"Duwop" > wrote in message
>
> Damn, really? So why do we read so often the reccomendation to burn down
> wood logs down to coals before using? I'm sure you've seen picture where
> someones burning down a bunch a wood in a burn barrell. Someone should
> tell
> them boys they're doing it wrong.


Nope, that is the right way. There is a difference between wood burned to
coals and lump charcoal. In a perfect setup, the wood being converted to
charcoal is burned in a low oxygen environment. The only thing left would
be pure carbon. The process is not perfect, so it is not pure. What has
happened though, is the byproducts of combustion have been driven off. Very
little or no smoke is going to be seen or smelled when burned.


Burning wood to coals, you don't have the low oxygen, but you have natural
draft. The wood is not burned as completely as in the charcoal making
process. Thus, you do have more smoke flavor that is going to get onto the
meat. The smoke has a couple of hundred chemical ingredients in it.

Burning straight wood gives off the most products of combustion, thus the
most flavor to the meat. Done wrong, it will also coat the meat with some
nasty residue.

Step back in time a hunded years or two, and go to an old fashioned North
Carolina pig pickin'. What was the object of the roast? It was to cook a
hog with the available fuel to make a meal. Smoke flavor is secondary.
Evolutionarily, we have come to like the smoke flavor and try to get some
onto the meat. Smoke curing was done to preserve meat, not necessarily to
flavor it, but that is a side benefit.




> The lump brand I use tends towards the low side of doneness if you know
> what
> I mean, brown still shows in spots and some of it looks more like singed
> wood than coal. And it makes a lot of smoke, especially when starting up.
> So
> maybe I'm not using lump cuz it sure dont seem to fit your definition.


Depending on your goals, the lump you are using is either very good or very
poor quality.


> And all this
> time I thought it was smoke coming out the chimney, damn, thanks for
> straightening me out man.
> It's not wood smoke according to you, and it's not fat cuz they dont hit
> the
> flame.

If you see smoke, you probably have too much and the fire is not hot enough.
If you like the end result, good for you, but billowing smoke is risky to
the taste.


>
> Well, I'll figure it out one of these days, but with your permission, I'm
> gonna keep fooling myself and my friends into tasting wood smoke without
> using firewood.

If you like it, that is what matters. I've had bbq that had so much rub and
smoke flavor and then topped with sauce that I had no idea what the meat
tasted like. Could have been pork, cat, rat, or some other road kill.

Many people make a gin & tonic with a slice of lime. That is OK for cheaper
gin, but when you get a bottle of Hendricks, or 10 or Malacca, you won't
want to spoil the taste with a lime.