Well I went out and bought a new gas grill,,, a new fangled infrared one.. and in the directions it mentioned about using wood chips,,, I had a big old apple tree that died over the winter and I took it down and was going to burn it in the fire place, but I got to thinking about this,,, soo off to the shop and I ran a couple pieces through the planer and got thick heavy stuff from the planer and I want to know how or if I could use this to flavor steaks or burgers. I know they have to be soaked before using but how long, how much, and any tips you guys got....
Grill/smoker gurues
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I was in Tractor Supply in Concord NH over the weekend, they had a grill that was about 7' long, the was a gas grill then a charcoal grill then on the end a smoker box. I looked at the price..$400. bucks, I work with steel and sheetmetal everyday , I couldn't buy the materials for $400. bucks......
What I do which is simple enough is soak the wood in water over night place them in a tinfoil pouch and poke a few holes in it and sit the foil on the heat source.
Personally I hate a gas grill, whats the point your taking the stove from in the kitchen and moving it outside, SOOO not the same as charcoal!
Personally I hate a gas grill, whats the point your taking the stove from in the kitchen and moving it outside, SOOO not the same as charcoal!
Yeah in some points I do agree with you Eric. I had an OLD gas grill with the lava rocks that cooked pretty good and you could toss charcoal on top or the rocks, but no one makes that kind of grill any more I guess and the charcoal one are as much as the gas. And when I want a steak or burgher I don't want to wait for 1/2 hour for the coals to get hot,,, yeah just lazy,,lol
cmustang
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B7100hst 50" tiller Dodge 2500 diesel 700 Grizzly 79 K5 blazer 40" Boggers
mmmmmm apple smoke!!!!!! the tin foil idea works great In fact I use it in my 6by4by3 smoke house regularly the less holes you use the less smoke but to many and it burns. You can use the saw dust too in fact some fines helps fill the air holes and helps it smoke longer. You don't want to use green wood If you want to soak it to add humidity you can but green wood doesn't taste as good
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I took a hand full of shaving and a little cast iron pan and got the grill hot and the stuff smoking,, and tossed on a couple of burgers, and then some slices of American cheese,,, There was no discernible smoke taste in the burgers ,,, HOWEVER,, the cheese had a wonderful flavor, kind of smokey with just a hint of apple,, Now I am going to have to try something a little bit longer in the smoke, maybe some beef
cmustang
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B7100hst 50" tiller Dodge 2500 diesel 700 Grizzly 79 K5 blazer 40" Boggers
The slower the better when you are using smoke. Smoked cheese is very good just keep trying until you get the perfect taste
apple,cherry, hickory there all good, the wetter the longer they last.
P.S. keep on smokin.
I own 3 charcoal bbqs including an ugly drum smoker
We also own a propane BBQ but use it rarely.
One of my favorite things to cook is a slab of salmon.
We cook it on a cedar plank.
Don't buy the planks at the grocery store though. Buy a bundle from home depot. Way cheaper. Cost me a $12 and I will have cedar planks for atleast 3 summers.
We also own a propane BBQ but use it rarely.
One of my favorite things to cook is a slab of salmon.
We cook it on a cedar plank.
Don't buy the planks at the grocery store though. Buy a bundle from home depot. Way cheaper. Cost me a $12 and I will have cedar planks for atleast 3 summers.
North Idaho Wolfman
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For your Apple wood cut it into 6" to 12" x 4" x 4" or so, then split them with an axe or maul to open up all wood grain.
It will soak in water better , and in turn give off more smoke, aroma and flavor.
Try some maple wood too!
It will soak in water better , and in turn give off more smoke, aroma and flavor.
Try some maple wood too!
There is nothing wrong with using a gas grill, and yes it is like taking your stove outside. I use both, a weber performer and a kenmore something or other gas grill. At times I only use the charcoal and other times I only use the gas. The part I like about the gas is that I use it to make everything that I would have made in the house on the stove but outside. The theory being that it doesn't heat up the house in the summer, therefor my AC kicks on less often.
The weber is started using a single propane burner, no lighter fluid, once the charcoals are started you turn off the propane. I received it as a gift and thought it was over kill but after using it, I'll never use lighter fluid again.
As far as wanting to use smoke to add flavor, it takes awhile for the smoke to penetrate the meat. Burgers and steaks are generally cooked fast so there will be less smoke flavor. I leave my wood chips in a bucket with water all the time, the wetter the better. You can use a foil tray with holes that will work fine. They do make small cast iron containers that are made for this very purpose.
That apple flavors pork really well, some wood flavors different meats better than others, so they say. Pork tenderloin is my absolute favorite piece of meat to grill.
Do you know about direct heat and indirect heat while grilling? Once I learn the difference it changed the way I grill. Along with using a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, mostly on large pieces of meat.
Just to mess with the die hard charcoal guys I do have an electric smoker that is straight up awesome.
Cheers
Ben
The weber is started using a single propane burner, no lighter fluid, once the charcoals are started you turn off the propane. I received it as a gift and thought it was over kill but after using it, I'll never use lighter fluid again.
As far as wanting to use smoke to add flavor, it takes awhile for the smoke to penetrate the meat. Burgers and steaks are generally cooked fast so there will be less smoke flavor. I leave my wood chips in a bucket with water all the time, the wetter the better. You can use a foil tray with holes that will work fine. They do make small cast iron containers that are made for this very purpose.
That apple flavors pork really well, some wood flavors different meats better than others, so they say. Pork tenderloin is my absolute favorite piece of meat to grill.
Do you know about direct heat and indirect heat while grilling? Once I learn the difference it changed the way I grill. Along with using a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, mostly on large pieces of meat.
Just to mess with the die hard charcoal guys I do have an electric smoker that is straight up awesome.
Cheers
Ben
Pork tenderloin cooked on indirect heat for 3 hrs 30 minutes @ 275 degrees, 160 degrees internal temp, I did not use wood to add smoke flavor but it was still delicious.
Burt
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L3700SU, box blade, 6 foot rhino blade, 1 bottom plow, 3 point receiver hitch.
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Good question and answers.
For me, I use a gas grill. For the smoke, I save some wood sawdust and smaller chips from chainsawing...cherry, oak, apple, alder are all good smokers. I use the tinfoil tray method with some of the wood sawdust wetted in the bottom of the tray. For this, I just use my spray bottle to wet the sawdust.
On top of the sawdust, I put one or 2 rounds of the same wood cut into 1/8 or 1/4" slices. These, I soak for an hour or more prior to barbecuing. Once it is all going nicely, then I keep a spray bottle handy in case it actually burns the wood which is rare. All in all, it produces a nice smoke to whatever is barbecued.
Still haven't figured out a way to use the tractor for any of this except for getting the firewood.
Burt
Still haven't figured out a way to use the tractor for any of this except for getting the firewood
Hmmm if we built a box around the exhaust manifold and made a grill and then a box on the manifold for the wood chips we could cook it smoke it and get a bunch of work done all at the same time
As long as it not like what happened to me when I was a kid. Lil bro and I went hunting and started out way before light so we could get to camp before day light. He got off work and I got off loaded up my 57 ford and before we left wired 3 cans of diddy moore beef stew to the intake manifold on that old 292 ford,, about 2 hours into the ride there was 2 large bangs under the hood,, we found parts of 2 cans the 3rd disappeared and my fairlane smelled like beef stew for days after that,,, somebody forgot to poke holes in the cans
Hmmm if we built a box around the exhaust manifold and made a grill and then a box on the manifold for the wood chips we could cook it smoke it and get a bunch of work done all at the same time
As long as it not like what happened to me when I was a kid. Lil bro and I went hunting and started out way before light so we could get to camp before day light. He got off work and I got off loaded up my 57 ford and before we left wired 3 cans of diddy moore beef stew to the intake manifold on that old 292 ford,, about 2 hours into the ride there was 2 large bangs under the hood,, we found parts of 2 cans the 3rd disappeared and my fairlane smelled like beef stew for days after that,,, somebody forgot to poke holes in the cans