Smoke signals: Smoking basics
Box and Pipe: Smoking boxes or pipes are ideal for chips of almost all sizes. They can be used in charcoal or gas grills and are reusable as often as you like
One of the great advantages of a grill over a stove is that you can work with real smoke flavors. This is not recommended in the kitchen for a number of reasons, but it is rarely a problem outdoors. But using smoke still requires skill, because you can ruin your food badly if you choose the wrong type of wood and the wrong amount.
A question of technology
Anyone who buys special smoking wood from a specialist retailer should know what to do with it afterwards. The much-vaunted soaking, for example, is overrated. Most woods are hardly able to absorb much water. We did the test with two cherry wood chunks. In 24 hours (!), in which we completely submerged them in water, the weight increase was less than 15 percent. Now you can imagine how much the often recommended 30 to 60 minutes of soaking achieves. Practically nothing. Accordingly, you delay the smoking process for a few minutes at best until the little water has evaporated. The often recommended option of simply throwing a handful of wood into the embers is only partially useful. On the one hand, this doesn't work with gas grills, and on the other hand, the small pieces of wood burn extremely quickly in the embers and only develop smoke over a very short period of time. This can be useful for dishes that don't really get hot but should have a smoky flavor. For example, pickled salmon. But there are exceptions to every rule. Larger pieces of wood, so-called chunks, can also end up in the grill. They burn for longer and produce corresponding amounts of smoke. Logs are often used in the side firebox of a smoker, and the typical chunks can be used here. This also makes it clear that fine smoking powder has absolutely no place in the grill. They are really only suitable for proper smoke ovens that have a bowl or a fuel burner.
If you don't want to put the wood on the grill, how can you do it? The best thing is to use a smoker tube or smoker box. They come in a variety of sizes and qualities, but they're all based on the same principle. You're basically always dealing with a metal container that's closed at the bottom and has small holes on the top. It's heated from below, and this heat causes the wood to start to smolder. Because the container is closed at the bottom, it doesn't get enough air to burn properly. So it just smokes slowly. But it does so over a relatively long period of time, which ultimately gives the food a balanced flavor and also gives a piece of meat a nice smoke ring.
If you don't have a smoking box to hand, you can use aluminum foil to wrap the chips in. You poke a few holes in the top of this packet - that works too. However, aluminum can melt on glowing charcoal, which is an unpleasant side effect. That's why it's better to avoid disposable smoking boxes, which are also available to buy.
Flour and smoker's fire: Smoking flour is particularly suitable for cold smoking, often in conjunction with a smoker's fire. It should burn slowly without generating heat. In a hot grill it burns extremely quickly
Smoking with the gas grill
For gas grills, only smoking chips or pellets are really suitable. However, pellets sometimes tend not to burn through completely. In contrast to charcoal grills, you have to pay a little attention to the shape of the smoking box with gas. With many devices, the food to be smoked has to be draped directly on a flame deflector, sometimes also called an aroma rail, so that there is enough heat to make it smolder. Tubes in particular do not fit on every grill, which is why it is best to take a look under the grill grates before buying. Very important and regardless of whether you use a tube or a box: the container should not be packed too full because then the embers will smother. This can happen quickly, especially with very small chips or pellets. If you feel that you are not producing enough smoke, you can simply do two runs.
Using smoking chips is not rocket science. It is advisable to start slowly. Beech wood is a good place to start because it is the most common flavor for the local palate. A lot of sausage and fish that you can buy has been smoked with beech. The taste is therefore very well known. Based on this, other woods can be combined with different types of meat. You can experiment freely here because nowadays smoking is all about taste. In the age of refrigerators, smoking as a preservation method has lost importance.
Which wood for what?
It goes without saying that grandma's old Formica wardrobe is taboo as smoking wood. Only natural, untreated woods are suitable, and even then not all. High resin contents such as in fir, pine or spruce are bad. Birch is also rather unsuitable because of the sap. Fruit trees such as apple or plum go well with pork, poultry and fish, cherry with red meat. All woods have a light fruity note. Beech goes with pretty much everything because it produces a very mild, balanced smoke. Hickory or mesquite have a certain sweetness, although in the case of hickory this is combined with spiciness. Alder produces a more reserved, subtle smoke aroma, oak the exact opposite: strong to rough. While alder is also suitable for fine foods, the other woods are more suitable for meat, which has a strong flavor of its own. Otherwise there is a risk that the smoke will dominate.
And then there are other types of wood such as maple, olive, grapevine - you can try all of these over time. Special mention should be made of wood from barrels of drinks such as wine, sherry or whiskey. The barrels are usually made of oak. The aromas of drinks in the wood are fleeting and therefore disappear pretty quickly. The person standing at the grill will notice them, but not much sticks to the meat. So if you serve your guests roast beef smoked with whiskey barrel wood, you should mention it in passing. Otherwise, no one might notice that Jack Daniels or Jim Beam were involved. Of course, you can also use wood from your own "growing". If you already have a fireplace that you fire with beech, you can use this. And well-dried tree cuttings from the garden can also be used. The question of the bark always comes up. In theory, this can also be used. However, it should be clean, i.e. free of moss or other growth. If you are not sure, just leave it out.
Wood: The market for smoking wood is huge. Schnitzels in a wide range of sizes and flavours promise versatile taste experiences for both charcoal and gas grills
Chunks: Chunks are large enough to be placed directly on the coals. They are best suited for charcoal grills and smokers. Our picture also shows the rather moderate weight gain after 24 hours under water
In our shop we have a 6-piece set from Axtschlag for you!
The starter box makes it easy to get started with smoking. The starter box is also ideal as a gift for any occasion to passionate grill and BBQ fans. Refine your grilled food and create special, convivial barbecue moments with your loved ones!
Included in the set:
* Pack of 3 grill boards, cedar
* 1 kg smoke powder, cherry
* 1 kg smoking chips, hickory
* Smoker Cup (smoking box), stainless steel
* 8-pack of grill paper, cherry
* Grill skewers/kebab skewers, cherry
You can also find other smoking wood from Axtschlag in our shop. Just take a look!
