Page 88 - Barbecue Chicken Made Easy

you need to do is use a 2-zone set-up and
. That’s right, let it catch fire and burn. You won’t see a lot of smoke, but that’s
what you want. The truth is that billowing white smoke from smoldering wood does not taste as good as “blue smoke,” smoke whose particles are so small they don’t diffract much light, so the smoke is thin, pale blue, and practically invisible. Those flames are combusting impurities that impart undesirable flavors. Let it burn!
Never use any kind of pine or sappy, soft wood unless you want meat that tastes like turpentine. Never use construction lumber because it is often treated with poisonous chemicals to discourage rot and termites.
Charcoal is not a good source of smoke. When you first light charcoal it produces an acrid smoke. When it is fully ignited and has a thin coat of white ash charcoal and produces little smoke. That is when you add real wood.
We don’t care what you have read, there is no need to soak wood before adding it to a charcoal or gas grill. First of all, it doesn’t absorb much water. That’s why they build boats from wood! Secondly, all that billowy white smoke is really steam because the wood cannot combust until the water on the surface of the wood evaporates at 212°F. Then the wood can go up in temperature to 500°F+ where it can combust. At that point, it burns with a bright blue and orange flame, making clean blue smoke with few impurities. Invisible “blue” smoke from burning wood tastes better than billowing white smoke from smoldering wood. Click here to learn more on this topic.
Do not overdo it on the wood as too much can result in a bitter and overpowering smoke flavor in your food. If the result isn’t smoky enough for you, add more the next time you cook.
fruitwood, or nutwood on the flames and let it burn
throw hardwood,