Where There’s Smoke, There’s Flavor Smoking Foods On Gas Grills (NAPSA)—Today’s grillers are hungrier than ever for moreflavorful foods, as evidenced by the steady increase in the sales of wood chips and wood chunks over the last several years (according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association). “When you add particular kinds of wood smoketo your food, you are taking advantage of a technique that most people associate with charcoal. Actually, it’s just about as easy to control wood smoke with a gas grill, and the results are fantastic,” says Chef Jamie Purviance, author of “Weber’s Real Grilling.” As one of the country’s top grilling and barbecue experts, Purviance offers consumersuseful tips when smoking meats, fish and vegetables on gasgrills: Choosing a Smoking Flavor. “The world of barbecuehasits traditional pairings of certain woods with certain meats, like hickory with pork and mesquite with beef. Those traditions wouldn’t last if they didn’t taste great, but keep in mind that there are manyflavors of wood andfoods, other than pork and beef, that improve with a touch of smoke,” says Purviance. Purviance suggests smoking with hardwoods provided they are sold dry and untreated. Avoid softwoods, like pine and fir, because they are too resinous for smoking. According to Purviance, hardwood chips and chunksfall into three categories of flavor inten- sity: pungent (mesquite, hickory and pecan), moderate (oak, maple and alder) and mild (apple, cherry ee Se handle the pungent woodsreally well,” he adds. “For the moderate woods, I like fish, pork and poultry. It’s amazing what a handful or two of oak chips can do for chicken pieces. Very quickly they pick up a deep wood-fired flavor without any bitterness. The mild woods have an even sweeter, fruitier quality, which works beautifully with chicken and also with vegetables.” Prepping the Wood. Not quite readyfor grilling, wood chips should be soaked in water for at least 30 minutes; chunks need at least a one-hour soak. Soaking ensures that chips/chunks will smolder rather than simply burn. Thoroughly drain and loosely fill the gas grill’s smoker box, such as the one featured on some Weber Summit grills, and leave enough room for air to circulate. On the Rocks. Even without a a smoking attachment, you canstill enjoy the diverse, rich flavors imparted by smoking. Simply place presoaked wood chips in a foil pan, cover with aluminumfoil, and poke enough holes in the foil to allow the smoke to escape. Once the grill is preheated, place the foil pan directly on the bars or lava rocks over the lit burner. Place the cooking grates on top, turn the burners on high, and close the lid. Begin cooking when the grill is fully smoking. Smoking Sense. Whenever smoking your foods, Purviance offers this last reminder: Meats and vegetables will taste best if the smokeis kept inside thegrill. So don’t peek too much. Keep the lid down whengrilling with wood. And, for safety, always allow the woodto cool completely before disposing it. For more smoking and grilling tips, visit www.weber.com.
