J
jswordy
Guest
I used straight hickory wood until my last two smokes. YES, there is a distinct flavor difference that any traditionalist smoker will immediately notice when I cheated on starting the fire with Kingsford charcoal, even if the preponderance of the ensuing smoke session is done with hickory only.
However, there are two interesting things I have found out that are in charcoal's favor: 1.) Cheating on the fire means that I can get things rolling a lot quicker than waiting for wood to burn down; and 2.) among the general public and even people who smoke with coals and wood chips, the flavor of charcoal followed by hickory is preferred, I guess because it is familiar. Both of those things favor cheating with charcoal to start things off and then going all wood once I have coals, even though what results is not true hickory taste.
People around here eat a LOT of cue, and the only reason I can fathom that they prefer the charcoal and wood taste over pure hickory is because virtually every commercial BBQ place around here cheats (usually with gas) and uses wood smoke as a flavoring agent instead of a cooking source. The chief reason is how much quicker/cheaper it is to do it that way.
However, there are two interesting things I have found out that are in charcoal's favor: 1.) Cheating on the fire means that I can get things rolling a lot quicker than waiting for wood to burn down; and 2.) among the general public and even people who smoke with coals and wood chips, the flavor of charcoal followed by hickory is preferred, I guess because it is familiar. Both of those things favor cheating with charcoal to start things off and then going all wood once I have coals, even though what results is not true hickory taste.
People around here eat a LOT of cue, and the only reason I can fathom that they prefer the charcoal and wood taste over pure hickory is because virtually every commercial BBQ place around here cheats (usually with gas) and uses wood smoke as a flavoring agent instead of a cooking source. The chief reason is how much quicker/cheaper it is to do it that way.