About Wood Choices
Keys: Bbq Barbequed Barbecued Grilling Information Smoking Yield: 1
Ingredients:
Choosing Smoke Sources
Method:
Wood smoke gives barbecue that barbecue flavor. Wood smoke should
complement, not override the taste of the meat, fish or poultry. The
choice of wood is very important to add that special flavor. Too much
smoke makes meat taste bitter.
Softwoods like pine and spruce exude resins resulting in unpleasant
flavor.
Hardwoods or fruitwoods, like the following, produce aromatic smoke.
Mixing of these woods for a unique flavor is also a "good thing".
Alder: The traditional wood for smoking salmon in the Pacific Northwest,
alder also works well with other fish. It has a light delicate flavor.
Adds a gentle smoke flavor to pork and seafood.
Apple: Produces a slightly sweet, fruity smoke that's mild enough for
chicken or turkey, but capable of flavoring a ham. Pork, beef, brauts.
Cherry: Produces a slightly sweet, fruity smoke that's mild enough for
chicken or turkey, but capable of flavoring a ham. Hamburger, turkey,
chicken, lamb.
Hickory: Hickory is the king of the woods in the Southern barbeque belt,
as basic to the region's cooking as cornbread. The strong, hearty taste
is perfect for pork shoulder and ribs, but it also enhances any read
meat or poultry. Beef, chicken, pork, ribs and sausage.
Maple: Mildly smoky and sweet, maple mates well with poultry, ham, and
vegetables.
Mesquite: The mystique wood of the past decade, mesquite is also
America's most misunderstood wood. It's great for grilling because it
burns very hot, but below average for barbecuing for the same reason.
Also, the smoke taste turns from tangy to bitter over an extended
cooking time. Few serious pitmasters use mesquite, despite a lot of
stories about its prevalence in the Southwest. Excellent for ribs and
other richly flavored meat. Steak and other beef, lamb, chicken, turkey
and other poultry.
Oak: If hickory is the king of barbecue woods, oak is the queen.
Assertive but always pleasant, it's the most versatile of hardwoods,
blending well with a wide range of flavors. What it does to beef is
probably against the law in some states.
Peach: Salmon and other fish, beef, poultry.
Pecan: The choice of many professional chefs, pecan burns cool and
offers a subtle richness of character. Some people call it a mellow
version of hickory. Beef, chicken, sausage.
Herbs and Spices: Much more delicate in flavor, a branch of fennel, a
bouquet of bay leaves or a bunch of fresh tarragon or rosemary can add
subtle notes to grilled food. Likewise, garlic cloves, orange peel,
cinnamon sticks and whole nutmeg will add new dimensions to smoke.
.
A friend is one who knows us, but loves us
anyway.*Angelique*
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