Talking the Talk, Smelling the Smoke

I never mind stopping for a bit to chat about barbecue – I will probably learn something new and the wondrous smell of smoking meat is free. I can't get enough of that beautiful smoke and can't learn enough about the art and science of smoking meat until tasty moist and tender. Speaking to the owner of “Hog Heaven” was no exception.

While sampling the smokey goodness coming from his smoker, I learned the fellow was from Missouri and we bemoaned having to pay for hardwood, especially because we both had haunted woods full of beautiful oak, maple, and hickory through our childhoods. Here in Arizona mesquite is easy to come by, but gives the food a little bitter flavor, part of it's appeal, though it doesn't work well with everything. Starting with hickory and finishing with some fruit wood was the plan he used and I can vouch for it being an excellent technique. Oak is good and can be found in Arizona, hickory not so much and I have yet to see any apple trees – lots of citrus, but I have heard the smoke from citrus wood is a trifle toxic, so I avoid it.

The proprietor of Hog Heaven had things to do so I left him to it, thinking about picking up a pork butt and smoking it over some hickory chunks and finishing it with some apple wood chunks I had at home. I'd also like to try tossing corncobs on like they do in South Dakota where corncobs are easy to come by giving steaks a nice finish from what I understand. I do use mesquite, mainly because my son-in-law has a mesquite tree and I get it for free, but I would still finish with hickory (purchase din chunks from a big box store. The trouble with Big Box Stores as a source for wood as they are all headquartered in places that have seasons, unlike Arizona where there's no excuse fro not barbecuing or grilling every day. The inflatable Santas and Christmas trees go up and the grilling supplies all but disappear – this happens around the end of September, but seems to get earlier every year.

Anyway, use what you have on hand, but don't be afraid to try something a little different if the opportunity presents itself. The final problem I had with finding wood for my smoker was trying to convince the flight attendant that my Shagbark Hickory stump was carry on...