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"Jack Curry" <Jack-CurryRemove > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ray Steinhart" > wrote in message
> ...
> >I have read many comments about not using whole wood for bbq, only
> >charcoal. Yet I have visited many bbq joints and they all seem to use
> >whole wood. How is this so? What makes their pits acceptable to the use
> >of whole wood. I use lump charcoal but do not seem to get the smoke
flavor
> >I am looking for and I am thinking whole wood may be the answer. I use a
> >Brinkman vertical smoker with the side fire box- also called the grill.
> >
> > I am puzzled as to how restaurants can use whole wood.
> >
> > Thanks for your answers.
> >
> > Ray Steinhart
>
>
> Barbecue began with the burning of "whole" wood in a pit dug in the ground
> and this method continues today in many forms. If there's a "secret" to
> cooking barbecue, it's all in the control of the fire.
> If you want to add smoke, either add wood to your lump charcoal or burn
all
> wood in the firebox.
> If you want to add wood to your lump, consider wrapping a few fist-sized
> chunks in heavy aluminum foil and tossing them in with the lump. They'll
> smolder and emit good smoke for quite awhile, and you get a free lump of
> charcoal when you're done. Or just toss a few chunks in and let them burn
> down a bit.
> Or.
> Consider building a medium-sized fire from dry wood and allow it to burn
> down to coals before putting meat in the cooking chamber (the trick is to
> achieve a steady temperature in the cooking chamber and to have just a
thin
> blue smoke escaping from the chamber vent), then add a chunk of wood at a
> time as necessary to maintain temperature and smoke level. Always leave
the
> upper vent open and control the air flow through the lower vent into the
> firebox.
> BBQ joints (the good ones) have pits that enable fire management, meaning
> they achieve a relatively constant temperature accompanied by a proper
smoke
> stream. Too much smoke is worse than not enough, since creosote will
> collect on the meat and produces a bitter, acrid taste.
>
> Jack Curry
> -it's all about the fire-

================================================== =
Jack...

Not to argue with you...

Sometimes, when I am being really lazy, I take a sheet of aluminum foil that
has held up some meat in the pit (and is greasy, etc.) and I stick it on top
of the coals "until tomorrow." It burns up the grease OK, but often I
notice that the foil itself is largely disintegrated by the heat of the hot
coals. Thus, I wonder if aluminum metal is vaporized and goes into the
"meat pit" (when, in Gus's case, the meat is already removed...).

Gus is not sure that he wants to wrap anything in foil and put it onto the
coals during Q-time.

Your thoughts on that, Jack???

Best to you and all,
Gus Kilthau
Houston, Texas