Cooking on a charcoal BBQ grill is a great experience – you get to cook your food infused with the earthy notes of smoked charcoal that elevates the tastes of your food unlike a regular gas or propane grill. There is a lot to consider when choosing the best wood for your charcoal grill. As a general rule, hardwoods tend to produce more smoke than softer woods, but this isn’t always the case.
Here are some of the most popular woods used by professional and amateur chefs:
Cherry:
Cherry is a very sweet smelling wood, and it has a beautiful light red color. It can be used for smoking, grilling, and baking. It is best suited to use in the summer months because of its light color and low heat output. You can take your portable charcoal BBQ grill to celebrate the new year with your loved ones and cook with cherry wood for delicious food!
Cherry wood is a very popular choice for smoking meat because it imparts a mild flavor that compliments the meat. However, it has a low heat output, so it should not be used for cooking over direct heat.
Apple:
Apple is a great choice for smoking and grilling because it adds a sweet, fruity flavor to foods. It’s also perfect for beginners who want to try their hand at smoking meat but aren’t yet ready to tackle the stronger flavors of hickory or mesquite. Apple has a milder flavor than some other woods, so it doesn’t overpower the flavors of your food.
Apple is great for smoking ribs and pork shoulder because they’re both long-cooking cuts that benefit from the added sweetness apple provides. The sweet smoke will help keep these cuts moist, too!
Apple is also good for smoking chicken, turkey, fish and vegetables on your Barbeque grill – the same way you might use other milder hardwoods like hickory or mesquite in these applications.
Hickory
Hickory is a popular choice of wood for charcoal grills, as it burns hot and fast. The strong, smoky flavor adds delicious depth to foods like pork and beef.
Hickory is a very hard wood that has to be burned down before you can use it in your grill. This means you have to wait for the logs to reach the right temperature before you can put them on your coals.
You should keep in mind that the weight of the logs, combined with their high density, makes them difficult to handle and store. Hickory is also more expensive than other types of wood but it is absolutely worth it.
Maple:
Maple is a popular choice for many BBQ enthusiasts. It has a mild flavor and low smoke point, adds an additional layer of complexity to any food item, which makes it perfect to use with fish as it won’t overpower the flavor. However, maple also has one major drawback: it’s not as hard as other woods like hickory or oak. This means that you should be careful about how long you leave your food on the grill – you don’t want to burn the meat!
Mesquite:
Mesquite is a hardwood that burns hot and long. It can be used to smoke meat and fish, but it also tastes great in coals for grilling. Because this wood has a distinctive flavor, it’s best to use mesquite for meats that have strong flavors of their own—beef, pork and chicken work well with this wood. Mesquites are not suitable for smoking vegetables or fish because their high temperature produces too much charring on the outside of those foods while they remain raw inside.
There are many types of wood to choose from when it comes to cooking on a charcoal BBQ grill. Each one has its own unique flavor and aroma that can be used to create the perfect meal. The most important thing is finding a type that works well with your grill so you don’t have any problems while cooking!
If you are looking for the perfect charcoal grills to buy in Australia, Kankay Grills has you covered! We offer a beautiful selection of high-quality Argentine grills that suit both beginners and enthusiasts! Just add the wood of your choice in the wood pit, light the fire, and start grilling!