Can you use wood in place of charcoal for grilling?

Question

Can you use chipped wood from twigs and branches instead of charcoal for grilling food?

Answer 1

I've used wood for grilling, but you need to use bigger wood and let it burn down to coals before you grill with it, unless your just gonna roast weenies on a stick over the flames. I would also stick with hardwoods such as hickory, oak, cherry, apple, maple, things like that. Stick with wood that would be used for smoking.

Answer 2

There are many types of wood that are unsuitable or even poisonous when used for grilling.

Don't use any wood from conifer trees, such as PINE, FIR, SPRUCE, REDWOOD, Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus Virgiania), CYPRESS, OLEANDER, etc.

Answer 3

You can... but BE CAREFUL.

Obviously, you don't want to use any "treated" wood products, as the chemicals will be released into the food you're cooking.

If you chopped down a maple from your backyard (for example), and used chips of it in your barbecue/grill, that's fine.  As long as the wood is dry (ie not "green") and hasn't been treated with any pesticides or chemicals, you can burn it.  But be warned, it doesn't burn as hot as charcoals; and the resins in the wood will "taint" the food stuffs you are cooking.  Which is fine if you like wood-smoke flavour added to your steak.

Answer 4

Yes, but it will burn very quickly and perhaps cause a fire.  Check into "wood charcoal" that you can find at places like Whole Foods, or even Wal-Mart.  Much better flavor.  And invest in a $2 charcoal starter that you can use to get your coals going without the use of lighter fluid.

Answer 5

Yes you can, this is how my husband grills all the time. He collects sticks/twigs/branches or small logs from the yard and places them in the grill. You will need lighter fluid to get the fire going but it grills food just as well as charcoal.