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Regardless of the species of wood, excessive smoke is offensive. It is truly amazing that those whose palates do not rebel at creosote-contaminated, meat are the same ones who claim that they can discern the flavor of grape leaves; determine the vintage of wine barrel French oak; distinguish Mackintosh apple from Northern Spy or June berry from Huckleberry. Fact is that, except for a few wood species, such as hickory and mesquite, less than 5% of the palates in the world can tell what kind of wood was used to cook.

When you hear or read pretentious puffery describing the nuances of various bouquets of different woods, what you are experiencing is smoke blowing. Only a confirmed and experienced kapnzophile (lover of smoke) could identify from the taste of the food, more that 3-4 species of the most common woods used for cooking.

Besides being distasteful, cresols and phenols are very hazardous chemicals. Creosote, a product of cresol, until the Environmental Protection Agency ban, was used as a wood preservative and the active ingredient in sheep dip. Phenol is the active ingredient in a long time favorite bathroom disinfectant. Both are suspected carcinogens.

This is an excerpt from an article by Dave Lineback, a North Carolinian who is a scholar and defender of what he terms "traditional" barbecue. His website address is: http://www.sunsetridge.com.

"Did a little research on the combustion of wood recently. Turns out it's an interesting subject that has undergone quite a bit of study in recent years.

Wood does not burn directly. Rather, when heat is applied it first undergoes a process of thermal degradation called pyrolysis in which the wood breaks down into a mixture of volatiles and solid carbonaceous char. The cellulose and hemicellulose form mainly volatiles while the lignin mainly forms the char. Exactly what products are formed by each depends upon the temperature, heating rate, particle size, and any catalysts that might be present.

The solid char remains in place. What goes up with the volatiles are a gas fraction (carbon monoxide and dioxide, some hydrocarbons, and elemental hydrogen), a condensed fraction (water, aldehydes, acids, ketones, and alcohols), and -- here we go! -- a tar fraction (sugar residues from the breakdown of cellulose, furan derivatives, phenolic compounds, and -- pay attention here -- airborne particles of tar and charred material which form the smoke.

If oxygen is present and the temperature is sufficiently high, burning of the volatiles occurs. When temperatures are too low or when there is insufficient oxygen for complete combustion of the volatiles, smoldering occurs. This is characterized by smoking, the emission of unoxidized pyrolysis products. (This is the awful tasting stuff, creosote, that will give barbecue a bitter taste.) If the temperature is high enough and sufficient oxygen is present, then flaming combustion occurs with less smoking and more complete oxidation of the pyrolysis products. Further pyrolysis of volatiles during flaming combustion may cause char particles (soot) to form.

The remaining lignin char burns in the presence of oxygen in glowing combustion. These are my beloved coals that yield the thin blue smoke that makes great barbecue! And, that's why it is so important to preburn the wood to coals."

Dave Lineback

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

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