Wood Grilling

[Falconboy]

I've grilled on a gas grill plenty of times but I'd like to up the ante with some more flavorful wood grilling. Anyone want to dispense with there grilling prowess?

Currently I have a gas grill but thinking of maybe getting another slightly smaller charcoal grill for grilling with wood. Any ideas on that too?

[hammb]

Seriously falconboy if you want to grill for real the best bet is usually the Weber kettle. It's relatively inexpensive (You can get a 22" for about $89), and it's a time tested perfect design. The shape of the grill gives perfect even heating and allows you to do longer slow cooks along with the standard grilling.

That said, I've never used wood in my kettle, just charcoal. I don't see any reason why wood wouldn't work, but I'll throw out that caveat.

The thing with wood is that you don't want to cook on raw wood, you want coals. Raw wood is great for producing smoke flavor, but if you are cooking solely on the raw wood it'd probably be overpowering for most meats. What you want to do to grill on wood is start a first fire to burn the wood down to coals. Then you transfer the coals into the grill and cook over the hot coals. Adding a few chunks of raw wood for some smoke flavor is great on top of the coals.

I've never used this technique, but I've talked with people who have. I generally cut out the middle man and use charcoal. There are 2 types of charcoal: briquettes & lump. Lump charcoal is essentially exactly what you would produce by having your primary fire to burn your wood. A bag of lump is random sized chunks of pre-burnt wood. It's all charred on the outside and burns very hot and very quickly. Briquettes are what you're probably most familiar with as charcoal. In this case it's still charred wood, but it is then ground into powder, mixed with a binding agent, then formed into the briquette shape. These burn slower, cooler, and much more consistently than briquettes do.

Most traditional grilling people will tell you that lump is far superior. I'm inclined to agree. It's a more natural product and you know you're not adding any chemicals to your food. It's what I use for any hot and fast cooks (burgers, steak, chicken breasts, etc.) However, I love the slow burning consistency of briquettes and that's pretty much what I always use for any longer cooks. Lump burns up faster and is more expensive for longer cooks, plus the briquettes are much easier to keep your temp regulated for long periods of time.

This is just a quick 2:30 AM rundown on the charcoal/wood grilling off the top of my head. If you've got other questions I'd love to share my experiences, cooking with charcoal is a great hobby and produces some fabulous food. If you really want to work purely with wood and not store bought charcoals that'd be cool too, go for it. I'll come back when it's not so late to try and remember anything else you might want to know.



Oh, one more thing, if you're going to grill with charcoal get a charcoal chimney. They will get your coals hot and ready for grilling in about 15 minutes, and the best part is that they don't require a single drop of lighter fluid. Nobody wants that nasty flavor on their food.

[The Niz]

If you're looking for the easy way out on wood cooking, just go to meijer and grab a bag of wood chips (hickory is my personal favorite) out of the barbeque section. Make a packet of them with some foil and toss them on your gas grill for about ten minutes before you add the food.


Not going to produce the absolute finest results, but it is far less time consuming and pretty easy to do.

[Falconboy]

Seriously falconboy if you want to grill for real the best bet is usually the Weber kettle. It's relatively inexpensive (You can get a 22" for about $89), and it's a time tested perfect design. The shape of the grill gives perfect even heating and allows you to do longer slow cooks along with the standard grilling.

That said, I've never used wood in my kettle, just charcoal. I don't see any reason why wood wouldn't work, but I'll throw out that caveat.

The thing with wood is that you don't want to cook on raw wood, you want coals. Raw wood is great for producing smoke flavor, but if you are cooking solely on the raw wood it'd probably be overpowering for most meats. What you want to do to grill on wood is start a first fire to burn the wood down to coals. Then you transfer the coals into the grill and cook over the hot coals. Adding a few chunks of raw wood for some smoke flavor is great on top of the coals.

I've never used this technique, but I've talked with people who have. I generally cut out the middle man and use charcoal. There are 2 types of charcoal: briquettes & lump. Lump charcoal is essentially exactly what you would produce by having your primary fire to burn your wood. A bag of lump is random sized chunks of pre-burnt wood. It's all charred on the outside and burns very hot and very quickly. Briquettes are what you're probably most familiar with as charcoal. In this case it's still charred wood, but it is then ground into powder, mixed with a binding agent, then formed into the briquette shape. These burn slower, cooler, and much more consistently than briquettes do.

Most traditional grilling people will tell you that lump is far superior. I'm inclined to agree. It's a more natural product and you know you're not adding any chemicals to your food. It's what I use for any hot and fast cooks (burgers, steak, chicken breasts, etc.) However, I love the slow burning consistency of briquettes and that's pretty much what I always use for any longer cooks. Lump burns up faster and is more expensive for longer cooks, plus the briquettes are much easier to keep your temp regulated for long periods of time.

This is just a quick 2:30 AM rundown on the charcoal/wood grilling off the top of my head. If you've got other questions I'd love to share my experiences, cooking with charcoal is a great hobby and produces some fabulous food. If you really want to work purely with wood and not store bought charcoals that'd be cool too, go for it. I'll come back when it's not so late to try and remember anything else you might want to know.



Oh, one more thing, if you're going to grill with charcoal get a charcoal chimney. They will get your coals hot and ready for grilling in about 15 minutes, and the best part is that they don't require a single drop of lighter fluid. Nobody wants that nasty flavor on their food.

Thanks Hammb. I have done a little internet research and found this grill.

http://www.barbecue-store.com/oldsmokeygrill-18.htm

At Wal-Mart they have this which I assume is what your talking about.


The Old Smokey goes for $44 but I'm not sure just how big or small it is with out seeing one in person. I hoping maybe Gander Mountain or Bass Pro carries em so I could check them to see. The Weber Kettle is 84.70 at Wally World.

Maybe instead of cooking with wood as my primary heat source , just use maybe lump coal and put some soaked wood chips on top. I hear mesquite is best for beef but I guess others would suffice if you liked the flavor. This kinda grilling is rather new to me so maybe I would have to just experiment.

[hammb]

The Old Smokey goes for $44 but I'm not sure just how big or small it is with out seeing one in person. I hoping maybe Gander Mountain or Bass Pro carries em so I could check them to see. The Weber Kettle is 84.70 at Wally World.

Maybe instead of cooking with wood as my primary heat source , just use maybe lump coal and put some soaked wood chips on top. I hear mesquite is best for beef but I guess others would suffice if you liked the flavor. This kinda grilling is rather new to me so maybe I would have to just experiment.

I've never heard of that Old Smokey before, but it might be fine. The only thing I'd be leery of is that they tout a larger gap between the charcoal & the cooking grate. That is fine for slower cooks, but I wonder how well you'll be able to get it going at hotter temps for quicker cooks like burgers/dogs/steaks/etc. It might be fine, but I've never even heard of it.

I did notice that it is an 18" diameter grill. The Weber I recommended and you linked the pic of is 22.5" diameter. The kettle also comes in an 18" diameter size, but it is a bit tougher to find locally. Amazon.com has the smaller kettle for $65. I know I have seen them from time to time at places like Home Depot or Andersons.

I have no stock in Weber, but their products are absolutely top notch. Another redeeming quality is that they are very common and accessories can be found easily for them. Be it new grates, replacement parts, additional features, etc, there is always something to be found to add on to the Weber.

Personally I love Mesquite for beef. Mesquite is a very harsh, strong smoke. It's great for meats like burgers or steak where they will not cook long enough to absorb flavor from a more subtle smokewood. I would never use mesquite for anything that will be cooking a long time or has a mild original flavor (pork loin, chicken, long smokes, etc). The flavor can just be too overpowering.

My goto smoke wood is usually fruit wood. I love apple, peach, or cherry. It's a sweet, subtle smoke flavor that goes awesome with pork or chicken. If I want additional smoke flavor I'll combo hickory with the fruit wood. I do keep mesquite on hand because it's absolutely the best for burgers/steaks.

If you're not in a major rush it might be a good idea to wait to see what kind of grand opening sales they have at the Bass Pro Shop in P'burg. Then again, you'll be missing out on a few weeks of prime grilling season in the hopes of saving some money on a grill that's less than $100 anyhow...I guess it depends on how anxious you are and how your finances look.

Good luck man. Grilling over coals is the best cooking method there is, IMO.

[Rightupinthere]

I have the 18" Sputnik which is a good size for me. My only gripe is there is no adjustment to get the coals closer to the grill. I can't get a really good seer on meat. I have to build a bigger fire - which I don't need. I usually use my gas for a quick seer then finish off on the kettle to impart flavor.

The flavor over lump is G-R-E-A-T. I don't use the formed charcoal.

[Falconboy]

The flavor over lump is G-R-E-A-T. I don't use the formed charcoal.

Yeah, I was leaning towards using lump coal anyway. I guess charcoal briquettes have some kind of binging agent in them and I prefer to stay as chemical free in my cooking as possible.

[hammb]

I have the 18" Sputnik which is a good size for me. My only gripe is there is no adjustment to get the coals closer to the grill. I can't get a really good seer on meat. I have to build a bigger fire - which I don't need. I usually use my gas for a quick seer then finish off on the kettle to impart flavor.

The flavor over lump is G-R-E-A-T. I don't use the formed charcoal.

Put a grate on top of your chimney. You'll get a great sear that way. If you don't have a chimney, cut both ends off a coffee can. Then chop holes around the can. Put it in the grill and put the grate on top of it.

The fire will burn insanely hot in a chimney, and you'll get plenty of sear that way

[Rightupinthere]

I have the 18" Sputnik which is a good size for me. My only gripe is there is no adjustment to get the coals closer to the grill. I can't get a really good seer on meat. I have to build a bigger fire - which I don't need. I usually use my gas for a quick seer then finish off on the kettle to impart flavor.

The flavor over lump is G-R-E-A-T. I don't use the formed charcoal.

Put a grate on top of your chimney. You'll get a great sear that way. If you don't have a chimney, cut both ends off a coffee can. Then chop holes around the can. Put it in the grill and put the grate on top of it.

The fire will burn insanely hot in a chimney, and you'll get plenty of sear that way

I've been DYING to do this with a big ole hunk of tuna. Sear that slap of deep red to a rare, slice, and serve luke warm with a mixed green, a fine soy, and sake.

By the way, no chimney? Who the [expletive] do you think you're talking to?

by the way, I baked a loaf of bread on the gas grill today. Turned out PERFECT. I don't have a wood burning oven, but this wasn't bad.

[hammb]

I have the 18" Sputnik which is a good size for me. My only gripe is there is no adjustment to get the coals closer to the grill. I can't get a really good seer on meat. I have to build a bigger fire - which I don't need. I usually use my gas for a quick seer then finish off on the kettle to impart flavor.

The flavor over lump is G-R-E-A-T. I don't use the formed charcoal.

Put a grate on top of your chimney. You'll get a great sear that way. If you don't have a chimney, cut both ends off a coffee can. Then chop holes around the can. Put it in the grill and put the grate on top of it.

The fire will burn insanely hot in a chimney, and you'll get plenty of sear that way

I've been DYING to do this with a big ole hunk of tuna. Sear that slap of deep red to a rare, slice, and serve luke warm with a mixed green, a fine soy, and sake.

By the way, no chimney? Who the [expletive] do you think you're talking to?

by the way, I baked a loaf of bread on the gas grill today. Turned out PERFECT. I don't have a wood burning oven, but this wasn't bad.

I figured you had a chimney, but hey I didn't know. I saw Alton do the Tuna that way, and I've talked to people cooking steak that way. I've never actually done it, but it looks like it works pretty well.

Baking bread on a grill, eh? I've done pizza many times, but never considered bread. I do love fresh bread.

[Pete Segaard]

with lump charcoal (royal oak lump available at GFS) there will be a little bit of very fine ash left in the grill, with kingsford there will be a bunch of clay powder and other additives left over to clean. I personally, will never use kingsford again, along with no starter fluid ever after finally getting a chimmney starter.

[hammb]

with lump charcoal (royal oak lump available at GFS) there will be a little bit of very fine ash left in the grill, with kingsford there will be a bunch of clay powder and other additives left over to clean. I personally, will never use kingsford again, along with no starter fluid ever after finally getting a chimmney starter.

Briquettes definitely leave more ash behind than lump. Kingsford Briquettes are especially bad at leaving tons of ash.

I much prefer the Royal Oak brand briquettes, but most stores seem to have stopped carrying them.

I use lump for grilling sessions, but as I said earlier, I find briquettes much easier to control the temperature for long, slow cooks (whole chickens, ribs, pork butts, etc.).

[Pete Segaard]

with lump charcoal (royal oak lump available at GFS) there will be a little bit of very fine ash left in the grill, with kingsford there will be a bunch of clay powder and other additives left over to clean. I personally, will never use kingsford again, along with no starter fluid ever after finally getting a chimmney starter.

Briquettes definitely leave more ash behind than lump. Kingsford Briquettes are especially bad at leaving tons of ash.

I much prefer the Royal Oak brand briquettes, but most stores seem to have stopped carrying them.

I use lump for grilling sessions, but as I said earlier, I find briquettes much easier to control the temperature for long, slow cooks (whole chickens, ribs, pork butts, etc.).

For long cook times I use the "Minion Method" of layering lit lump charcoal on top of unlit lump. With lump charcoal you do not need to worry about the nasty smoke from briquettes or wood because the charcoal making process removes the impurities.

[hammb]

with lump charcoal (royal oak lump available at GFS) there will be a little bit of very fine ash left in the grill, with kingsford there will be a bunch of clay powder and other additives left over to clean. I personally, will never use kingsford again, along with no starter fluid ever after finally getting a chimmney starter.

Briquettes definitely leave more ash behind than lump. Kingsford Briquettes are especially bad at leaving tons of ash.

I much prefer the Royal Oak brand briquettes, but most stores seem to have stopped carrying them.

I use lump for grilling sessions, but as I said earlier, I find briquettes much easier to control the temperature for long, slow cooks (whole chickens, ribs, pork butts, etc.).

For long cook times I use the "Minion Method" of layering lit lump charcoal on top of unlit lump. With lump charcoal you do not need to worry about the nasty smoke from briquettes or wood because the charcoal making process removes the impurities.

I use the minion method with briquettes and have never had a problem with any nasty flavors from freshly lit briquettes. So long as you're not getting the ones that are "quick light" or "match light" or whatever, it shouldn't be an issue.

Lump is still my preferred fuel, but for long cooks, briquettes are so much easier to manage.

[Falconboy]

Where's the best place to find lump charcoal? I was in Wally World today in BG and they had Royal Oak wood charcoal but nothing that specifically said "lump characoal". Gander Mountain and the soon to be opened Bass Pro would be my guesses.

Also is a chimney fire starter the only way to light charcoal or lump charcoal without lighter fluid? I did find those in Wal-Mart too.

On some of other grills that I saw there , many had nice contraptions built in like for raising/lowering the grill grate and nice ash holders. Many of these (UniFlame brand mostly) were much cheaper than the Weber Kettle 22" but did have a lot of cheaping looking and feeling parts and too much plastic. Maybe thats why. Even though I really don't feel like spending $84 on a grill , I may have to get something really quality.