Tips for cooking with real firewood

I love cooking on real fire! Whether it’s on a gas grill, charcoal grill, smoker grill, campfire, or even in my fireplace, cooking with fire is fun and creates unique and delicious aromas and flavors that greatly enhance many foods. But by far my favorite way to cook is over a real hardwood wood fire. While a good charcoal cookout and smoker can certainly give you some nice charcoal-roasted wood flavors, there’s nothing quite like a real wood fire. There’s something very primitive and romantic about it, going back to pre-modern times when food was cooked over an open wood fire.

Most people no longer take advantage of real firewood for cooking because technology has made things easier for us. Between gas stoves and grills and easy-to-light charcoal, cooking with fire is quick, easy, and virtually hassle-free these days. However, there is something to be said for a quiet evening, lighting a real fire, and then using that fire to cook your food on the grill to perfection. Sometimes I don’t want “fast”, “easy” or the bare minimum.

So for all those like-minded grillers out there, those who want to get a little more prim and a lot more delicious, here are some tips on how to cook with real wood in your grill, fire pit, or even in your fireplace. It takes some time and practice to get it right, but I think you’ll love the results!

Choose good hardwoods

At the heart of the large wood-burning stove is good wood that burns long, hot and gives off tasty aromas. Don’t skimp on this department! All of the smoky and grilled flavor you get in your food comes from its wood, so if you use bad wood, your results will be poor. So what is bad? First of all, avoid soft woods in general.

Softwoods burn easily and hot, but don’t burn as long and don’t tend to develop long-lasting hot embers in their core. Softwoods, such as pine, for example, also tend to be quite resinous, and many give off piney or other strong odors that, while not unpleasant, do not go well with food. You can use softwoods to help start your fire, but what you really want for most of your firewood is good mature hardwoods.

Hardwoods are denser and will burn longer and hotter. They take longer to get started, but the extra work is worth it. There are dozens of hardwoods that make great cooking fuel, some of which have very distinct and delicious aromas and flavors. Oak is very common, which gives off a rich smoky aroma. I prefer fruit and nut woods as they tend to have a softer, almost sweet aroma. Some great options are almond wood, apple wood, pear wood, and walnut wood, if you can find them. Most people know mesquite and hickory for smoking, but they are also hardwoods that make excellent fuel. If you live in a vineyard, old grape vine cuttings make great wood for rapid fires!

Build your fire ahead

As I mentioned above, starting a hardwood fire can take some time to really work. Also, because you want to cook with as much coals as possible, you want to give the fire a chance to burn as much as possible before dumping food on it. This can take a long time and depending on how much you plan to cook and how big your campfire or grill is, this can literally take several hours to get the fire going, keep feeding it to build up a core of embers, and then let the large flames die down sooner. to start cooking. It should be noted that while I generally prefer to do this type of wood cooking over an outdoor fire pit with a grill, most people don’t realize that you can burn a wood in most charcoal grills. heavy duty, as long as it’s big. enough. I have used the large Weber 22-1/2″ charcoal grills with good results, as well as some Char-Broil charcoal grills.

cook with coals

As mentioned above, when cooking with real wood, cooking over hot coals is ideal. Why? A new fire, just started, does not give off much heat. Also, there are large flames coming out of the wood. If you place a grill grate over this young fire, you won’t get much radiant heat, and instead you’ll have big open flames licking up your food. This spells disaster for grilling! Your food won’t cook on the inside very quickly and the outside will catch on fire and burn to a crisp in no time!

To avoid this and get the most out of your firewood, take your time and start early. Glowing red embers emit shades of heat and do not have large flames. If you cook over a campfire or large grill, build the heat early and keep adding wood for a while to build up a deep core of hot, red coals at the bottom. Then let the top wood burn until there are barely any flames left, just a big deep pile of red embers. These coals give off a lot of heat, and because they don’t have large flames, they’re less likely to scorch your food. Only then should you place the grill rack and add the food. If you are doing a lot of cooking and the heat begins to drop, stirring the coals with a poker helps bring more oxygen to the wood and will increase the heat for a while. If you really need more fuel, you can add kindling to the side and only push it under the cooking area when it has burned out and no longer has large flames.

kitchen grill

One way to get the most out of your wood fire cooking is to use a barbecue. There are various barbecue gadgets that can be purchased at barbecue and camping supply stores. These are basically a large motorized or manual rotisserie that rotates on top of your fire pit. This is advantages for several reasons. Firstly, for large roasts such as whole poultry, pork and other large roasts, it gives you very even and consistent cooking heat throughout the meat so your food stays succulent and even.

Also, for these larger roasts, placing them directly on hot coals can burn the surface long before the interior gets hot. Finally, the rotisserie can keep your food a fair distance above your wood fire so you can even cook over open flames without your food burning. If it’s high enough, only the rising heat, not the actual flames, reaches the food, which swirls perfectly in the aromatic smoke. Thus, preparation time is reduced as the wood does not need to be burned to embers first, although some embers do help provide the proper heat. For grilled leg of lamb and whole chicken and game birds, roasting over a campfire is one of my favorites!

kitchen fireplace

In the winter, it’s often too cold outside to cook outside. However, many of us have a wonderful real wood cooking area in our homes, even though some of us don’t realize it. Most fireplaces are used purely for warmth and ambiance these days, but years ago it was the main cooking area in many homes. I love cooking at home and it’s not as hard as most people think. For most types of stoves with a fireplace, special equipment is needed. There are chimney cranes available that hold a Dutch oven pot or kettle with a handle over the fire for cooking stews, soups, or coffee. Fireplace grills are available, which are basically a grill that sits on top of the wood-burning grate in your fireplace and allows you to grill any number of foods.

There are even fireplace roasters available who sit right in front of the fireplace and slowly rotate their roast meats. But if you do not want to invest in any additional equipment, there is always the possibility of cooking with a rope fireplace. Traditionally a way to roast a leg of lamb in front of a fire, I’ve adapted the wire twist for roasting different types of roasts, from whole birds to tri-tip. All you need is a long piece of kitchen twine and a screw or hook fitted to the mantel over the fireplace. The weight of the roast spins it slowly on the rope so you have a poor man’s roast without a lot of extra equipment!

An alternative

Finally, if all of the above seems like too much work and hassle, there are easier alternatives for infusing your food with wood smoke flavor. One option is to use wood chips or chunks for smoking on a barbecue or dedicated smoker grill. Smoker cooking can really bring rich, aromatic smoky flavors to your food. However, because you’re using standard charcoal or gas as your fuel source, you avoid a lot of the hassle of cooking with real wood.

I hope these tips help you get started cooking with real wood to take your grilling to a whole new level of fun and flavor. Remember to always be safe when using fire of any kind! Follow all the basic fire safety rules so only your food gets cooked!