Why does hardwood work so well in smoking and cooking?
Hardwoods contain over 100 organic compounds, but the 3 main ones are:
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cellulose (composition 40-60%)
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hemicellose (composition 20-30%)
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lignin (composition 20-30%)
But it is precisely lignin, a phenolic compound, which gives cooked or wood-smoked foods a distinctive flavor, aroma, and color!
Smoke is the visible gas resulting from the combustion of wood, and each hard wood will react differently to the food or drink exposed to its smoke producing a unique flavor, aroma and color for food, there is no real "description" for each wood aroma, we will instead look to guide you on the audacity of the flavor.
The added advantage of smoking is the protection of food from bacteria.
BASIC RULES
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A wood for smoking must contain a percentage of humidity close to the fresh wood to exercise a correct yield, it follows that this must be rehydrated before being used (only valid for chips, sawdust instead given their granularity stay drier otherwise they would get too drenched).
Therefore, do not immerse the wood chips in water just before using them, but they will need to be rehydrated the night before.
The goal when cooking on outdoor equipment is to maintain a stable temperature for the cooking process.This ensures that your foods cook evenly and taste pleasant from the cooking process.When adding too moist wood products to the coals , it stimulates a "cooling" effect to those coals which results in a fluctuating temperature.
The energy is spent to vaporize the water from the wood and bring the coals back to temperature, always apply the wood products with the correct humidity either directly on the coal, on the ignition starters or in the container for smokers.
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Never add too much wood, probably the biggest mistake made when smoking or cooking with wood is adding too much. I always tell cooks to see wood as another ingredient in the overall dish and to have a tempered hand.
Always start with about a few grams of wood product and replenish only when the wood has shrunk to 1/3 of its size. Refueling is only necessary to complete the entire cooking or smoking time.
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Do not measure the infusion of flavor by the amount of smoke, with most equipment on the market today, the materials used in the construction ensure an efficient set-up so that the air does not escape except out of the vents. intended air.
Don't add wood to your equipment just because you don't see smoke, the best smoke vapor is barely visible and has a slight blue tint, plus rest assured, the wood is doing its job even though you don't see much smoke, you should certainly hear it instead. the smell of wood as you smoke.
- Choose the right humidity level for your techniques:
- Cooking : Wood with low humidity around 20%
- Smoking : Woods with high humidity - at least 45%
For most wood firing techniques, a humidity level between 15 and 35% is ideal, this level will allow you to fumigate hot via direct method (heat / smoke directly under the food) or method indirect (food placed on the side without direct heat below), produce smoke vapor on the gas grill using the diffusers, starter kit, or directly in the smoking box, also cook directly on a fire.
For charcoal or charcoal cooking, it is preferable to use wood with a humidity level of around 15%, as this will allow the wood to burn faster and produce the charcoal bed necessary for this type of cooking.
If the wood is too dry, say below 10%, you are simply using something designed for a maximum amount of heat production, these woods should be reserved for cooking or heating use in stoves.
Remember, moisture means there is water in the wood ... it takes some time for the water to evaporate, which means the wood will last longer when cooking / smoking.
Undoubtedly, the type of wood and the species are critical to successful use in the kitchen, so USE ONLY hardwoods !, that means no pine, redwood, spruce, fir, cypress, cedar or woods derived from resinous plants. soft woods contain a higher percentage of sap and air space in their cells which results in unpleasant flavors when cooking.Moreover, many of these soft woods can trigger unhealthy reactions for the body, so stick to hard woods that have been tested for cooking and smoking.
- Learn two-zone cooking, to bring less stress to your outdoor kitchen, learn how to cook with a two-zone set-up:
- heat on one side of the grill / smoker,
- food on the fresh side.
You won't feel tied to the equipment the entire time the food is cooking, I find this allows for greater stability of cooking temperatures and keeps food cooking uniform.
We believe that the right wood can bring a level of flavor to foods that make it an "experience".
Everything starts from the clean source of our forest areas, from a careful selection of non-diseased, untreated hardwoods, grown in the forest and mature, wood harvested in high ground above 1,000 meters above sea level.
This ensures that your purchase produces the cleanest, purest and tastiest result.
By using cleaner wood you will use less product, which means less upfront costs.
We know and guarantee the source of the wood and the humidity level of each product.
Moisture Recommendations
Everyone will remember the lesson we learned in elementary school about growing trees:
the growth of trees depends on the roots in the ground and the canopy in the air.
This is the point to understand the relationship between water and wood, the roots of the tree collect moisture and nutrients from the soil and forward them through pots or fibers to the trunk, branches and leaves.
Wood is hygroscopic , which means that when exposed to air, the wood will lose or gain moisture until it is in equilibrium with the humidity and temperature of the surrounding air.
By changing the relative humidity by 50% you will have a 10% variation in the moisture content of the wood, which is why the storage of the woods used for cooking and smoking is very important.
Agritech Store with Smoke & Wood , recommends that our culinary woods be stored in a dry, cool and possibly without light location.
It is also advisable to place the wood in a well-ventilated container (i.e. a cardboard box with perforated air holes, even better the technical bag in which they are shipped; avoid plastic that can react with some woods.
Now, you know that the key to an exceptional smoking success is to use hard woods that maintain a certain level of humidity, preferably + 30%, the higher the humidity level, the greater the smoke that will be generated, Smoke & Wood is a product of our woods from the forests of Trentino where the trees are known to have high levels of humidity.
Despite this, Smoke & Wood wants to ensure that the consumer receives the freshest and highest quality hardwood, therefore, we are the only smoke wood product manufacturer that takes moisture readings of each product before shipping, this is a guarantee. not to find unpleasant woods with mold.
Of course, the final use must be calibrated by rehydrating according to the humidity level required for the various cooking or smoking techniques.
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