I am a first time griller and find that all of the books on grilling/bbq advise hardwood as the best material for burning.
Since oak is at the top of the list and I have a large supply of scraps is there any reason not to use it?
The reason I ask is some say wood is treated. I don’t know if they are referring to raw lumber or old furniture or what.
Thanks,
Burt
Replies
Hi Hoo , I use Red Oak scraps with my coals , and the smokie flavor is great .
happy bbq ing
dusty
I have used scraps of oak as well as maple, apple and alder. Alder is really nice for fish. I don't like walnut as much but that might be me.
Troy
I've been using thin scraps of maple and cherry. Soaked in water before, wrapped in aluminum foil. I'm going to get a small metal box for this.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Red oak is great for BBQ, better than charcoal I think. It just takes more of it to get the same amount of cooking time but the flavor is great.
SuttonHoo,
For BBQing using red oak, the wood does not have to be quartersawn, nor does it have to be planed to a uniform thickness, but it should be put on the fire with its heartside up when cooking in the Northern Hemisphere. The Aussies put it heartside down, when viewed from a distant point in the universe.
TIC (tongue in cheek),
96
You forgot to mention leaning the grain direction at an angle the way it grew -- especially the stuff that's from Virginia west of Charlottesville.
Apple and Cherry: slightly sweet and fruity
Peach: slightly sweet and very woodsy
Hickory: strong, pungent, hearty
Pecan (the Southern cousin to Hickory): a bit more mellow but similar to Hickory
Maple: mellow, sweet
Oak: very perceptible but not unpleasant acidic note
Mesquite: tangy, but during the long, slow heat of barbecuing that tanginess turned to bitterness
I wouldn't use any wood that had been furniture due to the toxins that might be in the finished wood. Raw scraps are great--good use of the pieces you can't do anything else with. I live in Texas, and mesquite is in plentiful supply and gives the meat a great flavor--beef, pork, chicken. I smoke all of these in my pit with mesquite. If I have a nice piece of fish, I'll grill it over mesquite coals and it can't be beat. For bbq smoking, I try to use green mesquite. If I don't have green, I'll soak the pieces in water first.
Everyone have a great 4th and great grilling!
I read a warning in the past to the effect that wood from fruit trees could be dangerous because they are treated with pesticides for their entire lives. This may apply to orchard-raised nut trees, too. I can't vouch for the accuracy of this info, but it sounds valid. Of course, if you know the tree's history, it is no problem.Cadiddlehopper
I wouldn't burn any wood from an orchard that used pesticides on the trees. Too much good wood out there to risk yours or your family's health. Tom
"Treated wood" usually means that which is intended for outdoor rot-resistance. For many years that treatment included arsenic, and there have been cases of serious poisoning from burning that stuff. New "treated wood" no longer contains arsenic, but should probably still be handled respectfully.
Tom
I've got a large pile of very old firewood. Any suggestions on determining which of the pieces might be softwood? There are a lot of evergreens in this area. I've read that softwood is not a good idea in a griller.
The pieces that go snap.. crackle and pop form the resin cooking-off are soft-wood I believe, SuttonHoo. Just kiddin' even though that's not actually kidding.
Seriously, take a look at the end-grain. In most cases the hard-wood will have very tight end grain where it was sawed compared to the looser and sappier grain of the soft wood.
PS.. Troy... you might proceed with caution with that walnut. Walnut contains juglone and most (them University folks) think it is toxic and recommend not using for mulch. Some dis-agree. What that juglone does when in-cinerated, I don't have a clue. But if it's not recommended for mulch, I would personally have a hard time thinking that it will enhance my health slowly smoking Q with it.
Whatever hard-wood you use, a small piece of mesquite thrown in will take you to BBQ heaven.
Ya'll have a good one...
grinder47.. SARGE
If you can, get your hands on some white oak scraps. There is a reason only white oak is used for whiskey barrels - it's the smell and taste. Once you use white oak you'll regret having used charcoal or any other wood. Turn or shut down the air flow as much as you can and let it smoke, the longer the better! A 20 lb. leg of pork, lamb, or beef is best, smoked about 4 to 6 hours in my barrel type grill I purchased at Lowes for about $100. I guaranty your guests will be impressed. Chairwright
I do that with hickory and soon I'll have a lifetime supply as my son is building a three-story circular staircase out of it and I get to have the scraps. Do you have the Brinkman or the Braunfels?
Brinkman, it's cheesy, poorly machined, and you have to kind of pry it together because the holes don't match that well - BUT when you close down all the air ports, it's poorly made enough that it enough air gets in around the seams to make it smoke like a champ! Try some white oak, you'll like it. Chairwright
Yeah -- mine's a little that way, but not too bad. It's a New Branfels with a fire box on the end. I do use oak once in a while and like it, but it sure eats up the inventory when I smoke something all day long. Makes me drool just thinking about it.
In my own humble opinion, the best, bar none, wood for grilling is old, dry-rotted willow. The American Indians in the South thought it was the best, and I'm not arguing with them. It makes no visible smoke. None. The flavor and quality cannot be beaten. I advise everyone who enjoys BBQ to find an old dying or dead willow.
It it still has a bit of life, cut one inch thick, two foot long, branches off it in spring, as the tiny buds start to turn green but before they start to sprout, and pound them into soft ground to repopulate the tree. If the ground is a bit more resistant, drive an iron rod first to make a starter hole. About two out of three that have at least two tiny buds intact below ground and 2 buds intact above ground, quickly become trees.
Wrap a chain around the old sad tree and use a truck, tractor, ox team or the like to pull it out of the ground. You could dig it up, but that would be work. Take the root and let it sit and rot for a year. Then add a few chunks every time you grill.
Meat smoked with willow root tends to keep, due to the salicylic acid content. I shouldn't make any medical claims, so I won't.
I so like the willow, I planted rows of them.
-Bob
If you check with Steve Raichlen, one of the top grillers in the world (he even beat a Japanese chef in the original Iron Chef in Japan, no simple feat), he will tell you, and having done this, that various woods match certain foods quite well.Oak is great on steak, but a bit heavy on poultry
Hickory is a good all around wood, a bit heavy, but nice
Apple, Cherry and Peach are great with Pork and Poultry
Anyone who has tried cedar plank grilling for fish, especially salmon, will tell you it's the best fish on the planet I would stay away from walnut, toxic fumes are not great for the food or you (same with the oily exotics, or any oily wood for that matter).
Irrespective of YOUR favorite wood flavoring, I am seeing a glaring omission. It is not necessary to cook the meat with your wood choice. You will get, (see AmericasTestKitchen.com ) a deep, rich flavor cooking over briquettes and adding lemon to apple sized chunks of your wood, which has been soaked in water. The "soaking" can be anywhere from 3-4 hours to overnight. Once the coals are ready, toss one or two on each side of the grill; replenishing both charcoal and wood chunks as needed.Texas is one of those states where BBQ and smoking meat is king. I have run the gamut of cooking equipment, and am currently settled on an electric smoker grill.(oh! Blasphemy)
Before you set-up the hanging rope, hear me out. The greatest advantage, as I saw it, was the constant heat delivered by the electric element. Now all I have to do is add more chunks every few hours. There is a meat thermometer available (Oregon Scientific $22.00, for one) that will beep to a remote sensor you wear, to alert you 5º before the programmed temperature is reached.My wood of choice happens to be Mesquite, a local species. I felled my neighbor's dead tree and gleaned my limit; second choice would be Hickory.
Arlington, Texas (The dash in Dallas-Fort Worth)
Practice...'till you can do it right the first time.
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[email protected]
im instrested in free hard wood scrap wood
for burning
[email protected]
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