Men's Journal

Barnyard Hay: perfect for your backyard BBQ. Photo credit: Michael Pirrocco

You’ve mastered the marinade and dry rub. Now elevate your grilling repertoire with unusual fuels for your fire.

By Dacus Thompson

For pit masters, mixing a few chunks of wood in with the coals is the secret to a good smoke — the key to unlocking deeper, more nuanced flavors. But perfecting that wood/meat combo is a hazy science. “Putting something like mesquite with chicken is too overpowering,” explains Big Lou Elrose, a former cop and the current executive pit master at New York’s Wildwood Barbeque. “The meat’s too delicate.” The general rule of the grill, according to the 6-foot-4 and somewhere north of 230-pounds Big Lou, is to save more intense woods like mesquite and hickory for beef, less pungent oak and maple for pork, and the milder smoke of apple, cherry, and pear for chicken and shellfish. But after these basics, there’s a whole world of smoke to explore.

First, the fundamentals. Start with high-quality charcoal like Kingsford’s 100 percent natural Competition Briquets. “Charcoal is the fuel, but it’s the wood that infuses the meat with flavor that saturates your taste buds,” says Big Lou, who soaks half of the wood for 30 minutes beforehand to get a quick burn along with a prolonged smoke. “Most people use water, but you can get creative and soak it in wine or bourbon.” To age properly, wood should be dried for about four months (the greener the wood, the stronger and more bitter the flavor). With charcoal, place the wood on top of coals. On a gas grill you’ll need a metal smoker box, or make a simple pouch out of aluminum foil and place it on the flame.

While traveling the country to compete in cook-offs, Big Lou experimented with local woods such as sassafras (“use it with sausage in combination with filé powder — ground sassafras leaves act as a thickener — to get a musky, sweet flavor out of gumbo”), orange (which “gives a great citrus flavor and caramel color to whatever you’re cooking, even cheeses like mozzarella”), and pecan (“incredible with anything gamey, it leaves a nutty, sweet aftertaste”).

But some of his most pioneering finds come straight from the backyard. “Smoking fingerling potatoes with dampened hay gives the potatoes a strong, delicious smokiness,” says Big Lou. “Hay is also nice with fish like turbot, striper, and flounder.” Just cover the bottom of a square roasting pan with hay, place the potatoes on top, cover, and let it smoke gently over a low fire. For fish, wrap the hay in foil, poke several small holes in the packet, place on the coals, and grill the fish as you normally would. “Have a squirt bottle on hand in case you get too much smoke,” he advises.

For a deeper mint or rosemary flavor, take a couple of sprigs of each, soak them in pinot noir or cabernet for 24 to 48 hours, and mix them in with the charcoal and a few pieces of oak. “Cabernet has some oak flavor in it,” says Big Lou, which accentuates both the herb and wood smoke flavors in your meat. For beef or pork, he recommends smoking concord grapevines to impart a tangy, berry taste. “You can also mix the leftover grapes right into whatever sauce you’re using,” he says. “You want an ingredient’s flavors to come through at all levels of the dish.”

Try Mixing These With Your Coals:

HAY

The mild complexity of hay — yes, traditional barnyard hay — offers a sensual, earthy undertone to fingerling potatoes (a perfect accompaniment to lamb chops) and even fish.

GRAPEVINES

“Smoking grapevines will give you a subtle hint of whatever variety of grape the vines are from,” says Big Lou. Concord grapevines, for example, give a rich, tart, aromatic flavor.

MINT/ROSEMARY

“By smoking them — instead of place on the meat — you get an indirect use that infuses a subtle herbal flavor throughout,” says Big Lou. “It’s the perfect way to season game birds.”

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This article originally appeared in the June 2009 Issue of Men’s Journal.

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