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Oak is the wood most commonly used for outdoor cooking. It imparts excellent flavor without becoming too strong with normal cooking techniques. Oak is outstanding for all forms of grilling and smoking. I prefer white over red, but use them interchangeably. I just don't tell the meat which color I am using.

Fruit woods - apple, pear, quince, cherry, etc., and maple, beech, birch and ash are mild flavored, excellent choices for roasting and barbecuing and make excellent coals for broiling. They are especially suitable for mild meats, fish and veggies, but good for any grilling or smoking.

Alder, mulberry, citrus, willow are mild flavored woods that are excellent for fish, poultry and seafood. They are softer woods and, therefore, their embers do not produce as much heat as those of harder woods.

Sassafras, bay and pimiento produce identifiable flavors which some might find intrusive. Use sparingly with other woods until you are familiar with the taste.

Faddish fire fodder includes grape vines, oak whiskey barrels and oak wine barrels. Their greatest value is in conversation.

Using Woods for Flavor

If you live in a deforested area without easy access to wood, use an insipid charcoal and want to spruce up (just kidding - spruce is a no-no) the flavor for broiling, try the following. Bring the coal bed up to proper temperature 700^o and add a mere handful of green wood chips or small limbs or wood chunks soaked for a couple of hours or sawdust soaked likewise. Wait until the smoke is intense and the temperature has returned to the proper level. Plop on the meat and close the lid with good draft top and bottom. In a couple of minutes, turn the steak/burger and close the lid again. You should have plenty of smoke flavor. Be aware that the meat will cook much quicker with the lid closed. Don't over cook.

For roasting and barbecuing under the same circumstances, the cheapest route is to go in with a few friends and buy a cord (4'x4'x8') of dry hardwood. Then you can burn down some wood for the coals while it is heating up the grill. You won't need to add any smoke flavor.

Lacking that opportunity, when the grill is ready to start cooking, toss in a double handful of wood, as above, throw on the meat and close the lid. Do that once again in about 30 minutes. That is probably all the smoke flavor that you need, but if you have become hooked on cresote, you can do it one more time. Beyond that, the meat has sealed and will absorb no more smoke flavor. Smoke will, however, continue to pile up on the outside with bitter results.

It is my studied opinion that if the would-be griller spent at least as much time learning technique as he did chasing exotic fuel, he would be a 10 times better cook. For those mathematically inclined that formula is [1/2a + 1/2b=110]. And that ain't just blowing smoke.

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