The different types of wood Chunks. Wood chunks from golfball to fist size are fairly easy to find in hardware stores. Chunks burn slowly, and often a chunk or two about the size of an egg weighing 2-4 ounces is all that is necessary for a load of food. Because they are slow, steady sources of smoke, they are in many ways, the most desirable. When you use chunks, you can add one or two at the start of the cooking cycle and you don't need to keep opening the unit and mess with the equilibrium in the cooking chambers atmosphere. Chips. About the size of coins, chips are also common and easy to find. They burn quickly and you may find that you need to add them more than once during the cooking cycle. Chips are fine for short cooks, but for long cooks, chunks are better. Pellets. Pellets are made by compressing wet sawdust and extruding it in long pencil thick rods. They are broken into small bits about 1/2" long. Food grade pellets contain no binders, glue or adhesives, and when they get wet they revert to sawdust immediately. Pellets were originally developed for household heaters. These pellets should not be used for cooking because they might have pine and binders. Some cookers use pellets as the main fuel, for both flavor and heat and pellet cookers do vey well in competition. Because they can be fed into the fire in a very controlled manner, usually by an auger, pellet cookers can be regulated with a thermostat, making them very controllable. Food grade pellets can be a good concentrated source of smoke flavor on other cookers, and a handful or two is usually all that is necessary on gas cookers, charcoal cookers, or electric cookers. Bisquettes. Bisquettes are another variation on the compressed sawdust idea. They look like small brown hockey pucks. They can be used for flavor, and one smoker, the Bradley, uses it for both smoke and heat. Sawdust. Sawdust can also be used for flavor, but it burns quicky and is rarely used. There are even a few small smokers, like the Camerons, that use smoldering sawdust.

Meathead's smoke bomb This method is ideal for both gas and charcoal cookers. Get disposable aluminum loaf pans. Fill both partially with dry wood. Pour enough water in the other to cover the wood. The dry pan will start to smoke quickly. By the time it is all consumed, the other pan should have dried out and begun smoking. Getting the correct amounts of wood and water may take you a few cooks to perfect, but you will perfect it. I can tell that much about you.

Originally all barbecue was done with logs as the fuel source. Wood smoke penetrated the meat and imparted a distinctive seductive scent that is the essence of barbecue. But it is difficult to control the heat and flavor when cooking with logs, so today, only a few die-hards cook with logs only. If handled improperly, logs can infuse the meat with creosote, not a pleasant flavor.

Today, most barbecues use charcoal, gas, or electricity, and get their smoke flavor by the addition of measured amounts of chips, chunks, bisquettes, logs, and sawdust. Click here for a good buying guide to smokers.

But wood giveth and taketh. You can ruin a batch of meat pretty durn easy by oversmoking. Oversmoked meat can be inedible. That is the most common error of the beginner. So start with only a little wood and as you get the hang of your cooker and your tastes, you can gradually add more each time you cook.

Here are some rules of thumb. The rules will vary from cooker to cooker, but start here with your experiments:

No need to soak. Here's a myth busted: It is conventional wisdom that you should soak wood before using it to slow their burning. I strongly disagree. In separate batches, I took wood chips and wood chunks labeled "apple", and soaked them 12 hours in room temp water. I weighed them on a fairly precise digital postage scale before soaking. After soaking I patted the exterior lightly with paper towels and weighed them to see just how much was actually absorbed. Chunks gained about 3% by weight and chips about 6%. I cut the chunks in half and penetration was only about 1/16". DOH! That must be why they make boats out of wood! Wood doesn't absorb much water! I suspect that if you toss wet wood on hot coals, the small amount of water just below the surface will evaporate rapidly, negating any effect of soaking, and the wet wood could have the deleterious effect of cooling off the coals when the goal is to hold the coals at a steady temp.

Which wood? Each wood has a unique aroma and flavor. Hardwoods with low sap are the best for barbecue, especially fruit and nut woods such as apple, cherry, peach, grape, hickory, alder, mesquite, maple, and oak. They all have slightly different flavors, but it is almost impossible to describe them. Fruit woods tend to impart a sweetness. I avoid mesquite. It can be harsh, bitter, and pungent. Hickory is the tried and true mate for pork, but some people find it too strong. I have had good luck with apple and oak, but I know cooks who use nothing but peach or cherry.

Bad wood. Whatever you do, never use wood from conifers such as pine, fir, cedar, cyprus, spruce, redwood. They contain too much bitter sap and have been known to make people sick. I have also heard that elm, eucalyptus, sassafras, sycamore, and liquid amber trees impart a bad flavor. Never use lumber scraps. Some lumber is treated with chemicals that are poisonous. Never use wood that has been painted. Never use wood that is moldy.

Fresh or dried. Green woods have more sap, burn irregularly, and impart different flavors than dried wood. Some cooks prefer green wood, some dried. I stick with dried wood.

Bark or no bark? Some folks say you should remove the bark. I don't think it matters.

What does Meathead prefer? If I was on a dessert island I would want a bag of apple chunks and a bag of small apple chips or pellets. I would use the chunks for steady slow release smoke, and the chips or pellets for quick smoke.

Add wood early. Meat seems to soak up more wood flavor at the start of the cook, and the colder the meat the more smoke it absorbs.

How much is enough? Make sure to weigh the amount of wood you use so you can increase or decrease it as you wish in future cooks. The amount you need will vary depending on your preferences, your cooker and how tight it is, the thickness of the meat, and if you use chunks, chips, or pellets. Here's where to start your experminets: Use four ounces of wood for ribs. Use eight ounces for pulled pork and brisket. Two ounces for chicken, turkey, and fish. Add it in doses. Put on about two ounces when you put on the meat and add another two ounces every hour, or when you can no longer see smoke.

Where to get it? There are a number of barbecue specialty stores opening around the country and there may be one near you. Most hardware stores carry only hickory or mesquite, but a few carry expanded barbecue supplies and a selection of woods. Watch the newspaper for ads from stores promoting a lot of grills. Then give them a call. Also there are a number of places to buy wood on the net. Another option is to go to an orchard and ask if you can have some dead limbs.

Which wood? Each wood has a unique aroma and flavor. Hardwoods with low sap are the best for barbecue, especially fruit and nut woods such as apple, cherry, peach, grape, hickory, alder, mesquite, maple, and oak. They all have slightly different flavors, but it is almost impossible to describe them. Fruit woods tend to impart a sweetness. I avoid mesquite. It can be harsh, bitter, and pungent. Hickory is the tried and true mate for pork, but some people find it too strong. I have had good luck with apple and oak, but I know cooks who use nothing but peach or cherry. What does Meathead prefer?If I was on a dessert island I would want a bag of apple chunks and a bag of small apple chips or pellets. I would use the chunks for steady slow release smoke, and the chips or pellets for quick smoke.

For charcoal grills. Put the wood right on the coals.

For gas grills. Some gas grills have large gaps and the wood will fall through so put your wood in a foil pouch. Use heavy duty foil or two or three layers or regular foil. Poke holes in the top so the smoke can escape. Place the pouch as close to the heat as possible. You can also use a small disposable aluminum pan with holes poked in the bottom. Reader Jeff Hale has this tip: Make up a bunch of pouches in advance. "When one is burnt up... throw another one on." Another option is to use a small aluminum pan.

This page revised 8/5/08