Cooking Food Using Wood Chips
May 20th, 2012 | Barbecues, BBQ Cooking | No Comments »
Not all people will be satisfied by merely throwing charcoal on the charcoal barbeque grill and setting it on fire. Without a doubt, it may possess a distinct flavor, yet in addition to heat and time, a fundamental part of cooking on the barbeque grill is the taste of your food. Certain charcoal has a good flavor while some are much less appealing. You can improve the flavor of your food by grilling with wood to add to the specific flavor of your foods.
In Europe it’s common to just add wood chips to your charcoal, however for many people, the flavor produced is too subtle to be noticed. In the United States it’s more usual to allow the flavor of the wood to soak into the meat while it is being cooked to provide a flavor enhancer. The type of wood you use is also a part of the process and you will discover certain woods that should never, ever be used for wood chip seasoning.
You can find three types of wood that can be used on the barbecue grill: chips, chunks and logs. Though, logs are not highly useful on most grills on account of their size. Give some thought to chips and chunks, especially on the charcoal grill, even though they could also be used on a gas grill to get the same end. Raw wood chips and chunks manufactured for grilling will never be kiln dried but they will lose their moisture during packaging and the time they spend sitting on the store shelf.
The wood flavoring gets into the wood by its smoke during the cooking process and to be able to achieve that you’ll want to rehydrate the wood. The wood will have to be soaked in water for at least one hour before being used. When saturated, drain the extra water from the timber and set them in a tote crafted from heavy duty aluminum foil about 6-inches by 12-inches (tinier if you have a compact grill).
You need to poke some slots in the foil to allow the smoke to escape and then position the pouch directly on the coals. Add your food once you start to see smoke coming from the pouch. They won’t burst open into flames and the timber will smolder with the taste in the smoke seeping into the meat.
Oak and mesquite are the hottest flavors for the majority of meats however, many appreciate the more-fruity flavors of apple and cherry. Hickory and maple may also be used for a more powerful wood flavor, specifically for beef and pork. Always choose a hardwood for smoking meat on the grill and never use pine.
Best of the West BBQ Products brings high quality BBQ cooking products to the grilling marketplace. Our products include bbq charcoal, all natural self starting 100% Mesquite Lump Charcoal, Regular Charcoal Briquets, Wood Smoking Chips and bbq hickory wood chunks.






