# Question about wood fuel



## LT72884 (Apr 22, 2009)

Ok so i checked out this new book from the library. WOOD FIRED COOKING. Here is my question. I thought that with smoking with wood, if it catches on fire it leaves a nasty bitter taste to the food. So why in wood fired cooking are they burning wood to cook the food. Wont that leave a nasty bitter flavor like it does when you burn the wood while smoking?

thanx


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## Constance (Apr 22, 2009)

Our grandmothers fired their cook stoves with wood, and fixed some mighty fine meals. 
I have eaten some delicious food that was cooked over a campfire, too.


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## Michael in FtW (Apr 22, 2009)

LT72884 said:


> ... Here is my question. I thought that with smoking with wood, if it catches on fire it leaves a nasty bitter taste to the food. So why in wood fired cooking are they burning wood to cook the food. Wont that leave a nasty bitter flavor like it does when you burn the wood while smoking?


 
When you are smoking with wood and the wood catches fire - it just burns up and isn't "smoking". I have never noticed any bitter flavor from wood that cathes fire while smoking.

And, as for cooking over an open wood fire - never noticed any bitter falvor from that, either. 

Now, the one caveat is not all wood is good for cooking/smoking everything - for example, resinous woods like pine or cedar can add a bitter resin flavor. But, sometimess you can use that resinous flavor for some things.

LOL - you never were in Boy Scouts, were you?


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## Andy M. (Apr 22, 2009)

When wood is burning merrily along with pretty flames, it's great for a fireplace on a cold winter night but not so good for cooking.  Cooking on wood is best done when the logs have burned down to hot coals so there is nothing given off but heat.  

If you are smoking, you adjust your cooker so the wood doesn't get as much air so it burns slower, smoking more and flaming less.


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## LT72884 (Apr 22, 2009)

Constance said:


> Our grandmothers fired their cook stoves with wood, and fixed some mighty fine meals.
> I have eaten some delicious food that was cooked over a campfire, too.


Hmm, i would have thought that the smoke from burning the wood would give it that nasty creosote flavor to the food. So why when i use my smoker do i have to soak the wood?


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## LT72884 (Apr 22, 2009)

Michael in FtW said:


> When you are smoking with wood and the wood catches fire - it just burns up and isn't "smoking". I have never noticed any bitter flavor from wood that cathes fire while smoking.
> 
> And, as for cooking over an open wood fire - never noticed any bitter falvor from that, either.
> 
> ...



Actually im an eagle with 3 palms. I cooked over open fires BUT food was wrapped in tin foil because we had no grates.


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## Michael in FtW (Apr 22, 2009)

LT72884 said:


> Hmm, i would have thought that the smoke from burning the wood would give it that nasty creosote flavor to the food. So why when i use my smoker do i have to soak the wood?


 
You soak the wood in water so that it will produce more smoke and not burn up as quickly. Flaming wood doesn't produce as much smoke as wet smoldering wood. 

Think about the wood fires you used in Scouts - dry wood didn't smoke as much as one made with wet or green wood.


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## LT72884 (Apr 22, 2009)

Michael in FtW said:


> You soak the wood in water so that it will produce more smoke and not burn up as quickly. Flaming wood doesn't produce as much smoke as wet smoldering wood.
> 
> Think about the wood fires you used in Scouts - dry wood didn't smoke as much as one made with wet or green wood.



Thats true.. We made some serious fires. I wonder if using the dry pine and sprouse is what gave some of the food an interesting flavor..

WHAT.. I was under the impression that burning wood caused the nasty bitter cresote flavor. So what does cause the nasty cresote flavor when smoking because that happened to me last time and my ribs tasted NASTY. I personally think it was the coal i used.


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## Michael in FtW (Apr 22, 2009)

Resinous woods could be thought of as imparting a "creosote" flavor to food. Yes, your pine and spruce are resinous woods. Cedar is also a resionous wood - but it is used for some things like Planked Salmon ... and a steak marinated in peach or apricot brandy and cooked over red cedar has a very interesting flavor.

Cooking woods are non-resinous like fruit and nut trees (oak, hickory, walnut, pecan, apple, mesquite, etc.)

If you were using bagged and you used a lighter fluid on it, or if it was that matchlight stuff, that is probably where you got your funky flavor.


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 22, 2009)

LT72884 said:
			
		

> Ok so i checked out this new book from the library. WOOD FIRED COOKING.



Is the book about cooking with wood in an old stove like this






Or over a campfire/fireplace...??????

Or is it a book on BBQ......????


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## LT72884 (Apr 22, 2009)

Uncle Bob said:


> Is the book about cooking with wood in an old stove like this
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Amazon.com: Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire: Mary Karlin, Ed Anderson: Books


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 22, 2009)

Looks like a nice book to have checked out at the library.....At least you can take it back..

There is no "one size fits all" answers to questions about using wood as a fuel/heat source in cooking...To many variables...Over a campfire in a dutch oven/wrapped in foil or over a campfire on a grill or spit?? Answers may be different....



			
				LT72884 said:
			
		

> So why when i use my smoker do i have to soak the wood?



You don't have to!!! You can choose to however. There is a difference of opinion about.. to soak or not to soak. I come down on the side of...it's a waste of time...and in some instances harmful. Wood does not absorb water easily...They make boats out of it ---  Any absorption is very shallow into the wood even after hours in the water. Test that have weighed wood prior to soaking and again after soaking back this up. There is not much gain in weight. All it does is delay the time it takes for the wood to burn...The water will be converted to steam.. Then the wood will burn as if it had never been soaked. Adding large chunks of wet wood to a bed of hot coals can cool the fire down...delaying cooking times etc. Still there are those who choose to soak...Old habits die hard!

Have Fun!


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## LT72884 (Apr 22, 2009)

Uncle Bob said:


> Looks like a nice book to have checked out at the library.....At least you can take it back..
> 
> There is no "one size fits all" answers to questions about using wood as a fuel/heat source in cooking...To many variables...Over a campfire in a dutch oven/wrapped in foil or over a campfire on a grill or spit?? Answers may be different....
> 
> ...


That makes sense. Yeah its a cool book but WAY HARD stuff to make. Especially since i dont have an oven just a grill and smoker. so i have to make do with what i have. GRR.  I imagine i can make flat breads and pizzas in my webber kettle. I just need to find a place that sells the woods i need such as apple, cherry, hickory and mesquite logs unprocessed. Ill just build my own fire pit and put a lid on it and call it an oven. LOL


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## LT72884 (Apr 24, 2009)

Ok so i was browsing around the net and i found this statment at a BBQ forum.

"Never use wood chips, use wood chunks.  All wood chips do are burn up and give acid smoke."

Is this true Because wood is wood and chips come from chunks that are, well, chipped into pieces.

LOL


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 25, 2009)

LT72884 said:


> Ok so i was browsing around the net and i found this statment at a BBQ forum.
> 
> "Never use wood chips, use wood chunks.  All wood chips do are burn up and give acid smoke."
> 
> ...



Large wood chunks are preferable to the small wood chips. Wood chips added directly to a hot bed of coals will burn/carbonize almost instantly providing very little smoke. Soaking them will delay their combustion only momentarily. There are small metal boxes on the market designed to hold wood chips to prevent them from flaming out thus providing some additional level of smoke. Aluminum foil can be formed into a small "pouch" containing the wood chips. Once the "pouch" is formed with the chips inside simply poke several holes in the foil (to allow the smoke out) and place the pouch directly on the bed of coals...

Have Fun!


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