Now We’re Smoking

Poll - April 21, 2014

With Easter Sunday comes family gatherings, and most of those revolve around a big meal. Being Italian, one of the most traditional dishes at the table is roasted leg of lamb. In years past, I have simply baked it in the oven, with very good results.

But, recently, I have discovered the joy of smoke roasting the lamb on my grill. With a healthy rub of olive oil, garlic, rosemary and other spices, I put the lamb on the grate with a very low flame and some water soaked boards from my scrap pile to impart a great, smoky flavor to the roast.

Today, we want to know if you have ever used your shop offcuts in your culinary endeavors. Maybe you maple smoked some salmon or hickory smoked some ribs… whatever you may have done, just be sure to let me know when dinner is!

Discussion

Marc Spagnuolo April 21, 2014 7:50 am

I usually save all of my food-friendly woods for smoking. Maple is the old standby but I’ll save oak, cherry, alder, and hickory when I have the stock. One of my favorite parts of being a woodworker!

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- Jay April 21, 2014 6:35 pm
  
  Pacific Salmon cooked on a cedar plank (I use 1×6 fence boards) is a favourite at my place. Just make sure it’s not pressure treated!
  
  Reply
Bill Akins April 21, 2014 8:33 am

A few years ago I received some apple tree logs. They made beautiful bowls. I saved the scraps for the grill. Makes delicious ribs. A year ago we picked up a fire pit for the patio. The scraps make wonderful kindling. A couple handfuls of plane shavings will start the fire in no time.

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Jordan April 21, 2014 9:02 am

I save my Maple, Oak, Pecan, Apple & Pear wood scraps for the smoker.

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Eddie April 21, 2014 9:51 am

Lots of Mesquite down here in TX… makes for some great brisket!

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Mike Freda April 21, 2014 10:10 am

I’m a bit worried that some wood is bad and/or carcinogenic.
It would be nice to have a list of “safe” wood.

If I new what solid wood was good and safe I’d be more inclined to try it.

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- Marc Spagnuolo April 21, 2014 11:16 am
  
  Just stick to the standard woods that are typically used for smoking and you’ll be fine. http://bbq.about.com/cs/cookin.....1097_2.htm
  
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- jason April 23, 2014 6:15 pm
  
  All smoke is carcinogenic. That’s why it tastes so good.
  
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Mike April 21, 2014 10:49 am

Definitely. I find a mix of 2/3 maple and 1/3 cherry provides a nice combination of smoke, flavor, and burn time. I have also used oak, birch and hickory. It keeps the scrap pile from getting out of hand and I detect less “off” or acrid flavors than when I use firewood or the chunks sold in bags. Clean wood = clean flavor.

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steve April 21, 2014 2:25 pm

being that I am a chef by profession i can say this. don’t soak your wood in water just put it right on the fire for more flavor. Also have the burners under your product off and the burners on the side on for a more indirect cooking. Keep the temp low 250 is a good starting point it will allow the meat to take in more smoke flavor before it gets cooked and sealed off from the outside world. and for those of you worried about carcinogens put your wood on and when the white smoke dissipates most of the carcinogens will have been burnt off and you will have a safer meat but you will always have trace amounts. As long as your not eating smoked meat everyday its not that big of an issue. green woods will burn slower and give you more smoke. Dried woods will burn hot and fast, you will probably have to replenish it threw out the cooking process. and lastly don’t use spauled woods or exotics when cooking use local hard woods. mostly fruit trees and hickory cherry works well too. Caution mesquite is very strong in flavor.

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- Marc Spagnuolo April 21, 2014 2:34 pm
  
  Hey Steve. Since most of what I use is kiln dried hardwoods, I actually do soak the wood in water for the exact reasons you mentioned. I don’t want the wood to raise the cook temp too much and I don’t want to have to replenish it too frequently. Would that be the exception to your initial comment about not soaking the wood?
  
  Reply
  - Phillip Moore April 21, 2014 2:50 pm
    
    Re: Soaking wood, Virtual Weber Bullet guy did a test with soaking and found it was not worth it on wood chunks. However, he wasn’t using kiln dried wood either. May be worth while doing a test (cutting it) and see if it soaked it in or not. He did a video about it: http://youtu.be/rv7y1TWyKEw
    
    Reply
  - Steve April 21, 2014 7:29 pm
    
    Soaking the wood helps the burn time but will make the wood mor smolder then burn not giving off much less smoke. you could always remove the right grate on you grill and put small chunks of wood on the fire and because it’s easy to get to you could put 2-3 pen blank size peices every 30 min
    
    Reply
  - Mike April 22, 2014 6:54 am
    
    I used to soak the wood, and sometimes still do, but I am really not sure it makes a big difference in burn time. Unless you are using small chips that soak all the way through, or soaking your wood for a few days, most of the moisture will be superficial and burns off in no time when sitting on top of a pile of hot coals.
    
    I have used green woods but to me it just gives an off, kind of rancid flavor. I prefer kiln dried woods because it is nice and clean and presumably any nasty stuff in the wood, like sap, bugs, bark, moss, etc have all been killed off.
    
    In my weber kettle grill, I typically use 2 or 3 larger chunks of dry hardwood and dump the charcoal on top of the hardwood. You will get a slower burn that way because there is less air down there. Most people do the opposite, they put wood on top of the coals and it burns up in no time flat. I keep a stash of small chunks of hardwood and throw on top of the coals as needed.
    
    But lets be honest, BBQ is an intersection of art, science and superstition so getting the science right only gets you 33% of the way there :)
    
    Reply
Phillip Moore April 21, 2014 2:48 pm

I one time got some post oak logs for the purpose of using in my smoker. I don’t have a chain saw so I had bright idea of using my 12″ miter saw to cut them up into nice rounds to toss onto my Weber Smokey Mountain cooker. Word of warning, little bits of wood and bark GO FLYING OFF AT HIGH SPEED when you cut logs on the miter saw.

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Matt Merges April 21, 2014 2:49 pm

I find that wood shavings from the handplane are excellent to get a charcoal briquette “chimney” starter going. Gather a handful of shavings, put in a brown paper lunchbag/sack, stuff in the bottom of the chimney and light. The flame lasts longer than it does with newspaper, and gives one the satisfaction of putting bits of scrap to good use.

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Kirk April 21, 2014 4:18 pm

Not for smoking but I do use them to make cooking utensils like spoons & spatulas!!

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Steve April 21, 2014 7:33 pm

You could smoke meats with shaving please see Alton brown good eats cold smoked salmon he shows how to do it

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Barry E April 21, 2014 8:04 pm

For those of you who looking for a great smoker, look into Big Green Eggs. They’re recognized as one of the best smokers on the market. They’ll smoke meats at 200 degrees, or quickly sear a steak at 700 degrees. Like a great quality power tool, it’ll last forever. And yes, I’ll throw my oak and cherry cut offs in it depending on what’s cooking!

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- Mike April 22, 2014 7:48 am
  
  I have been on the fence with a BGE. I have a few friends who have both the BGE and the Weber bullet smoker and prefer the Weber for smoking and the BGE for high heat grilling and pizzas. The Weber is less cumbersome and easier to set up, in their opinion.
  
  Reply
  - Marc Spagnuolo April 22, 2014 7:52 am
    
    I have a Primo, which is comparable to the BGE. My only complaint about it is that it’s a pain in the butt to add wood for extended smoking periods. The thing is exceptionally efficient when it comes to fuel, but to add more chips you need to remove the food, the grate, and then one of the deflecting plates. It’s not that hard to do, but it can be a bit messy and it leaves the unit open a little longer than is ideal. But since a bag of charcoal now lasts me for MANY cooks, I’ll take the trade-off. I’m not sure if the BGE has any nifty feature to address this issue but the Primo definitely doesn’t.
    
    Reply
    - Mike April 22, 2014 12:47 pm
      
      My understanding is that the BGE has the same problem.
    - Patrick April 25, 2014 10:19 am
      
      I bought a Primo exactly for this reason. Sounds like you might want to check out the firebox divider. For the vast majority of cooks, I only light 1/2 of the charcoal and leave one of the grates off – I only use the deflectors for larger indirect cooks. For most indirect cooks, the grid is on the opposite side and adding additional smoking woods is easy, just toss it in. For direct cooks, it’s still easy enough to add wood if the grates are in the upper position.
      
      I also have a 3rd grate where I cut a section of it away (about a 4×4″ square) and recoated the bare spots with high temp enamel to avoid rusting. My “deflectors” for indirect cooks are just travertine tile cut to shape anyway, so I made a hole in one of them along with a cover so this method still works for indirect cooks too. It’s a little hassle to move the food out of the way, use the ash tool to slide the cover away and drop in some additional smoking woods, but it’s far less effort than having to take the food, grates and deflectors off.
      
      Kind of funny that you posted this topic actually, as it was my love of good Q that got me into woodworking. First “real” woodworking project was a table for the Primo made of ipe and white oak. After the build, I realized I enjoyed building the table just as much as I did using it, and the rest, as they say, is history.
      
      Food for thought too – a grill table might make a good guild project or maybe one for the free site. I bet there’s a decent bit of overlap in interest.
    - Marc Spagnuolo April 25, 2014 10:36 am
      
      Hey Patrick. I actually do have the firebox divider so I’ll give that a shot. Most of my indirect cooks are large (ribs) so it winds up requiring both grates. For smaller cooks, I’ll definitely give that divider a shot. Maybe I’ll also try using the divider with one deflector plate and the ribs on both grates. Having one of the deflector plates out of the way would still be an improvement over what I do now.
      
      As for the project, I have thought about it. But my grill sits in a built-in alcove and I don’t have a need for it anymore. Maybe I’ll find someone locally who can use one and get it into the project lineup.
Riley April 21, 2014 8:58 pm

I don’t cook, but I gave some cut offs to a neighbor to use

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Scott Meek April 22, 2014 10:55 am

I have boxes of Mesquite cut off’s due to it being my most popular option for my planes. I even save some of the Mesquite shavings. I use some of it almost every time I grill.

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Tamim April 22, 2014 9:25 pm

I just got a sweet electric smoker for Christmas and have been using all kinds of scraps from the woodshop.

Hickory and Oak for Brisket.

Apple and Cherry for Chicken/Pork.

Unfortunately, the majority of my scraps are Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) and supposedly this isnt a good wood for smoking. Bummer because I have probably 100lbs of small cutoffs.

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Mike April 23, 2014 7:34 am

I understand the concern about using exotic species for cooking, but it makes you wonder what they use for BBQ and grilling in south america, where there is a huge BBQ culture.

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Eric Schwartz April 24, 2014 11:22 pm

A lot of times you can go to Woodcraft (or some other local wood store) and ask if they have any scraps laying around that you can have. I tell them I’m doing some weekend grilling, and they will load me up with cutoffs from their workshops.

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Tom April 25, 2014 10:04 am

I have a Kamado Joe (same as the BGE, but has a few added touches for the same money) and have used red oak from my shop for a brisket. Pretty tasty. But my favorite is pecan chunks with any bird like chicken. Crazy good! No need to soak chunks, but I do like Mike’s idea to put the chunks on the bottom. Gotta try that.

All the eggs including Primo have new optional grate systems that make it easier to add chunk or lump. Check out ceramicgrillstore.com and thegardengates.com for some options.

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Nick April 25, 2014 2:32 pm

As an amateur wood worker and avid smoker, A mentor taught me long ago that kiln dried woods have a sharper harsh resinous smoke. Air dried is definitely the way to go as the smoke from these are sweeter and desirable.

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Chester April 28, 2014 8:21 am

Marc –
My business partner of 30-years actually won the quasi-National Barbecue contest in Kansas City about 15-years ago. And, over the years, I have learned quite a bit about smoking. With the real barbecue crowd, smoking is barbecue. What you and I have done for many years on the grill with barbecue sauce is called grilling. Both are good … but smoking is a wonderful thing and is really very easy. We always do ours over charcoal at very low heat but I know that it can be done over gas. Dry rubs are all the rage with smoking and different woods will definitely impart different flavors. Some of the favorites are mesquite, cherry, hickory and apple.

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- Marc Spagnuolo April 28, 2014 8:25 am
  
  Low and slow baby!
  
  Reply
Clayne March 13, 2019 3:25 pm

I use scraps from work hickory, cherry, hard maple etc. I always make sure to cut the paint off the ends though.

Reply

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