Trying to part ways with charcoal

K Man · Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Detroit, MI (DTW)

I would like to part ways with charcoal completely. I am tired of the nasty cleanup even with an ash catcher and I do not like when I open the grill on a somewhat breezy day and see ashes blow up from underneath and settle on the food (disgusting). Is there anything wrong with grilling steaks or seafood on just wood? For instance using some of that bagged Charbroil wood (mesquite or hickory) that I see at Home Depot and Lowe's all the time.

OSoSlow · Posted: Aug 26 2007 Post subject:

maybe a little harder to start, and should be burnt down some to ash, then ash trouble again but not as bad...been using lump ? seems best to me for just grilling....
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necron 99 · Posted: Aug 26 2007 Post subject:

Nothing wrong with cooking over wood. For a number of years while I lived in Texas I cooked over mesquite only when cooking outdoors, whether grilling or slow cooking. Charcoal cost money that was scarcer for me back then, while I could get the mesquite via labor only on my part at the time.

This company even sells cookout bags of wood where you light the bag. I haven't used their cookout bags, but I do buy and use their bagged pecan wood mini-logs.

http://www.woodinc.com/cookout.html

If you cook over anything but gas or electricity, there will be some ash produced, but wood and lump charcoal produce less ash than charcoal briquettes due to the additives in charcoal briquettes. I primarily use charcoal briquettes these days, and add wood for flavor. I use the 'natural' charcoal briquettes where only a starch binder is present, but they do produce significantly more ash than wood or lump charcoal.

Hope this helps.
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K Man · Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Detroit, MI (DTW)

Thanks for the tips guys. I also forgot about those Weber charcoal holders. They look like a pretty helpful tool for keeping the charcoal in one place and would probably make my life easier as far as cleaning. However, I will try cooking on wood a couple of times just to evaluate the flavor.

rustyc · Posted: Aug 29 2007 Post subject:

Not at all... as long as there's no bark (or its been well burned off).

I use hardwood firewood on occasion in my BBQ, and have used natural mesquite MANY times in Mexico and Arizona when camping (where you can get dead branches of mesquite right off the ground!)

--Rusty
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