Smoky will be offering his talents, techniques and secrets discovered over the last 150 years, or so. He will be to the point, pull no punches and if you suffer through the process, you will become a much better outdoor cook, turning out masterpiece meals for friends and family alike.

In this column, Smoky takes to the woods in search of the different types of woods available to the outdoor cook for preparing some great tasting wood smoke-cooked entrees. Hope this helps you folks! . . . . . take notes!

So, with no further adieu, we turn the mike to Smoky. You're on Smoky . . . . .

Thanks PC,

Burning questions regarding the characteristics of particular woods have, traditionally, been confined to wood workers and their clientele and those folk who heat with wood. Except for Macbeth's fate resting upon whether or not Great Birnam wood came up Dunsinane hill, particular woods have never seemed like a life or death situation. But, lately, with all the smoke blowing going on, the fad for cooking over exotic woods and the extravagant claims of smoke blowers has reached outrageous proportions.

Since early time, even primitive man with primitive palate learned that food tasted better cooked over coals than in flames and smoke. As long as wood was the primary cooking fuel, this knowledge was proudly passed from generation to generation. But as we moved indoors with gas and electricity becoming the favored fuels, there occurred what is known in scientific circles as a discontinuity. There was a missing link in the chain of knowledge. For more than a generation, this precious information was lost to most of the population. It was kept alive by only a small cadre of Keepers of the Coals.

Suddenly, those in whom there arose an inexplicable, instinctive yearning for meat cooked over wood coals and, thereby, imbued with the essence of purified flavors of the wood, lacked the lore to create it. Into this Dismal Swamp of ignorance rushed the demons of disinformation.

Unveiling their newest buzz work, they flung meat into the ghastly gasses of burning wood; blackened it in the phenolic resins of wood smoke and pronounced it "SMOKIN!" They flooded television and magazines with depictions of meat lapped by flickering flames and created nonsensical but appealing phrases like, 'Flame Broiled!' Palates dulled by generations of feeding on fast food burgers, tv dinners and prepackaged pap rushed to join the frenetic frenzy believing, with the ardor of innocence, that "BURNT IS BEAUTIFUL!"

Like a virulent, swiftly moving plague, the misologyous message swept the land. Even those with more competence than confidence became seduced by the idea of SMOKIN! So for a dark period, cooking technique regressed hundreds of thousands of years. Good meat was burnt upon the altars of ignorance. Children, who formerly could eat from their father's grill, were forced to eat pizza. Those allergic to phenols or not wishing to embrace benzene were driven from the patios.

But, even the dullest palates and most naive minds began to question. Slowly, the latent instincts, which have guided mankind from the savannahs of Africa to the mares of the moon, became aroused. Among the more discerning, the first reaction was, "What am I doing wrong? Good meat is not supposed to taste bitter. Dare I doubt the priests of PR!" But, gradually, the truth became unavoidably obvious, "Over-smoked meat does not taste good."

Recovery, like the taste of over smoked meat, is harsh. It requires that one accept responsibility for a temporary loss of critical thinking, a susceptibility to the herd instinct and an uncertain palate. The outlook for individual recovery, however, is excellent.

Fortunately, the lamps of enlightenment have been relit and coals of sanity have been rekindled. More and more people are relearning a verity: meat cooked in the smoke stream of burning wood gets marred with cresols and phenols and other noxious volatiles which make good wood preservatives and disinfectants but don't taste very good, even to an unskilled palate.

Besides unbounded enthusiasm, spurred by abject ignorance, what permitted this travesty to good taste even to start was the development of the horizontal cooker with an offset firebox. When meat was cooked directly over the heat source, the results of flames and wood smoke were immediately apparent to even the dullest pates and palates. Even users of the tin can water smokers quickly deduce that it is very easy to turn what was a fine piece of meat into a mummified creosote fossil, unattractive even to flies and maggots with taste.

In the sidewinder cookers, the heated air, however baffled and directed, still flows in strata according to the temperature. This means that the hotter air flows up to the top of the cooking chamber and out the stack without necessarily coming into contact with the meat on the grate. Although some cookers are designed so that the heated air must exit below the meat, the flow is up and over, rather than under, around and through, so that the meat does not normally come into intimate contact with grossly excessive smoke. Rather, as the smoke cools, some of it is deposited on the sides of the cooker and builds up layers of creosote. This shiny black, acrid layer is an indication of an inexperienced cook. Sometimes, however, even this serendipitous air flow cannot prevent too much smoke being deposited on the meat. Eventually, even to those whose reasoning is as dense and the smoke they produce, there comes an awakening "Less is more better."

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

Let's clear away some smoke

Five Reasons why wood coals are superior to flaming wood for cooking:

     1. Green woods are 20-40% water. This must be boiled off before the wood can burn. This means that British Thermal Units (BTUs) a measure of heat are used to boil water (971 BTUs per lb. of water) rather than to cook.

     2. Dry wood still has 8-20% moisture and contains many compounds which must be cooked out absorbing BTUs before the temperature can rise.

     3. As long as there are moisture and volatiles to boil out, the temperature cannot rise above the boiling point of the substances. Therefore, in order to reach broiling temperatures 700o all the moisture and volatiles must be driven out. At that point the wood becomes embers/coals.

     4. Successful broiling steaks, burgers, chops requires very high radiant heat. Flames of burning wood do not generate radiant heat at temperatures as high as that of live embers.

     5. In the hours' long cooking periods, as when roasting and barbecuing, the smoke flavor in the coals, alone, is more than ample. Visible smoke is too much smoke. Anytime that you see a full plume of smoke coming out of a barbecue cooker, you know that the cook in making a serious error. A faint wisp of white smoke is the signal of a competent cook.

Almost any hardwood makes very good embers for cooking. Normally, the denser the wood, the more lignin, and, therefore, more BTUs per cubic volume. Resinous woods such as pine, fir, juniper, cedar and yew are not normally used, with one exception. A few Scots use small amounts of green cedar boughs as a part of their final stage of cold smoking salmon.

Most commonly used woods, in alphabetical order:  Apple/pear, ash, beech, birch, cherry, hickory/pecan, maple, oak.

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

Questionable: Parts are poisonous, cause physical reaction or produce bad taste:  China berry/mahogany, Osage orange, teak, tung, madrone, buckeye.

Definitely don't: Even the smoke can be poisonous!  Poison oak, poison sumac, oleander, pine and other resinous woods.

Flavor quotient for common woods suitable for broiling, roasting and barbecuing.

Ignore any presumptuous suitability chart for woods I have see some dillies. Use common sense instead. Wood flavors, like other seasonings, should enhance the natural flavor, not overwhelm.

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

Mesquite has a potent flavor that some like and many dislike. I am of the latter group. The wood makes excellent hot coals for broiling and, used in this manner, does not overpower the meat flavor and become offensive. I do not recommend it for long term cooking roasting and barbecuing. Certainly not for cold or hot smoking.

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 all forms of grilling and smoking. I prefer white over red, but use them interchangeably. I just don't tell the meat which color I am using.

Fruit woods - apple, pear, quince, cherry, etc., and maple, beech, birch and ash are mild flavored, excellent choices for roasting and barbecuing and make excellent coals for broiling. They are especially suitable for mild meats, fish and veggies, but good for any grilling or smoking.

Alder, mulberry, citrus, willow are mild flavored woods that are excellent for fish, poultry and seafood. They are softer woods and, therefore, their embers do not produce as much heat as those of harder woods.

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

Faddish fire fodder includes grape vines, oak whiskey barrels and oak wine barrels. Their greatest value is in conversation.

Using Woods for Flavor

If you live in a deforested area without easy access to wood, use 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 temperature 700^o 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. Be aware that the meat will cook much 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 won't 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 griller spent at least 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

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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