Take a tip from the experts: use BBQ wood chips to spice up your grilling. Connoisseurs know that good barbeque takes a lot more than just slapping some meat on a grill. Renowned experts in the field such as Bobby Flay, Dave Foley, Butch Lupinetti and many others swear by BBQ wood chips. With the summer grilling season upon us, here are some tips on how to introduce BBQ wood chips into your grilling and start cooking like the pros.
What are BBQ wood chips and why use them? These wood chips are very small pieces of wood added to your BBQ that will create smoke. If you're not already using wood to cook your food, the only way you're going to get true smoke flavor is to add wood to your grill fire.
Whether you use a charcoal, gas or electric grill, wood chips will give you authentic barbecue flavor. You can also buy a special smoker box to place in your gas or charcoal grill so that you can get that "wood smoke" flavor. Read the instructions for your particular grill before you try doing this.
When you use wood chips, take care to keep them burning quite slowly. What you want is slow, steady smoke. Intense bursts of smoke will simply make your meat bitter. If you soak wood chips in water for about 15 minutes before you use them, you'll slow down their burn and make them smoke more. Before you use them, though, let the wood chips "drip dry" for a few minutes before you add them to your fire. The wood chips should be moist rather than truly wet.
If you're using a smoker in your grill, it's probably not necessary to soak the wood chips before you use them. Soaked wood chips will burn longer, but if you're cooking a steak, you probably don't want a long, slow grilling.
Wood smoking chips or BBQ wood chips are available in a wide variety of flavors. They go from mesquite and hickory all the way to cabernet. The stores that sell BBQ wood chips will have flavor guides to help you wade your way through the new age of wood chips.
In general, if your meat is lighter, you'll need a milder wood chip flavor. You can also try "heavier" flavors with lighter meats, though, such as using mesquite with chicken. If you're going to do this, try using a few wood chips instead of a lot to see what this does to your flavor.
If you use alder wood chips, these are great to use with pork or seafood. Fruit wood chips are a mild wood chip that you can use with veal, poultry or pork. These types of woods include cherry or apple.
Maple and hickory BBQ wood chips have a strong flavor and are best used with beef, pork and poultry. Beef, duck and lamb go well with the strong mesquite wood chips, and oak, another strong flavor, is good with beef and ham.
Just remember that BBQ wood chips are a flavor enhancer and not the meal itself, so don't skimp on your meats! Make sure you have a good cut that is fresh and well prepared. Otherwise, your fancy wood chips will just be going to waste on an inferior piece of meat that no amount of grilling expertise can retrieve.
So the next time you decide to grill a great piece of meat consider using some of these BBQ wood chips and savor the great flavor and aroma coming off your grill. - 16003
What are BBQ wood chips and why use them? These wood chips are very small pieces of wood added to your BBQ that will create smoke. If you're not already using wood to cook your food, the only way you're going to get true smoke flavor is to add wood to your grill fire.
Whether you use a charcoal, gas or electric grill, wood chips will give you authentic barbecue flavor. You can also buy a special smoker box to place in your gas or charcoal grill so that you can get that "wood smoke" flavor. Read the instructions for your particular grill before you try doing this.
When you use wood chips, take care to keep them burning quite slowly. What you want is slow, steady smoke. Intense bursts of smoke will simply make your meat bitter. If you soak wood chips in water for about 15 minutes before you use them, you'll slow down their burn and make them smoke more. Before you use them, though, let the wood chips "drip dry" for a few minutes before you add them to your fire. The wood chips should be moist rather than truly wet.
If you're using a smoker in your grill, it's probably not necessary to soak the wood chips before you use them. Soaked wood chips will burn longer, but if you're cooking a steak, you probably don't want a long, slow grilling.
Wood smoking chips or BBQ wood chips are available in a wide variety of flavors. They go from mesquite and hickory all the way to cabernet. The stores that sell BBQ wood chips will have flavor guides to help you wade your way through the new age of wood chips.
In general, if your meat is lighter, you'll need a milder wood chip flavor. You can also try "heavier" flavors with lighter meats, though, such as using mesquite with chicken. If you're going to do this, try using a few wood chips instead of a lot to see what this does to your flavor.
If you use alder wood chips, these are great to use with pork or seafood. Fruit wood chips are a mild wood chip that you can use with veal, poultry or pork. These types of woods include cherry or apple.
Maple and hickory BBQ wood chips have a strong flavor and are best used with beef, pork and poultry. Beef, duck and lamb go well with the strong mesquite wood chips, and oak, another strong flavor, is good with beef and ham.
Just remember that BBQ wood chips are a flavor enhancer and not the meal itself, so don't skimp on your meats! Make sure you have a good cut that is fresh and well prepared. Otherwise, your fancy wood chips will just be going to waste on an inferior piece of meat that no amount of grilling expertise can retrieve.
So the next time you decide to grill a great piece of meat consider using some of these BBQ wood chips and savor the great flavor and aroma coming off your grill. - 16003
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For more great tips and advice on the art and science of BBQ, visit Best BBQ Tips.
