when you smoke flavored food too much and how to correct!

I’m going to start this by stating smoke is a lot like salt. You can add more of it but if you add too much to smoke flavored food, it’s hard to correct. All is not lost though. I’m going to provide a tip that could save a smoke flavored food item that has been over smoked.

It’s All in the Ingredients

You’ve made the mistake of either using too much wood material to smoke or you smoked for too long. Either way, the outcome appears to be a disaster. Take a breath and a step back and assess the ingredients you used.

Often, you can correct the smoke level by adding an ingredient that was not included in the recipe. For instance, if your smoke flavored food involved a vegetable for a soup, find an ingredient in the soup recipe that has not been used. This may be cream, sugar or vinegar. Additionally, by adding the ingredient that was smoked in a non-smoked fashion, you can reduce the smoke flavor intensity. If you infused too much smoke in the broccoli for your broccoli cream soup, think about steaming some additional raw broccoli and adding with the smoked base. That will diffuse the smokiness.

SMOKE IS A GAS- Prime Factor for Smoke Flavored Food Items

Smoke is a vapor or gas. That means it is readily absorbed by the food product especially if moisture is present. This is one of the reasons why a water pan is used in a smoker.

Certain foods are more apt to be over smoked. Items like vegetables, fruits, dough item like breads, pies and tarts, and dairy items like egg-based recipes. Wood choice, amount of wood and length of the smoking process all play a part in how much essence comes from the wood.

Remember, smoke flavored food like a cut of meat can taste bitter with too much smoke vapor. This results from using wood that is too wet or using a wood that is not ideal for food.

But even a bitter smoked meat item can be saved by blending the meat with a sauce or glaze, especially one that contains a balance of sweet and heat.

In the end, you may find a smoke flavored food destined for the trash becomes a star dish when you know how to balance the smokiness with another flavor.

Smokinlicious® Products:

Wood Chunks- Double & Single Filet

Wood Chips- Grande Sapore®

Smoker Logs

More Related reading on “What Wood for Smoking” and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques

Related reading:

BBQ SMOKE COLOR

SMOKING COLOR

Dr. Smoke sometimes you over smoke food, we have tips on how to correct

Our traceability of forest fresh products to your smoke generator

listen to our blog

Our view of wood – it is not simply what produces vapor or being a smoke generator. It is THE ingredient that provides for colour, aroma, flavour and even texture to food.

Just like the other ingredients used in your operation, you need peace of mind knowing that if questions arise, you can produce the documentation to show where the wood came from and how it was handled.

Tracing from Mill to You- A Key Factor for Wood to Be a Smoke Generator

First, when you partner with SmokinLicious®, you’ll be using fresh forest hardwoods from Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. Second, all our hardwoods arrive at our facility de-barked. Third, we only use pure heartwood for the log. This is considered the purest part of the tree and one that is resistant to decay, pests, and fungi.

We trace each wood piece we manufacture. We have information on:

• the harvest date
• what mill processed the raw wood
• our heat treatment date and data
  
• ship date

That is forest to oven.

Why is Traceability Important?

Without it, your operation could be interrupted.

Any time your company’s standards are reviewed, we have the data on the wood. That means, it’s at your fingertips. Plus, our commitment to a higher heat treatment level (75°C for a minimum of 75 minutes) ensures Thermal Death Time. Potentially dangerous organisms like fungi spore, mold spores and listeria can’t survive with our heat level!

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The Smokinlicious® friction log is not only cut to the correct sizing, we also customize the moisture level for optimal smoke generation.

You started your food process by ensuring you were unique in the market. You tested and retested ingredients and procedures for the perfect smoking program. Did you think of everything? What about the wood you use with your friction logs?

Friction Logs- How to Create Balance with Moisture and Wood

Do you know hardwood needs moisture to smolder and produce smoke aerosol? Why? First, friction logs are designed to produce a pre-stage to combustion. That means, no flames or fire. Secondly, this stage occurs at a lower temperature. That means less of the bad components of wood are introduced. Finally, reach the ideal moisture level and you are guaranteed a better product. Clean flavours, perfect colour and great aroma. Our logs bring that to you!

Why Things Go Wrong

Moisture in wood is critical. If you use a wood that is too wet, acrid flavours will form. Wood that is too dry gives no or limited flavour to foods. In short, that’s the reason why dialing in moisture for your friction logs is essential.

Isn’t it time you dial in the moisture level of your friction logs for flavour that makes your foods an experience for the customer?

We know what it takes to gain the perfect essence from the wood. Learn why SmokinLicious® is the perfect partner for your food process and explore the world of hardwood as an ingredient!

Products discussed in this Blog:

Smoker Logs

More Related reading on “What Wood for Smoking” and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques

Customized Friction Logs

Moisture & Wood Storage

Forest hardwoods for smoking in all Smokinlicious® products

The Smokinlicious® motto Only use forest hardwood for smoking Share on X

Smoking and wood-fired cooking are a passion for many. You invested in a quality piece of equipment. Shopped for the best ingredients. Dedicated time to watching videos and reading articles on smoking. Sourced hardwood that claims to be for smoking. But do you know for sure?

So Many Terms

Food labeling over the years has become complicated. That seems to have passed on to hardwoods for smoking and cooking as well. Package labeling for wood is not usually accurate. In fact, it implies certain information.

Case in point, many suppliers now use the term 100% natural. But what does that mean? Natural used for food labeling means there are no artificial ingredients or preservatives and there has been minimal processing. Certainly, a supplier that sources wood from orchards uses the “natural” term but you have no assurance the tree has not been genetically modified. Translation – chemicals have been added.

Move on to the various drying processes and even more confusion occurs.

Kiln-dried, air-dried, and naturally cured are all common labeling for wood. But that’s as far it may go. No one references how long that process is, or at what temperature the drying occurs, or even where this process happens (i.e. open yard, shed, etc.).

True Forest Hardwood for Smoking

When you see forest grown on the package you assume the wood comes from a natural growing area. Even if there is a reference to a drying process, be sure the wood does not appear cracked and light in weight. If too much moisture is taken from the wood, you’ll end up with seasoned firewood and not a hardwood for smoking. Remember, moisture is needed to produce a clean smoke. No moisture means no flavor from the wood.

Be sure the label states 100% of the hardwood named on the package. If not, you may be using a combination of hardwood AND softwood! You have to make the decision on whether you want to use bark-on or bark-free wood. Off-flavors can develop with bark.

In the end, by reading wood labels in detail like you do with food labels, can guarantee you a better choice. After all, some of the best flavors come from those items direct from the land around us.

Products discussed in this Blog:

Wood Chunks- Double & Single Filet

Wood Chips- Grande Sapore®

More Related reading on forest hardwoods for smoking!and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques

Forest Grown Hardwoods- The Precious Forest

Hardwood vs. Softwood for Cooking

Dr. Smoke- only use forest hardwoods for smoking!

Maria’s top 10 foods to bulk grill!

It is obvious that a return to a “normal” work environment is not likely soon. You may be one of the blessed who has decided you do not want to return to an office but rather continue the joys and challenges of working, educating, entertainment and sleeping from home.

To manage all these needs, meal planning needs to be addressed to allow for more family time. Rather than discuss animal proteins as we have previously done, the focus will be on other food categories that provide for endless options at mealtime.

Time to bring in our top 10 foods to get on the grill or smoker for fabulous flavor to your meals!

Foods to Bulk Grill

#1 Peppers

Do not purchase fire roasted peppers in the store! They are so easy to make using any type of grill you own and any pepper you prefer. By grilling in bulk, these can be added to meals like grilled sausage topped with peppers and onions, whipped into a fire roasted pepper tapenade for snacks or appetizers, bring an elevation to a salad, or as an addition to Dutch oven meals (think chili, goulash, mac and cheese).

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Charred Pepper Dip

#2 Potatoes

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Sugar Maple for smoking is an excellent choice to bring out sweetness!

Sugar maple for smoking, sweetness not sour! Share on X

There is no question, North Americans love maple trees! Although we don’t have as many as the continent of Asia, we sure have a good share with some 12 varieties available. Plus, the Sugar Maple tree is the official tree of New York State!

Maple is a very popular hardwood for wood-fired cooking, especially hot smoking. We are blessed at SmokinLicious® to have in our harvest Sweet Sugar Maple hardwood. This extremely versatile wood can be used to smoke everything from eggs to brisket. It is a very even tempered wood so it works with spicy rubs as well as fruity sauces.

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Chef Bert brings Water Pan for Smoker to neighbor Tom!

Don't Forget the Water Pan For Smoker! Share on X

Poor Tom! He, like many other grill and smoker enthusiasts out there, never learned the value of a water pan. By providing moisture to the grilling area, you can avoid drying out your meats and poultry and never have someone mistake your food for a rock!

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Smokinlicious collects wood chips by Air

Wood chips collected by Air are cleaner for burning Share on X

Over the past several months, you have learned how your own hands can play host to transmitting the virus known as COVID-19. Once transmitted, the virus can potentially live on surfaces for up to several days.

Of course, there are factors that determine how attracted the virus is to the surface. Porous surfaces like those of cardboard and wood are not very attractive to the virus. It prefers smooth surfaces.

But there is still so much we do not know. SmokinLicious® continues to prioritize limiting human contact with our product manufacture and packaging. Our position is, we do not know enough to stop being diligent in our efforts.

Time to revisit our cartoon friends! Tom and Bert recently discussed the SmokinLicious® air collection process for wood chips.

Why Air Collected Packaging is Better!

Tom asks a great question, as often, we do not think about the wood we cook with. How is it bulk stored, what has it been exposed to, how much dust is in the product? Remember, dust slows combustion and can cause equipment failures. This is the main reason why SmokinLicious® designed a process for screening our wood chips to eliminate as much dust as possible. That is just step #2 in the process after producing the chips from larger pieces of wood.

Dedicated Air Piping

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Collage of Smoked Chestnuts go on a Stovetop Smoker

SMOKED CHESTNUTS ON A STOVETOP SMOKER!

Depending on where your located, chestnuts may only be available for a short period each year, usually around the holidays. Mostly pan roasted in the oven, why not do something unique with this prized fruit and smoke them! In addition to the chestnuts, you’ll need a stovetop smoker, purchased or you can make your own with tools likely in your kitchen. You can see our writing on the “The Kitchen Find” which will guide you on what is needed.

You will also need:

• Minuto® Chips Size #6 from SmokinLicious®
• a cutting board and knife
• about 2 hours of time. Be sure you also have a hood vent where you will be using the stovetop smoker in order to maintain a smoke-free kitchen.

You will find chestnuts available prepackaged or in bulk when in season. Although the packaged product will include a directive to cut an X in the flat surface of each nut, I grew up in a household where we always cut off the stem side. This is the small, dark cap side to the chestnut. The chestnut has a cap and a pointed end giving it a bloated teardrop look. I have found that when smoking, I get better control of the smoke infusion with a fresh cut to one end. Keep in mind, not all the chestnuts purchased will likely be viable as often mold will take hold of some of the chestnuts which you won’t see until you cut into them. As the chestnuts age, they can develop a fuzzy mold on the outside which will tell you not to waste your time cutting that one open! Simply discard!

Generally, chestnuts have a flat side and a rounded side.

To prepare them:

• lay the chestnut on the cutting board with the flat side down. Place your knife blade over the small dark cap, and slice off in one motion. This will reveal the chestnut meat inside which will have a yellow-white hue. Once the cap is off, you’ll be able to tell if any mold has set in as it will have a marked gray/black appearance. If any mold is noted, discard the chestnut as it won’t cook tender. If the majority is free of mold, go ahead and keep it for the smoking/cooking process.

To do stovetop smoking, there are 4 parts needed:

• a pan to hold the heat and wood chips
• a drip pan to prevent rendered fat and juices from entering the wood. Generally, you only need the drip pan when you actually have a food item that will produce juices or fat drippings.
• a grill pan
• a lid.

Note: Smoked chestnuts will not produce any drippings though they do have a percentage of water that will be released as steam into the lid of the pan. Just be sure when you open the lid that you keep any collected water from dripping back into the cooking grate.

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Tom did pay attention to our tips on how to store wood chips!

How to store wood chips Share on X

It is one of our top questions. Wood storage. Where to store wood, how to store wood, temperature ideal for storing wood, shelf life of stored wood. If you are an avid follower of our readings, you are likely familiar with our two cartoon characters, Tom and Bert. Thru these characters, SmokinLicious® has been able to guide millions of home grilling and smoking enthusiasts on techniques and tips to make every wood-fired cooking event a success.

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Thinking about using cedar wood for cooking? 6 reasons to don’t!

6 REASONS TO AVOID CEDAR WOOD FOR COOKING

You love different techniques for cooking and absorb new information like a sponge. In particularly, you love outdoor methods of cooking. One of your favorites is plank cooking on cedar wood. Every time you read a recipe, they all call for use of a cedar plank or other methods to use cedar wood for cooking.

But is cedar really the best choice? More so, is cedar wood for cooking a safe choice?

#1 Softwood Classification Presents a Concern for Using Cedar Wood for Cooking

Cedar wood is not a hardwood. It is a softwood that is from the gymnosperm trees meaning, it is a conifer or cone producing tree. As a rule, softwoods should not be used for cooking as they contain a lot of air and sap which equates to a fast burn and unpleasant flavors. In fact, there are many softwoods that can be toxic if cooked over.

#2 Poor Fire Resistance

During plank cooking, you are using the wood as a vessel to infuse flavor to whatever food is placed on top of the plank. Here’s the concern with cedar – because it is a lower density wood (23 lb./ft³), it has very poor fire resistance. That means, it reaches full combustion much faster than hardwood and will burn as a result. Certainly, that’s not what you’re looking for when you plank cook.

#3 Poreless

Unlike hardwood which contain pores in the cell walls, softwoods like cedar are poreless. They use cell components called tracheids to transport water and nutrients. In addition, the organic compound lignin found in the cell walls, is much lower than in traditional hardwoods used for cooking. Why is this an issue? Lignin is what gives wood fired cooking the distinct flavor and aroma to foods. In using cedar wood for cooking, the average lignin composition is 20%±4 compared to common hardwoods used for wood-fired cooking which average 28%±3.

#4 Plicatic Acid

Cedar contains chemical properties (specifically plicatic acid) that are shown to be a good absorber of odors and moisture. This is one of the key reasons why cedar is a preferred softwood for pest control to keep fleas, ants, mites, moths, and mosquitoes away. When exposed to plicatic acid for lengthy periods of time, a condition known as “cedar asthma” can develop.

Additionally, a regular exposure to the cedar oil found in the wood can result in contact dermatitis or skin irritation, rhinitis, and conjunctivitis.

#5 Animal Toxicity

There are many studies available on how the use of cedar wood chips and shavings have affected animals continually exposed to these products. Most studies show a correlation with liver dysfunction in animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters. In fact, smaller animals, like guinea pigs and hamsters, have a higher incidence of death which may be attributed to plicatic acid exposure. The phenols and aromatic hydrocarbons also have been shown to cause respiratory problems in animals like those listed above.

#6 Not All Cedar Is The Same

Cedar is part of the pine family of trees with native origin in North Africa and Asia. There are no native cedar trees to North America. The red cedar common in the Eastern USA is part of the Juniper family and can be highly toxic if taken internally. Under no circumstances should you ever cook with red cedar from the Eastern states of the USA.

USA cedar trees are referred to as false cedars since there are no native varieties. There are commonly 5 varieties of the false cedars available: Western Red Cedar (common to Southern Alaska, Northern California, and the Rockies), Northern White Cedar (Southeastern Canada, Northeastern quarter of the USA, south into Tennessee, and west into Iowa), Eastern Red (Aromatic) Cedar (Eastern USA), Yellow Cedar (Pacific Northwest from Alaska to British Columbia into Oregon), Spanish Cedar (although Native to South and Central America, it was planted in Florida). Every false cedar has some known health risks with the most common being respiratory due to toxicity of its pollen, oil, or other chemical compound.

Now you’re asking..

“So if there are all these documented health risks, how and why have cedar plank cooking and other methods of cedar wood cooking gain so much popularity?” I suppose the easiest answer is that cedar was used by the earliest settlers in the Pacific Northwest as a means of preserving, storing and cooking the seasonal fish. Think about the limitations of the day: they would be using resources that are available without thought to the items we ponder today like health, future risk, etc. This concept was examined from a different perspective many years later with the desire for flavor, appearance, and functionality.

We often make the mistake of jumping into something full throttle before asking some of the key questions to keep our bodies safe and healthy. Remember, there’s lots of documentation out there stating why you should not cook with softwood yet when it comes to cedar wood cooking, specifically, cedar plank cooking, we don’t seem to carry that issue forward. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why.

We love providing information to our readers and subscribers that is not in the open and letting you weigh the information for your own verdict. All types of questions are welcome and we encourage you to follow and subscribe to our social channels so you don’t miss anything. We look forward to providing you with tips, techniques, recipes, and the science for all things wood-fired cooked.

Purchase products:

Wood Chunks- Double & Single Filet

More Related reading on this subject

Additional reading:

-BEYOND PRICING: THE TOP THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PURCHASING COOKING WOOD

-THE TOP 8 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN COOKING & GRILLING WITH WOOD

–IS WOOD-TAR CREOSOTE THE ‘MONSTER’ TO WOOD-FIRED COOKING

Dr. Smoke says “Just because it might be a “fad,” cedar wood for cooking may not be good for your health.”

Build an open pit cooking fire for grilling and ember cooking! Is easier than you may think follow our steps below!

OPEN PIT COOKING- BUILDING THE PERFECT FIRE

SmokinLicious® receives a lot of questions about wood-fired cooking and one of the most repetitive concerns the building of the fire for cooking. We’ve developed this series to address how to build the fire by equipment and technique. For Part I, we cover the open pit cooking fire.

Get Organized- Open Pit Cooking

The first step is to know where you will build the fire. Are you planning on using an outdoor fireplace, a fire pit, or will you construct a temporary fire location?

When using an existing fireplace located outdoors, you must ensure that the firebox is clean of previous ash and wood. The same is true for a open pit cooking fire pit. If you will set up a temporary location for the fire, consider what you will use for materials to secure the area. It is never recommended to use your patio, paved driveway or lawn because a hot fire is sure to damage them or, at the very least, mar their appearance (thin charcoal black coating the surface). Using large stones, interlocking bricks, or a metal fire ring work great at securing the area to contain your fire.

Once you’ve decided on the location, you’ll need to collect some supplies to make the cooking safe and fun.

▪ material to contain the fire like stones, bricks or a cast iron/wrought iron ring. You can use an outdoor fireplace or open pit cooking fire pit whether permanent or portable

▪ water, shovel, dirt, and/or fire extinguisher to deal with potential fire spread or wayward embers

▪Smokinlicious® smoking wood chips for quick lighting

▪ small twigs or small pieces of hardwood to create a tepee around the wood chips (we like our Smokinlicious® smoking double or single filet chunks)

▪ larger hardwood pieces to create a 2^nd tepee around the first (Smokinlicious®1/4 cut logs work great for that)

▪ rolled newspaper or fire starters

▪ have additional hardwood for producing more coals for cooking as needed

▪ a coal rake, fireplace tongs for moving and relocating wood pieces, spray bottle of water to tame flames near food, instant read thermometer (you can also use a traditional wrought-iron log holder to make the fire – the hot coals will fall through and then you rake them to the cooking side)

The Perfect Fire for Open Pit Cooking

Always take note of the day’s temperature, wind conditions/direction, and conditions of your wood (dry or wet, fresh cut or aged) before you start. You want to be sure you set up and start the fire where the wind direction won’t cause smoke to enter house windows or the dining area. Keep those locations upwind.

In your fire safe area, pile up a few handfuls of hardwood chips (you can use newspaper but I like to try to stay with wood in its natural state). Make a small tepee around the wood chips using small wood pieces (our single filet wood chunks work great) or twigs. Make a second tepee of larger wood pieces around the first one. You’ll see that you’re graduating from small wood pieces to larger as you build but you’re also ensuring good oxygen pockets to help feed the fire to the next level. This is what ensures even combustion and even coals. Now, light the wood chips at the center and allow everything to ignite. Don’t add any additional wood until you see the outside wood ablaze.

Fire for Fuel, Coals for Open Pit Cooking

The purpose of your shovel other than as protector of wayward fire, is to take those hot coals and move them to the cooking area. Remember, the fire area is not where you are going to cook. That location is nearby but not with the flames. You should never cook over direct flame as it will overcarbonize the foods and result in bitter tastes.

Ideally, you want to cook over coals that have a white colored ash over them. Now, here’s how to determine temperature of those coals: hold your hand over the coals the distance your foods will be. If you can only hold your hand for a count of 2 seconds before you need to pull it away, that is high heat. 3-4 seconds is medium-high, 5-6 seconds is medium and 7-8 seconds is low heat.

Bring on the Food!

Once your coals are at the perfect temperature for the foods you want to cook, it’s all about cooking! Remember, you can set up different heat areas to cook different foods. That’s what makes the experience with wood cooking, specifically with coals, so exhilarating.

We hope this article was full information you didn’t know. Leave us a comment and subscribe so you don’t miss anything concerning wood fired cooking, flavors, and the science behind the fire.

More Related reading on “What Wood for Smoking” and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques

Interested in reading more? Try:

-Top 10 Vegetables to Cook in Hot Embers

-THE TOP 8 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN COOKING & GRILLING WITH WOOD

Purchase products:

Wood Chunks- Double and Single Filet

Wood Chips- Grande Sapore®

Smoker Logs

Dr Smoke- “Spending time on fire preparation for open pit cooking will enhance your cooking results.”

Adding salt choices has a purpose and why

SALT CHOICES- HOW MUCH AND WHAT KIND?

This article was born from a question which was recently forwarded to SmokinLicious® to answer. “Why salt choices are necessary in food despite adding different ingredients even for sweet dish need(ing) salt”.

I realized just how important salt is to the style of cooking known as barbecue.

Salt Choices- Why the Need to Salt?

Salt is a mineral found in crystalline form that is used as a seasoning for food. Simply put, salt brings out the flavor or natural essence of food. Salt choices draw out the natural juices in raw meat and dissolves with the liquid forming a brine that gets reabsorbed by the meat. This results in the meat’s ability to hold on to more of its own natural juices during cooking.

Salt Choices- Types

Over the past 5 years, salt choices have become a very hot commodity in the food industry. There are hundreds of kinds of salts but for simplicity sake, I will discuss those that are commonly found in grocery and food specialty stores.

Table Salt:

Decades ago, this was simply known as iodized salt. This is the most refined salt that is known to have a metallic taste due to the grinding process and high-heat process to produce it. It is almost pure sodium chloride and has the highest per-granule sodium content of all salts. When used in cooking, the cook generally will use too much due to this refined grind size. I recommend you never cook with standard table salt.

Sea Salt:

This salt type is made by the evaporation of seawater which results in the retainment of natural micronutrients. Unlike table salt which uses a high-heat process, sea salt provides minerals of iodine, magnesium, calcium, potassium and bromide. There are many different grind levels in sea salt and each of those, affect the taste, color, and mouthfeel of the salt itself.

Kosher Salt:

Known for its ability to distribute evenly on the surface of food, kosher salt is harvested by mining dried up ocean and sea beds. It has a much coarser grind than table salt, which is considered flaky (For cooks, it is reliable, consistent, inexpensive, and pure).

Finishing Salt:

Just as the name implies, this type of salt is used only when a dish is finished, for instance, sliced tomato with mozzarella and basil, grilled to perfection steak, and even watermelon. Therefore, it is considered a very light tasting salt.

Tamari and Soy Sauce:

I am including tamari and soy sauce as these are very common substitutes for salts in sauces used for barbecue. Sometimes, soy sauce is used in addition to salt or garlic and onion salt for these items, making them much higher in overall sodium content. On average tamari has 700mg sodium per serving while soy sauce comes in at a whopping 1000mg per serving.

Salt Choices in Relation to BBQ Rubs & Seasonings

Hopefully, you’ve learned how to read an ingredient list on any label. The first ingredients listed make up the largest amount of the contents, while the last few ingredients make up the least. I looked at five (5) popular BBQ rubs and seasonings sold on Amazon.com to see what ingredients made up the bulk of these items and where salt rated on the ingredient list. Here are my findings:

McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning – coarse salt, spices, garlic

17^th Street Magic Dust All-Purpose Seasoning & Rub – salt, sugar, dextrose

Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub – brown sugar, sugar, salt

Stubb’s Beef Spice Rub – sea salt, spices, cane sugar

John Wayne Rubs – salt, garlic, sugar

As you can see, salt is a primary ingredient of commercially marketed rubs/seasonings for barbecue. Therefore, I always recommend that you give some consideration to making your own rub or seasoning. When produced in large quantity, you can keep these in the refrigerator for up to a month in an air tight container. Best of all, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing you can control the level of sodium in your meal.

We hope you found this article informative and valuable. We’d love your comments! Don’t forget to subscribe to and follow us so you don’t miss a thing. We’ll continue to bring you tips, techniques, recipes, and the science behind all things wood-fired!

More Related reading on “What Wood for Smoking” and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques

Related reading:

-10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD SMOKE

-SMOKING FOODS IN FOIL: PROS & CONS

-JUST BECAUSE YOUR SMOKING (FOOD THAT IS!) DOESN’T MAKE IT ALL BAD!

Purchase products:

Smoking Wood Chunks- Double and Single Filet

Wood Chips- Grande Sapore®

Wood Chips- Minuto® and Piccolo®

Dr Smoke- “Making the right salt choices. This is the hardest part of cooking- too little or too much are both bad.”

Our finished wood roasted onions!

WOOD ROASTED ONIONS TO DIE FOR!

listen to our blog regarding wood chips for smoking

One vegetable that is available throughout the year is the onion. Although you’re likely accustomed to using this in recipes as an added natural flavor when you wood-fire the onion, something magical happens to its cell structure that turns these into the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth gems that you’ll want to use in even more recipes.

Onions are high in vitamin C, can aid in weight loss, and have reduced certain cancer risks, especially those associated with the digestive tract.

Whether you elect to do the standard yellow onion, the sweet red onion, or shallots, you will love how smoke vapor works to bring out the best in any variety.

Wood Roasted Onions- Preparing for the Grill

Before preparing the onions for the grill, let’s get the grill started by lighting the burners on only half the grill. This is referred to as two zone cooking. On the lit burner side, I place 2 wood chunks – I’m using the Single Filet size from SmokinLicious® – directly on the heat shields of my hot burners. This will provide the wood flavoring to the onions. My burners are set to medium-low which usually produces a cooking temperature of about 300°F. Simply adjust your burner setting to reach this temperature.

For the onions, I simply cut the tops of, slice in half and remove the skins. I place the halves cut side down in a roasting pan and add about ¼ cup of oil to the pan. With my pan ready, I place it on the unlit side of the grill and close the lid. In about 75 minutes, these will slightly charred, tender, and juicy.

Tasting Notes: Although I used avocado oil since you are not grilling over direct heat, you can use other oils such as olive, almond, walnut, grapeseed, coconut, sesame, canola, etc. Remember, some varieties of onion are considered herbs so doing an assortment of types will give you an abundance of flavors.

Wood Roasted Onions- The Longer the Wood Roast the More Flavor

You’ll find as these onions cook and absorb both the smoke vapor and oil, the scales of the onions will separate and caramelize. The results are tender, juicy and flavorful with a hint of woodsy from the charred edges.

I decided to make a simple sauce of butter, cheese, parsley, and pepper for my onion mix and served these alongside a pork steak, also cooked on the grill with a two-zone method.

The best part is onions are available year-round so I can do this method even in the dead of winter, as remember, the gas grill still functions even in the cold! For those who like to freeze produce, this freezes very well so grill a lot keep them so they’re ready for the winter days you don’t feel like lighting the grill. Just think what an onion soup will taste like when you wood-fire the onions first!

Tasting Notes: If using a charcoal grill, still use a two-zone cooking set up meaning charcoal on only one side of the grill. Be sure you only cook with hot coals, no flames. This type of grilling can have more challenges to steady temperature so make sure you check the onion pan more frequently.

Smokinlicious® products used in this blog:

Wood Chunks- Single Filet

More Related reading on “What Wood for Smoking” and other great smoking and grilling tips and techniques

Additional reading:

-EASY GRILL ROASTED TOMATOES

-Roasted/Toasted Onions over Embers

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Dr. Smoke- Wood roasted onions will add a superb flavor to these vegetables

Chef Bert and Tom combining hardwoods for smoking flavors

Learning how to combine Hardwood species to change their smokey flavoring Share on X

There is misinformation out there that you may have been victim to. When cooking with hardwood, you may have been under the impression that only certain woods can be used with certain foods. For instance, hickory is reserved only for pork shoulder and brisket. Cherry for chicken, etc.

But that is hardly the truth.

Hardwood used for cooking must be viewed as another ingredient. As a key ingredient, it needs to be balanced with the food item and other ingredients used in preparation before grilling and smoking.

The intent today is to provide a guide on combinations of hardwood that work well for specific foods. Essentially, the ingredients of a rub, glaze, sauce or marinade will dictate what hardwoods will maximize all the flavors to become a finished masterpiece.

Combining Hardwoods- Hardwood Selection as a Compatible Ingredient

The goal when using hardwood is balance of the flavor outcome. You never want the hardwood to produce an ashy or burnt flavor. The essence of the wood should simply add to the beautiful flavor outcome for a memorable eating experience.

Here is SmokinLicious® rating on boldness of flavor for the hardwoods we offer:

When I design wood recipes for specific foods, I like to think about balancing out a medium or bolder flavor with one that is lighter. For lighter fare items like vegetables and fish, two wood combinations are generally used while longer cooked animal proteins can tolerate three hardwoods well.

In the chart that follows, reference is provided to various foods that benefit from exposure to the specified hardwoods. Use the color blocks indicated under each food group to guide you on combinations. Find the same color blocks in that group, and you have the balanced combination of hardwood. For instance, under Fruit, there are two red squares for an alder and cherry combination. Under the Fish column, there are 3 options: Alder and Maple represented by the pink square, Beech and Cherry represented by the orange square, and Ash and Maple represented by the gray square. These combinations are balanced by the essence they produce in the smoke vapor. Just use equal parts of each wood and remember, always start with a small quantity of hardwood as it does not take much to produce great flavor.

TIP: if you are using a spicy rub, default to combinations that includes mild to moderate flavor intensity. Using sweet ingredients, include a bolder hardwood flavor.

Our Guide for Combining Hardwoods

Experiment to find your favorite combinations of hardwood and soon you’ll have your own personal, detailed guide!

Do you have a favorite combination of hardwood? Leave us a comment and subscribe to get our latest tips, techniques, recipes and the science behind the fire and smoke, for all live fire cooking methods. That’s SmokinLicious!

Products discussed in this Blog:

Wood Chunks- Double & Single Filet

Wood Chips- Grande Sapore®

More Related reading on combining wood species and sizes to change their smoke profile and more!

Related Reading:

-COOKING WOOD WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

-WHAT WOOD TO USE FOR SMOKING: A PRIMER

-10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE PURCHASING WOOD FOR COOKING, GRILLING & SMOKING

Dr. Smoke- Combining hardwoods by mixing different species and sizes increases your smoking results!