OT: How do you cook over a wood fire?

Carolina Q

Botch said:

Most food shows I've watched that visit a famous barbeque shack, the pitmaster's primary tool is a shovel, he's always moving burned-down coals to the cooker, from a separate fire.  

Here's a clip about the Skylight Inn. Watch from 5:00 to 6:30 to see how they burn the wood to coals and then spread the coals under (near) the meat. Just coals, no flame. The way traditional Q is cooked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKwt1yxnJoo

Sameday

Watch a few episodes of Man Fire Food.  Great show.  

saluki2007

This is the best thread in a long while. Thanks for sharing all your wisdom guys. 

SciAggie

You definitely get wood flavor. Most food is over the fire a relative short time (compared to smoking a pork butt or brisket). And yes, visible smoke does not equal good smoke flavor. 

lousubcap

I consider this thread as a "set the hook" environment.  I am definitely learning the total open fire concept and this after feeling very comfortable with the stick burner operation.  I thought I quit after going down the stick burner acquisition road some 3+ years ago...  And for the record, I am not going any further down the trail that @SciAggie has established.  But playing with and occasionally mastering fire is a whole lot of fun...  

SciAggie

@lousubcap I would follow up and say that cooking over coals may seem difficult and intimidating but I have learned that it is not as hard to manage as some may fear. This is not humble bragging. Of course there is a learning curve but it is short. 

Just as you can turn a knob on a gas grill from low to high, with coals you just drag away or add more. I think a Santa Maria grill is a great tool for those that like to play with fire. 

 

I think a SM grill with a fold down front and the side area to generate coals would make it much more fun to operate. I think they would be almost a necessary accessory in my opinion. 

Once you realize that you only want to cook with COALS then managing heat is much more simple. Managing the fire to generate coals is a separate skill set but one that’s also fun to master. 

It is just a hoot to grill protein and veggies, make paella, grill bread, make gravy or whatever over wood. Add a piece of 3/8” or 1/4” plate and you have a wood fired Blackstone griddle. 

Of all the cooking toys I have in my arsenal I think my hearth is the most pure fun to use. 

SciAggie

@johnmitchell Your BIL’s setup looks like a ton of fun. 

womaus

Search out a hardcover copy of 

Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way 

by Francis Mallman

Be sure to get the hardcover, the pics are worth the $25.00 you'll need to spend.

womaus

Wanted to add that I picked up one of these more than a few years ago, have put it to good use over time. I have a side of the road find Weber kettle base that I use for the wood fire, this just places over the top.

https://gabbysgrills.com

Stock photo off of the Gabby's website:

womaus

Or for more fun set up a Schwenker

https://germangirlinamerica.com/how-to-schwenker-grill/

Easy and cheap to do with EMT tubing, a little bit of chain and a grill top. I use the same roadside find kettle sans legs for the open fire (we've got residential open fire restrictions in my area, I take these grills right to the edge of right or wrong).

Again, stock photo off of website:

Mickey

One of the most interesting threads. 

Eoin

womaus said:

Or for more fun set up a Schwenker

https://germangirlinamerica.com/how-to-schwenker-grill/

Easy and cheap to do with EMT tubing, a little bit of chain and a grill top. I use the same roadside find kettle sans legs for the open fire (we've got residential open fire restrictions in my area, I take these grills right to the edge of right or wrong).

Again, stock photo off of website:

Schwenker's are great, saw them a lot in Saarland / Pfalz when I lived in that corner of Germany. 

rifrench

Very interesting, the Schwenker.  Another tool in the cooking box, one that I would like to try.

alaskanassasin

rifrench said:

Very interesting, the Schwenker.  Another tool in the cooking box, one that I would like to try.

My FIL uses one for summer cooks. Half chickens or Brats for the family, works great.

billt01

Love this.......

Stellar examples all!

Slippy

I thought this had some pretty good info, and got me to wanting a SM...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq-nNfUrgNc 

Carolina Q

Slippy said:

I thought this had some pretty good info, and got me to wanting a SM...  

That's Chef Robert Del Grande. Owns a restaurant in Houston.
He has one of those wood fired grills in his home kitchen! And COPPER... LOTS of copper!

SciAggie

For lack of a better place I thought I’d put tonight’s cook here. I have a 24” discada I like to use over a wood fire. I put a chimney full of hot lump under it for a uniform source of heat. I like to add small sticks that will ignite quickly when I need a sudden burst of intense heat. 

It’s a bit like being able to go from medium to high heat - then back to medium easily. It works great when I’m stir frying. I do the same thing making paella. You want a steady medium heat most of the time. When you add the rice and need to bring it to a quick boil, throw on the small stuff - by the time it burns out you have the rice at a simmer.

I made fried rice tonight. 

The bed of coals.

Medium heat cooking the bacon.

Upping the heat to stir fry.

If you use small sticks the fire is almost out by the time you clean the wok/discada.

lousubcap

@SciAggie - you have perfected cooking over a wood fire on many different rigs and set-ups.  That looks great as always.  

SciAggie

@lousubcap Thanks. I’d like to keep this thread alive. As you well know, running a stick burner requires knowing how to manage a fire. Splits need to be sized to match the pit you are running and added at proper intervals to keep a steady, clean fire. 

Camp ovens, woks, planchas, - all have their own unique fire management needs. None of it is difficult - it just takes some experience. People did it for thousands of years, huh?

If we add cooks along in this thread maybe someone will find a nugget of useful information every now and again. 

bicktrav

SciAggie said:

For lack of a better place I thought I’d put tonight’s cook here. I have a 24” discada I like to use over a wood fire. I put a chimney full of hot lump under it for a uniform source of heat. I like to add small sticks that will ignite quickly when I need a sudden burst of intense heat. 

It’s a bit like being able to go from medium to high heat - then back to medium easily. It works great when I’m stir frying. I do the same thing making paella. You want a steady medium heat most of the time. When you add the rice and need to bring it to a quick boil, throw on the small stuff - by the time it burns out you have the rice at a simmer.

I made fried rice tonight. 

The bed of coals.

Medium heat cooking the bacon.

Upping the heat to stir fry.

If you use small sticks the fire is almost out by the time you clean the wok/discada.

This is an awesome and timely revival of this thread! I made tritip tonight on my SM grill, which turned out fantastic. Also parboiled some sweet potatoes and finished them on a cast-iron skillet over the fire. After that, I watched the Francis Mallman Chef's Table, so it's definitely been a wood-fire night for me!

Quick question: did you start your fire with logs or chunks? How long did you let them burn to get that coal bed? Were you poking, blowing, or raking, or did you just let it go on its own? 

SonVolt

My favorite kind of cooking! 

SciAggie

@bicktrav I begin with a chimney starter full of lump. Then I added small sticks when I wanted flame to bump the temperature. Keep in mind this is only a good strategy if you are cooking in some kind of vessel - wok, skillet, pot, etc... Flames directly under a protein or vegetable generally doesn't turn out too well. In those cases if you need more heat just add more coals.

jdMyers

When ever I can I use a rotisserie over wood fire.  Mostly when we go camping.  Just to see the camp neighbors watching it all day.   I wish I had smell a vision.

bicktrav

In the spirit of keeping this thread alive, I figured I'd post my cook tonight: tri tip with sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts (sides not pictured). This one was a bit of a learning experience. The food was fine, not great. We were having some people over, and there was a good amount of food. I didn't build a big enough fire for the amount I had to cook. By the time I realized I needed more heat, it was getting crazy late--kids needed to eat--and I had to work with the inadequate coal bed. I guess I could have just thrown in some fresh wood, but I chose not to because I didn't want to smoke out the food (common wisdom is that you don't cook over fresh wood, only glowing coals). Anyway, another live fire cooking lesson learned. Next time, I'll build a much bigger fire. 

lousubcap

I don't know about the sides but those tri-tips look great right there.  Thanks for keeping the "fire" thread going.  

SciAggie

Now you see the merit of the side brazier. You can have a ready source of fresh coals - or a place to go with excess coals if you need to reduce the heat. You can use something as simple as an inexpensive outdoor fire pit. 

You manage this cook well. Those tri-tips look great. 

bicktrav

SciAggie said:

Now you see the merit of the side brazier. You can have a ready source of fresh coals - or a place to go with excess coals if you need to reduce the heat. You can use something as simple as an inexpensive outdoor fire pit. 

You manage this cook well. Those tri-tips look great. 

Yep. I've got an old fire pit that I've gotta clean. I think I'll do that today, so I don't run into this issue again.