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Almost any hardwood makes very good coals for cooking. Normally, the denser the wood, the more lignin, and, therefore, more BTUs per cubic volume.

Most common, in alphabetical order:
Apple/Pear, ash, beech, birch, butternut/walnut, cherry, hickory/pecan, maple, oak.

Regional and miscellaneous:
Mesquite, alder, citrus, any edible fruit, nut or berry, persimmon, sassafras, gum, pimiento, grape leaves and vines, hackberry, elm, chestnut, bay.

Questionable:
China berry/mahogany, Osage orange, teak, tung, madrone, buckeye

Definitely don't.
Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, Oleander, pine and other resinous woods.

Hickory, and to a lesser degree, its cousin the pecan, are powerful flavoring woods. A little goes a long way. The wood makes great coals. When barbecuing or roasting, I use about 20% hickory and 80% oak/apple/etc.

Mesquite has a potent flavor that some like and many dislike. I am of the latter group. The wood makes excellent coals for broiling and, used in this manner, does not overpower the meat flavor and become offensive.

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 broiling or barbecuing. I prefer white over red, but use them interchangeably.

Fruit woods - apple, pear, quince, cherry, etc and maple, beech, birch and ash are mild flavored excellent choices for barbecuing and make excellent coals for broiling.

Alder, mulberry, citrus, willow are mild flavored woods that are excellent for fish, poultry and seafood. They are softer woods and therefore do not make as potent embers as the harder woods.

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

If you live in a deforested area without easy access to wood, using 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 temp. - 5-700 degrees - 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. Beware that the meat will cook 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 wont 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 cook spent at least half 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.

Smoky Has A New Book The Great American Barbecue & Grilling Manual 416 pages of great information and wonderful recipes. @ The Barbecue Store

Good gobblin'

© 1998 by Smoky Hale
Smoky
C. Clark Hale
8168 Hwy 98 E.
McComb, MS 39648

Smoky's 5th basic position for really great barbecue'n.

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