Use BBQ Wood Chips to Intensify Your Grilling

Written By Chouhab on dimanche 4 janvier 2009 | 05:47

By Ashley King

There is nothing better then BBQ meat that has been cooked or smoked with wood chips. If you are an avid griller then you already know the reason for using BBQ wood chips. But many people have no idea what the big deal is about this product.

Wood chips are very small pieces of wood that are added to your BBQ to create smoke. If you are not using a wood fire to cook your food, then the only way you are going to get a true smoke flavor is by adding wood to your fire.

BBQ wood chips take your grilling to a whole new level. Whether you have an electric, gas or charcoal BBQ you can add wood chips to get authentic barbecue flavor. There are special smoker boxes that can be placed in your gas and charcoal grills to add that special wood smoke flavor. Make sure you read the instructions for your grill before trying this.

The key to using wood chips is to not let them burn too quickly. This creates intense bursts of smoke that can make food bitter. By soaking wood chips in water for about 15 minutes you can slow down the combustion and lengthen the time in which the smoke is created. Make sure you let the wood drip dry for a few minutes before you add it to the fire. You want the wood moist, not dripping wet.

If you're using a smoker in your grill, it's probably not necessary to soak the wood chips before you use them. Soaking wood chips will let them burn longer, but if you're cooking a steak, you probably don't want a long, slow grilling.

Wood chips are available in a large range of varieties that cater to all tastes; your local vendor should be able to advise you on pairing a wood chip with a particular meat.

In general, if your meat is lighter, you'll need a milder wood chip flavor. You can also try "heavier" flavors with lighter meats, though, such as using mesquite with chicken. If you're going to do this, try using a few wood chips instead of a lot to see what this does to your flavor.

With its more delicate aroma, alder wood chips best accompany lighter meats like fish and poultry. The flavorful fruitwoods, including apple, cherry, peach and plum, go best with veal, poultry and pork, and they also lend an interesting taste to grilled vegetables.

Maple and hickory BBQ wood chips have a strong flavor and are best used with beef, pork and poultry. Beef, duck and lamb go well with the strong mesquite wood chips, and oak, another strong flavor, is good with beef and ham.

When you barbecue, your first focus should be the meat. A substandard cut of meat is not going to be improved significantly by the wood chip you use. Make sure the meat you get is fresh and comes from a reputable supplier.

Using BBQ wood chips takes us back to that glorious time when all good cooking was done on an open wood fire. Don't settle for just a plain old grilled steak or bland chicken breast cooked on bare coals. Cook like a pro and enjoy the vibrant aromas and flavors that come from cooking with BBQ wood chips.

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