Tips, Tricks & Techniques
Spring Clean-up in the Yard Can Yield Great Flavors for Grilling & Smoking Food at Backyard Cookouts
I received an email from Stu a few weeks back:
Dear CB:
This is the time of year that orchards are heavily pruning their trees and therefore a great time to collect free green fruit woods to use for BBQ-ing next summer!
Stu R
Well this got me to thinking about all of the wonderful flavors and tastes that come from the garden – and not just vegetables and fruits for the grill or smoker! I’m talking about collecting the wood pruned from trees, shrubs and vines as well as trimmings from herbs in the garden. As long as you know the plant matter is free from pesticides and other chemical treatments – I encourage you to harvest and save trimmings, leaves, herbs, branches, vines, and limbs as you get your garden tidy this spring.
Placing dried herbs in a marinade will add flavor to the meat. During the final 5-10 minutes of cooking (be sure to close the lid) place twigs pruned from fruit trees and as it smolders it will coat the outside of your grilled meat with delicious flavors.
Perhaps you know someone who has a larger garden or even a professional who will give you permission to collect trimmings. I try to get grape vines each spring from the organic vineyards (no pesticides) as well as tree branches from the apple, pear, peach, nectarine – even walnut and filbert trees.
Think of the scented rosemary bushes in your yard as you trim them back and tie some into bundles that you can hang in your pantry or kitchen. Maybe you also have different varieties of sage, lavender or thyme in your garden or yard. Even apartment and condo dwellers sometimes have herb pots on the balcony that need trimming – save these and dry them or freeze to use immediately when grilling this spring!
Happy Grilling!
Know someone (not myself) who used those ‘grapevines’ to make grapevine wreaths. OOPS major case of poison ivy. My husband was in an area when those ‘grapevines’ were burned with yard waste. Major case of poison ivy in his eyes and also throat and nose. Moral of this tale: Be careful of what you put in that grill for that lovely smoke ! — RUTH ANN
CB, Thanks again for your GREAT newsletter…really appreciated and enjoyed. Interested in your section of the current newsletter on the twigs or trimmings from fruit trees….and grape vines. I have all of these in my back yard, and would appreciate it if you would expand or comment on their use/s on the grill. I have of course soaked and used hickory chips before, but unsure on the application of “bark coated” twigs/trimmings. Also have not heard about the use of grape vines before….is a grape vine soaked and added to the coals or smoker canister as wood chips?
Sincere Thanks, Nic W
NIC, thanks for the nice note. Sorry it took me a couple days to get back to you – I was on holiday.
The most important thing to remember when using any wood or other plant matter is that it is clean of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals or substances. And it’s a pretty good idea to have a handy reference guide to ensure the stuff you are picking is actually what you think it is! (see Ruth Ann’s comment above!)
As to the use of wood or other material on your grill – experiment with flavors. When you are grilling food – the actual smoke generated by herbs or wood cuttings will only lightly flavor the outside of the food you are cooking – it doesn’t smoke it. Smoking is a longer process. (Read about smoking in TIPS section of the blog)
I will often use twigs plucked right from the fruit tree and place them on the grates directly over the burner – to let them smolder. I don’t think there is a need to soak things – in fact I never did get that process, all I ever seem to create is steam before the chips or chunks dry out and finally smolder, at last generating the smoke I wanted in the first place.
So if you have access to grape vines, fruit trees or hardwoods like oak, hickory or even scrub like mesquite or kiawe – have at it! And don’t forget rosemary and other herbs that grow easily in pots or outdoors. – CB
CB – Thanks so much for taking the time to respond ……especially as you did….fantastic. I am now a little better educated. As I said…or wrote, I have all of those trees in my yard…and grape vines as well…am definitely going to experiment. Thanks again, Nic