apple Wood Chips and Chunks

This orchard stalwart is the wood used by many championship pit masters. The secret of ours? We import it from Europe. It’s the cleanest tasting applewood smoke I’ve ever tasted. Pairs great with pork (especially bacon), meat in general, poultry, seafood, and vegetables.

Hickory Wood Chips and Chunks

Long associated with Southern barbecue, hickory is the traditional wood of choice for Carolina-and Memphis-style barbecue, compatible with pork and other meats, poultry, seafood, and vegetables. We source ours from Texas and Arkansas. 

Cherry Wood Chips and Chunks

Cherrywood smoke has a flavor that defies easy description. (The words “clean”, “full-flavored”, “fruity” and “elegant” come to mind). We source ours from orchards in Europe, and we use it for pork, poultry (we love it with duck), fin fish or shellfish, vegetables, and even fruit. Try this Cherry-Smoked Duck With Chipotle-Cherry Barbecue Sauce or Cherry-Glazed Baby Back Ribs.

Mesquite Wood Chips and Chunks

Native to the American Southwest, mesquite has a strong, assertive flavor that makes it the perfect fuel for smoking beef, including brisket, plate ribs, steaks, chili, and shoulder clod. Use it to smoke tomatoes or tomatillos, jalapenos, and onions for an explosively-flavored salsa. Appropriately, we source ours from Texas and Arkansas. 

How to Use Wood Chips

These easy-to-use 100 percent natural wood chips can enhance foods cooked over charcoal or gas, specifically, small offset smokers, water smokers, ceramic smokers, lidded charcoal or gas grills, kamado-style cookers, drum smokers, etc.  For longer smokes (brisket, pork shoulder, whole chickens, etc.), soak the chips in water for 30 minutes, then drain.  Replenish as necessary—the idea is to keep a thin wisp of pale blue smoke rising from your smoker.   Tip: There is no need to soak the chips if you require a short smoke; quick combustion will flavor foods like chops, burgers, shrimp, chicken breasts, and fish fillets.

How to Smoke on Charcoal with Wood Chips:

If cooking with charcoal, place soaked, drained chips, or unsoaked chips directly on the coals, then cover the grill.  

3 Ways to Smoke on a Gas Grill with Wood Chips:

1. Use Your Grill’s Smoker Box

If your grill has a dedicated smoker box, fill it with chips and light, following the manufacturer’s directions. 

2. Make a Smoker Pouch

Enclose the chips (about 2 cups) in an aluminum foil pouch and poke holes in it with a skewer or fork so the smoke can escape.  Position the resulting smoker pouch under the grate directly over one of the burners. 

3. Use a Smoking Puck

Fill these ingenious metal cylinders with wood chips and direct their spouts toward the food.    

How to Use Wood Chunks

Hardwood chunks are slow-burning and do not need to be soaked. (They absorb very little water, even if soaked for several hours. So we don’t bother.) Like wood chips, chunks can be used in all charcoal- or wood-burning grills or smokers, or even gas grills.

How to Use Wood Chunks with a Charcoal Grill

Simply add one or two chunks to each pile of coals. If building a long-lasting fire using the Snake Method, distribute the chunks at intervals along the length of the “snake.”

How to Use Wood Chunks on a Gas Grill

Lay a couple of chunks directly on the heat diffuser plates or ceramic briquettes, beneath the grill grate and directly over the burners.

How to Use Wood Chunks with a Chimney Starter

How to Use Our coolest tip ever: Nothing produces flavor like grilling over a wood fire. It’s easy to do with our Barbecue Essentials wood chunks and a chimney starter. Fill the starter with wood chunks and light as you would charcoal. Dump the burning embers in the firebox and you’re ready to grill.  

Note: a wood chunk fire burns more quickly than a charcoal fire. I always light a second chimney full of wood chunks so I have fresh embers on hand when I need them.

Smoking Recipes Using Wood

If you’ve never cooked with wood before, here are some great recipes to get you started.

Bourbon Brown Sugar Smoked Pork Loin

Get the Recipe »

Big Bad Beef Ribs

Get the Recipe »

Steakhouse Potatoes

Get the Recipe »

What will you be smoking first with Steven’s new wood chips and chunks? Share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or Instagram!

The post New for You!!! Raichlen Woodchips and Chunks for Grilling and Smoking appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

There are many ways to use wood chunks to generate flavorful smoke when barbecuing or grilling.   You can even use the chunks themselves as a fuel for direct grilling.

Unlike wood chips, you don’t need to soak chunks in water before using. (They just don’t absorb much water, which explains how wooden ships can stay afloat.) And wood chunks continue delivering smoke long after chips have burned to ash, a major advantage during long cooks.

We know this will sound elementary to many of you, but it never hurts to have a refresher course on how to use wood chunks to take your live fire cooking to the next level.

How to Use Wood Chunks with a Charcoal Grill

When Indirect Grilling

Add 2 to 3 chunks (4 to 6 in all) to each mound of lit charcoal.   Replenish as needed (when the smoke ceases to flow). 

When Direct Grilling

Place 2 to 3 chunks directly on the bed of coals and direct grill the food over them.

How to Direct Grill Over a Wood Fire

A really cool technique — Fill your chimney starter with wood chunks and light them as you would charcoal.  When the embers glow orange, pour them over the bottom of the grill.   Insert the grate and you’re direct grilling over wood.

Note: wood burns more quickly than charcoal, so you may want to light a second chimney of wood chunks.  When direct grilling over wood, always leave your grill open (uncovered)—otherwise, your food will become unbearably smoky.

How to Use Wood Chunks on a Gas Grill

For a Grill with a Smoker Box and a Dedicated Burner

Place 2 to 3 wood chunks in the box with the burner under it set on high.  Replenish as needed.

Over Burner Method

Set up your grill for direct grilling or indirect grilling, following the manufacturer’s instructions.  Lift the grate and place 1 to 2 wood chunks directly over each lit burner.   Return the grate and add the food: directly over the wood chunks for direct grilling; next to or between the wood chunks for indirect grilling.

How to Use Wood Chunks in a Water Smoker or Offset Smoker

Build a charcoal fire in the fire box. Add 3 to 4 wood chunks to start with, and replenish as needed it (when the smoke ceases to flow).

How to Use Wood Chunks in an Electric or Gas Smoker

Preheat the smoker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.   Place 1 to 2 wood chunks in the fuel pan over the heating element.

Hack for a Bradley-style smoker: Place a wood chunk directly on the heating element.   You’ll get even more smoke than with the sawdust disks.

Have you ever grilled or smoked with wood chunks? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the Barbecue Board!

The post How to Use Wood Chunks for Smoking and Grilling appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Summer is right around the corner, and that means it’s time to get your Blue Rhino propane, and fire up your grill for the best barbecues of the season. But before you get too carried away with your backyard chef impression, you need to know the dos and don’ts of grilling safety. Here are a few tips to make sure you can enjoy your next cookout without any worries.

Grilling Safety Dos

• Do keep your grill at least 10 feet away from your house. This includes garages, porches, carports, overhangs, and other flammable items, like porch railings. By maintaining a safe distance from all areas of your home, you ensure that no excess flare ups or other debris can spark a fire near any of your valuable items.
• Do clean your grill regularly. It’s important that you keep your grill in good shape, especially if you haven’t used it for a while. Grease and fat can build up the longer you let your grill stay dirty, which can lead to major flare-ups and fires. For the proper grill cleaning method, follow these instructions on how to tune up your grill.
• Do check for gas leaks. To do this, make a soapy water solution and apply it around an open propane tank valve and around the connections and hose leading to the grill. Make sure to do this while your grill is off.  If bubbles start to appear on the area that you applied the soapy solution, that indicates the tank is leaking. If that is the case, close the valve, disconnect the tank from the grill and do not use that tank. For further demonstration on how to check for a leaking tank, follow these steps.
• Do follow the grill manufacturer’s lighting instructions. And with all grill models, keep the lid open and don’t lean over the grill when lighting it.
• Do plan ahead. Utilize your prep time efficiently. By knowing what you’ll be grilling and how long it will take, you’ll be able to spend less time in front of the heat. When grilling, be sure to keep a spray bottle of water handy in case of a minor flare-up. In the event of a larger fire, it’s also important to have a fire extinguisher close by.

Grilling Safety Don’ts:

• Don’t leave your grill unattended. Keep your children and pets a safe distance from the grill – not only while it’s lit, but also for an hour after you use it, as the grill will still be hot.
• Don’t wear loose clothing while grilling. Baggy or loose-fitting clothing can dangle over the grill and catch fire. Be sure to remove or tuck away clothing items like your shirt, sleeves, and apron strings.
• Don’t re-light the grill right away. If the flame goes out while using your gas grill, turn the grill and the gas off, then wait at least five minutes before re-lighting it.
• Don’t overload your grill with food. This is especially important if you’re cooking fattier meats. If too much fat drips on the flames at once, it can cause a large flare-up – turning your meal into toast.
• Don’t ever use a grill indoors or in any enclosed area. In addition to being a fire hazard, grills release carbon monoxide, which can be extremely dangerous for you, your family, and your pets.

Taking these measures to ensure your safety, and the safety of others is important whenever you’re at the grill. Follow these steps and learn more tips from Blue Rhino’s Grilling Tips and Techniques page.

Do you have any additional grilling safety tips? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the Barbecue Board!

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The discovery of fire by our earliest ancestors was a major turning point in human evolution. Wood’s importance as a cooking fuel has been recognized for millennia, and still dominates the grilling in South America, Europe, Africa, and beyond.   In this country, outdoor cooking was nearly always done over wood. It wasn’t until after WWII that Americans began their love affair with charcoal (thanks to the resourcefulness of Henry Ford), and in the 1950s, with propane.

Today, wood fire grilling is enjoying a renaissance. During the past few years, many high-end restaurants have added spectacular wood-burning grills to their kitchens with thrilling results. Now, serious home cooks are doing the same thing in their outdoor kitchens.

The World’s First Hybrid Grill

On the leading edge of this trend is Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, a custom grill manufacturer that 20 years ago, introduced the world’s first hybrid grill, capable of cooking with wood, gas and charcoal.  According to Kalamazoo, this Hybrid Fire Grill “is designed, engineered and built to outperform and outlast any other professional gas grill.” I first became acquainted with this 450-pound stainless steel stunner (its burners are made of cast bronze) when one was delivered to Barbecue University. Students’ jaws dropped when they saw it. Capable of reaching temperatures of 1000 degrees or more when fueled by wood or charcoal, it’s been called “the Rolls Royce” of grills. Indeed. Hand-crafted in Kalamazoo, Michigan, it carries the signature of each artisan who worked on it.

Gaucho Grill

Another high achiever in the Kalamazoo line is the Gaucho Grill, a wood-fired Argentinean-style grill and rotisserie. Perhaps you’ve seen the free-standing version of the Gaucho on my shows, Project Smoke and Project Fire. You build a wood fire in this handsome stainless steel behemoth, then raise or lower the grill grate aided by a 30-inch spoked flywheel. A motorized rotisserie spit functions independent of the grill grate and can accommodate an incredible load of meat. There is not another wood-burning grill on the planet quite like it.

The Gaucho also incorporates a gas burner to get the wood fire off to a roaring start—a handy feature.

Best Wood for Grilling

So which wood should you use?

A lot of ink has been spilled (some of it mine) about which wood smoke goes best with particular meats or seafood. Some people go to great lengths to match particular woods to foods—for example, apple with pork or cherry with chicken—with the zeal of oenophiles matching wines to specific dishes. (Personally, I think the wood variety matters less than how you burn it. I’m not positive I could discern the difference between pork shoulders cooked over two different fruitwoods.)

For the purpose of grilling, wood can be divided into two general categories: forest woods and orchard woods. The former includes nut woods like hickory, pecan, and oak, and wild woods like maple and alder. The latter includes fruitwoods like the afore-mentioned apple and cherry, as well as peach, pear, and mulberry. Of course, there are exotic woods, too. Among them are camphor wood, used for smoking in China, and pimento wood from Jamaica’s allspice tree. Traditionally, people grilled with the wood(s) prevalent in their area. (Note: Softwoods like pine, evergreens, spruce, etc., are not often used for smoking—they put out too much soot.)

Why Wood is My Favorite Fuel

Why is wood my favorite fuel for grilling and barbecuing? First, there’s the flavor-boosting caramelization that takes place in meats and plant sugars when food is cooked over the high, dry heat of a wood fire. And the fragrant smoke released when you burn wood enhances the flavor even more. It turns out there are nearly 1000 flavor-producing compounds in wood smoke. Among them are creosol (associated with the smoky peat flavor of Scotch whisky), and vanillin (source of a vanilla-like sweetness in smoke).   Flavor production peaks during pyrolysis (conversion of the lignin in the wood to flavorful gasses).   This takes between 450 and 750 degrees F—the temperature sweet spot of a wood-burning fire.

The chief challenge to grilling over wood is heat control.   To increase or decrease the heat on an Argentinean-style grill like the Gaucho, for example, simply raise or lower the grill grate with the flywheel.

When wood grilling in a fixed grate grill, like the Hybrid Fire Grill, build a multi-zone fire.   Regulate the heat by moving the food closer to or further away from the heat.

For more information on the Kalamazoo Hybrid Fire and Gaucho grills, visit Kalamazoogourmet.com.   And order a copy of the stunning Food + Fire by my friend and Kalamazoo’s grill designer, Russ Faulk.

Delicious Recipes from Food + Fire by Russ Faulk:

• Porchetta with Blueberries and Hazelnuts
• Smoky Bourbon Peach Cobbler

Check out our 1000+ Recipes section here on Barbecue Bible.Com

Also, sign up for our Up in Smoke newsletter so you don't miss any blogs and receive some special offers! PLUS get Raichlen's Burgers! PDF for free!

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The post Kalamazoo Gourmet: Embracing the World’s Oldest Cooking Method appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Today’s grillers face a staggering number of decisions, from which grill and accessories to buy, to selecting the best fuel and cooking method. (There are actually five different grilling methods, each with its own unique cooking properties. And that’s before you get to specialized grilling techniques, such as plancha grilling and planking.)

Of course, you need to know about the rubs, marinades, brines, bastes, glazes, and other flavorings that transform simple grilled foods into live-fire masterpieces.

Finally, you need to know how to manage the food on the grill and cook it to the desired degree of doneness.

In other words, there’s a lot more to grilling than throwing that steak or chop on the grill. But don’t worry: I’ve got you covered.

Step 1: Choose Your Grill
“Which grill should I buy?” is one of the questions I hear most. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. In general, if convenience is important to you, I recommend a gas or pellet grill or smoker. If you enjoy the process—then by all means acquire a grill fueled by wood or charcoal. Your available budget and space will factor into your decision as well. My general advice is to buy more grill than you think you’ll need. You can always grow into it as your skill set expands. (For concise information on every type of grill, including multi-fuel grills, see my book Project Fire.)

Step 2: Select Your Fuel
Since 1952 when Illinois metalworker George Stephens created the iconic Weber kettle grill, a “grate” debate has raged over which fuel is better: charcoal or gas. Then there’s the original—and to my mind, the best—wood. Master these three basic fuels and you can grill anything, anywhere, on any type of grill.

Step 3: Assemble Your Tools
A craftsman needs the right tools to complete tasks, and so does a serious griller. Here are what I consider indispensable tools:

• Tongs for turning the food and for cleaning and oiling the grill grate. (On my TV shows, you’ve likely seen me oil a folded paper towel, clasp it in tongs, and run it over the bars of the grill grate.)
• Wire grill brush/wooden grill scraper for cleaning your grill grate, which you should do religiously before your food goes on and after it comes off.
• Grill spatula for turning burgers, fish fillets, etc.
• Grill light for illuminating the grill grate during pre-sunrise or post-sunset cooks. Many models clip right only your grill, but headlamps are also effective.
• Grill gloves protect your hands and forearms from direct heat. Choose thick leather, Kevlar, or other aramid gloves.
• Meat thermometer, either remote or instant-read, for determining when food (especially proteins) is done.
• Chimney starter if your preferred fuel is charcoal. My Best of Barbecue chimney starter will hold nearly 100 charcoal briquettes.

Step 4: Flavor Your Food
Almost from the birth of barbecue, our prehistoric ancestors sought to enhance simple grilling by the application of seasonings, herbs, and spices. (Mustard seeds turn up at Stone Age campsites.) Salt and pepper are indispensable, but you can develop much more complex flavors when you introduce rubs, marinades, glazes, etc. See Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades for recipes.

Step 5: Choose Your Grilling Method
Direct grilling—cooking food directly over the fire—is the simplest, most straightforward, and by far, the most popular grilling method. But there are other methods that are better suited to particular foods. In addition to direct grilling (best for tender, thinner, fast-cooking foods like burgers, steaks, fish fillets, etc.), but indirect grilling is widely used for larger cuts like whole chickens, pork shoulders, prime rib, and other foods. Indirect grilling means you cook the food next to—not directly over—the fire. Indirect grilling is almost always done with the lid closed. Smoking (also called barbecuing) is actually a form of indirect grilling. (Check out Project Smoke for everything you need to know about this wildly popular cooking method.)

Of course, there is also spit-roasting—grilling on a rotisserie—a method that is ideal for cylindrical foods like whole chickens or ducks, pork loin roasts, prime rib, or even whole pineapples. And what I like to call “cavemanning,” grilling food directly in the embers. Cavemanning can be used on thick steaks or chops, lobster, and dense, sturdy vegetables like onions, yams, cabbage, peppers, and eggplant.

Step 6: Fire It Up
Lighting a grill is easy, even if you grill with charcoal. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to light charcoal in a chimney starter, and 10 to 15 minutes to preheat a gas grill. So the time difference is nominal. There are several ways to light charcoal or wood (see Project Fire); to light a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure you always raise the lid before turning on the gas.

Step 7: Putting It All Together
Once you know how to choose your grill, source your fuel, assemble your tools, season your food, select a grilling method, and fire it up, the last step is to put it all together and get grilling.

Nearly any food you can think of can be kissed with fire or smoke, from breakfast eggs to desserts. I challenge you to cook an entire meal on the grill. It’s easier than it sounds, and is standard operating practice at my house. Build your menu using a mix of dishes you grill live and that you can grill ahead. Then you’ll have the opportunity to shine and to enjoy your own party. For specific tips, check out my blog.

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Whether fueled by natural gas or propane, gas grills tend to burn cooler and wetter than charcoal grills, so you don’t get quite the same searing and browning as with the heat from charcoal or wood. However, it must be said that the newer, higher powered gas grills come very close to bridging the gap. Still, smoking on a charcoal grill is easy; on a gas grill it is virtually impossible. Of course, the biggest problem with gas may be image. Grilling over gas just doesn’t look as cool as burning wood or messing with charcoal.

Propane cylinders will give you 12 to 18 hours of grilling, depending on the heat, the altitude, and what you’re grilling. After that time you need to refill the tank. The first time you fill a propane cylinder, have it “bled” (flushed out) by a professional. To get the propane cylinders home from the hardware store, stand them in plastic milk crates; this keeps them from rolling around in your trunk. Store propane cylinders outdoors, away from the grill, and in an upright position. Always have an extra full propane cylinder on hand; the cylinders have the perverse habit of running out of fuel right in the middle of a grill session. If you have a large underground propane tank to run your furnace or water heater, you might want to ask your gas man to hook up a line from it to your grill.

To grill with natural gas, your grill needs to be specially outfitted, including having larger holes in the burner manifolds. However, natural gas has the advantage of being piped right into your home—no more empty propane cylinders to take to the hardware store.

One final note on the safe way to light a gas grill:

1. Make sure you have gas in your cylinder. Many grills have gauges to tell you how much gas is in the tank. One low-tech way to check is to pour boiling water down the side of the tank. You’ll see condensation on the part of the tank with gas behind it.
2. Always have an extra propane tank on hand. There’s nothing worse than running out of gas during a grill session.
3. Open the lid before you light the grill. This is very important, as lighting the grill with the lid closed can cause a gas buildup and explosion. (I’ve seen it happen.)
4. Turn the burner knob to start the gas flowing. (Make sure you opened the shutoff valve at the top of the cylinder.)
5. Click the igniter and keep clicking it until you hear and see ignition. Note: behind most igniter buttons you’ll find an AA battery. Check it from time to time: the grill won’t light when it’s dead.
6. Wait 20 seconds after you hear ignition and see ignition. Then hold your hand about 6 inches over the grill and leave it there until you feel heat. This makes sure the burners not only lit but stayed lit.
7. If the grill fails to ignite for any reason, open the lid and air out the cook chamber. Wait a minute or so and start steps 1-5 again.

Adapted from Planet Barbecue! For more information on the tools, fuels, and techniques of grilling, click here.

Try these tools:
Propane Gas Meter with Glow-in-the-Dark Dial
The Original Grill Gauge
Natural Gas Quick Connect Hose

Learn more:
Buying a Grill or Smoker? 8 Questions to Ask Yourself
A Guide to Vertical Gas/Propane Smokers
Types of Charcoal for Grilling

The post A Crash Course on Gas Grills appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Barbecue University blog series

Wood is the original and, to my mind, still the best fuel for grilling, and grill masters from Montevideo to Munich back me up on this. Charcoal and propane or natural gas produce heat, but only wood gives you both heat and flavor. That flavor is, of course, smoke—made up of carbon compounds like guaiacol, also found in roasted coffee, and syringol, the active ingredient in liquid smoke responsible for the “smoky” flavor.

Wood has two very different uses on Planet Barbecue. As a fuel it imparts delicate flavor of wood smoke. As a smoking agent—whether charcoal, gas, or an electric burner provides the heat—it imparts the heavy smoke flavor associated with traditional North American barbecue. The most common woods used for grilling are oak, used in California, South America, and Europe; beech, used in Germany; grapevine roots and trimmings, used in France and Spain; and mesquite, used in Mexico, Texas—and in Hawaii, where it goes by the name of kiave. Conventional wisdom holds that you shouldn’t use softwoods, like pine and spruce, for grilling, the theory being that their smoke is high in tars and creosote. However, in France, mussels are grilled on pine needles, and in Germany, people grill bratwurst over pinecones—all with fabulous results.

You can use wood four ways for live-fire cooking:

1. Use whole logs for open pit and campfire grilling, as well as in front-loading and South American–style grills.
2. Use split logs and branches in kettle grills and table grills set up for the direct method.
3. Use wood chunks lit in a chimney starter just as you would when grilling with charcoal. You can also toss wood chips or chunks on a bed of charcoal embers for a smoke flavor.
4. Toss wood chips on the coals for a mild smoke flavor, or soak them in water, then drain and use them in smokers and kettle grills to produce the heavy smoke flavor associated with traditional American barbecue.

You can also get smoke flavor by using pellets or disks made from compressed hardwood sawdust. Pellet “grills” (or more accurately, pellet smokers) like the Traeger, have entered the American barbecue mainstream. The Bradley smoker, popular in Canada, burns hardwood sawdust disks. These fuels give you great flavor, which you can vary by using different hardwoods—just be sure to keep them dry or they lose their combustibility and flavor. And, pellet smokers have turn-of-the-dial heat control, thanks to a built-in electric thermostat, and timers to control the cooking time. However, this fuel is used for smoking, not grilling—and for some purists, the notion of an electronically controlled smoker is just too easy.

Adapted from Planet Barbecue!

Want to know more about the nuts and bolts of grilling? Click here.

Learn more:

• How to Cook with Wood
• The Art of Smoking
• Types of Charcoal for Grilling
• Peach Wood for Smoking

The post Crash Course on Grilling and Smoking with Wood appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Lump charcoal: Sometimes called charwood or natural lump charcoal, this is the original charcoal, made by burning trees or logs in a kiln, sealed cave, or even underground. Unlike briquettes, lump charcoal is pure wood—free of binders or petroleum-based accelerants. Lump charcoal burns hot, cleanly, and pure. You can refuel a lump charcoal fire with unlit charcoal without producing the acrid smoke associated with freshly lit briquettes. However, natural lump charcoal burns unevenly, hotter at the beginning, cooler at the end, and it burns out more quickly than charcoal briquettes. When you grill with lump charcoal you’ll need to refuel the grill more often than with briquettes, usually after 30 to 40 minutes. Avoid “lump” charcoal that comes in straight-edged rectangular blocks—it’s made from lumber scraps, not logs. One excellent widely available brand is Royal Oak. For something a little more exotic, try Fogo Premium Hardwood Charcoal.

Charcoal briquettes: These are designed to burn evenly and maintain a steady “broiling” temperature of at least 600 degrees F for 1 hour. Traditional briquettes contain wood scraps, sawdust, coal dust, borax, and petroleum binders, so it’s not surprising that they emit an acrid-tasting smoke when first lit. Instant-light charcoal consists of briquettes saturated with lighter fluid. The acrid smoke disappears once the charcoal glows orange and begins to ash over, but you’re still grilling over borax, coal dust, and petroleum binders. And, although the petroleum-based accelerants of instant-light charcoal burn off in theory, they can produce an oily taste when less than completely lit. “Natural” briquettes, which contain only wood scraps and starch binders, are meant to eliminate these problems. By the way, the contestants at barbecue competitions like those at Memphis in May and Kansas City’s American Royal use briquettes and win big. Click here to find some in our store.

Binchotan: Japan’s superpremium lump charcoal (actually it comes in branchlike cylinders), binchotan is used in top yakitori parlors throughout Japan and in the United States. Binchotan is traditionally made from ubamegashi oak in mud-sealed caves in southwest Japan. It burns very clean and very hot, producing no discernable charcoal flavor. However, it is very expensive; a single piece can cost several dollars. And, binchotan takes a long time to light. Use a chimney starter or electric starter or a blowtorch and allow yourself at least 30 minutes for the coals to catch fire. Once the charcoal is lit, however, it burns for a long time. You can find it here.

Coconut shell charcoal: Coconut husks make a fuel that fires tens of thousands of saté grills in Thailand and beyond: coconut shell charcoal. Quick to light, hot burning, and sold in small pieces, it’s the perfect charcoal for the small grills used by Asian street vendors. Although coconut shell charcoal is hard to find in the United States, if you do get your hands on some, use it to fire up your hibachi. You’d need an awful lot of coconut shell charcoal to fire a large North American charcoal grill. Here’s one variety in our store.

Adapted from Planet Barbecue! by Steven Raichlen (Workman Publishing).

For more information on the tools, fuels, and techniques of grilling, click here.

Also see: The Anatomy of a Grill

The post A Crash Course on Charcoal: Types of Charcoal for Grilling appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

For years I’ve heard reports of a remarkable restaurant in Tulum, Mexico—run by American expats—where all the cooking is done over wood fires, and the flavors explode in your mouth like fireworks in a 4th of July sky.

Well, now you can experience the restaurant Hartwood and the timeless wisdom of wood fire cooking from founder-chef Eric Werner in a stunning new book called Hartwood, published by our sister publisher Artisan.

Read it and let your mouth water. I know where I’m headed this winter. Maybe we’ll meet in Tulum.

–Steven

The Hartwood Way

At Hartwood, we start a lot of our dishes on the grill and finish them in the wood-burning oven. The grill gives you nice markings and a subtle wood flavor so that the food has a foundation of char and smoke, while the oven cooks it quickly and thoroughly. It’s not so different from how most professional kitchens work: there you start with a sauté pan on the burner, then finish by putting it in a hot oven. We’re doing the same thing, only the fuel we use is wood.

How to Cook With Wood

We don’t choose to work over open flames because we’re fire junkies who need to prove ourselves by how hot we can get our oven. We do it to be in a silent conversation with the fire. It’s amazing that something can be so quiet and yet so powerful. No two fires are ever the same. The fire is like the sea or the wind, a force of nature that you can direct but that you can’t fully control. You build it, tend to it. Then you follow it.

The best way to understand how to cook with wood fire is through practice. Experience is the best teacher, and you’ll learn more from your mistakes than when everything goes as planned. That said, there are a few tricks that can help.

One, roast the wood before putting it on the fire: Place two or three pieces of wood at a time on a grill grate set well above the kindling so that the flames dry out the wood even more than it is already. (Make sure that the grate is high enough that the wood won’t catch—it’s okay if a few splinters flame up, but you don’t want to start a second fire.) If you roast logs before adding them to the fire, they will ignite in seconds, not minutes.

Two, use a four-inch stub of candle to help start the fire. (At Hartwood, we use the ends from the candles from the dining room.) Crumple up two or three sheets of newspaper, pile the kindling on top, and put the candle deep in the center of your construction—it’s the nucleus. When you light the newspapers, the fat from the candle will act as an accelerant, and the candle will fuel the fire.

Three, use the roasted wood to build a structure that will allow the air to come in and feed the flames. You want the air to enter through the bottom, so stack the wood to create an opening that functions like a door. Put light, dry wood on the bottom and denser wood on top. The light wood will catch more easily and then ignite the denser wood, which will burn into a bed of embers. That’s what you want. You can use the high flames of a catching fire to heat up pans and boil water, but you want to cook over low flames or embers. High flames will scorch the outside of what you’re cooking and leave the inside raw; the rolling flames you get from the embers will give you a good surface sear and cook the food all the way through.

The flames are what make grilling with wood different from grilling with lump charcoal or briquettes—that and the flavor they impart, which is smokier and cleaner. You can learn to control the flames. It’s not so different from cooking on the stovetop, where you turn the burner knob to increase the heat. Add wood to bring up the temperature and create more flames: If you add two pieces, it’s similar to giving a quarter-turn to the knob; four pieces it’s a half-turn. If you want to bring the heat down, use your tongs to move some of the wood to the side.

When you’re cooking a piece of meat, you want high heat, with intense flames, to add grill marks and to sear the exterior. You don’t want fat-fed flare-ups, but the high heat is important. It should be uncomfortably hot—if you can hold your hand close to the grill, there isn’t enough heat to cook a steak or a piece of lamb.

It’s different when you’re cooking fish. You want high heat at first to crisp up the skin so that it doesn’t stick to the grill, but then you want to bring down the heat quickly so that the flesh cooks evenly. If you add pieces of wood to sear the skin, you may want to move them to the side to cook the fish the rest of the way, then repeat for the other side. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, though. It could be that the wood you’re using produces intense flames, or it could be that it burns down and becomes part of the bed of embers. You’re going to learn by doing. You need to watch the flames, the wood, the food. You need to make mistakes. You will get better, but it will take time.

Hartwood at Home

At home, most people don’t have a grill and a wood-burning oven. But you have other options, and what you do is up to you. You could cook the food entirely on the grill: Start over a high-heat, high-flame zone and then move to a medium-hot part of the grill, where it will cook through without being incinerated. You could grill over wood, then complete the dish in a preheated conventional oven. Or if you don’t have a grill, turn up the burner on your range: use a well-oiled cast-iron skillet brought to a high temperature on a burner so that it gives what you’re cooking a nice sear, then transfer the pan to a hot oven.

Excerpted from Hartwood by Eric Werner and Mya Henry (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2015. Photographs by Gentl & Hyers.

GET A RECIPE FROM HARTWOOD:
Rib Eye with Pepita-Lime Butter

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