The Best Wood For Wood-Fired Cooking

Wood-fired cooking is a popular way to cook favourite foods with additional great flavours. While many of us primarily use gas or electric powered cooking appliances, there’s still room for a traditional or contemporary wood fired oven.

The great smoky flavour that comes from wood-fired cooking depends on the wood you use. Different woods produce different flavours, some better suited to certain dishes than others. To make sure you know which woods to use when you cook, here’s some useful tips and information.

The best woods are hardwoods

Hardwoods are the best wood for all wood-fire cooking. As hardwoods are denser than other woods, they produce more heat. While they might be heavier, the intense heat they produce is worth it.

Before using any hardwoods, however, ensure that they have been properly seasoned and dried. They will not burn as well if they are still wet and green.

Good hardwoods to try include oak, white gum, jarrah, maple, and birch. All these varieties are widely used for wood-fired cooking. They are reliable, easily sourced and produce a good deal of heat for their volume.

You can use fruitwoods

While not hardwoods, fruitwoods are also often used when cooking with wood. The natural aroma from the wood can be infused into your food via the smoke.

Popular fruitwoods to use include apple, hickory, pear, almond and pecan. Apple wood, for instance, is popular for pizzas, while hickory is a great flavour addition to meat. Try experimenting with your favourite recipes and different fruitwoods to find a winning combination.

Like hardwoods, fruitwoods often produce a good deal of heat for their volume. However, you do need to be careful when using fruitwood as they produce a lot of ash. This ash can sometimes land on your food, affecting the quality of your dish.Take precautions if you can to stop this happening.

You can also use softwoods

If you don’t want to use hardwoods or fruitwoods, if you don’t have access to them, softwoods can still be used. However, softwoods do require a little extra attention compared to their counterparts.

For instance, they need to be properly cured and seasoned to reduce the sap content. If there is too much sap in the wood, it can burn, affecting the quality of the smoke and aroma left on your food.

When using softwood, ensure the bark is also removed. This helps reduce the wood’s moisture content.

Avoid sappy or resinous wood

Whatever you do, avoid woods with high moisture content, including any wood with a lot of sap or resin. Using these kinds of woods can create extra soot which can land on the food, as well as mean you need to clean your oven more frequently to get the best results.

Avoid woods like pine, white birch and cedar. If you must use one of these woods, burn it alongside an oak wood to reduce the soot content and balance out the high sap content.

Some resin-heavy woods may be suitable for burning if the resinous bark is removed. These oily woods may produce a unique flavour perfect for your dish.

Avoid wood that has been treated, glued or painted

When cooking with wood, it’s vital that you do not use any wood that has been treated, glued or painted. This also includes laminated or pressure-treated wood. If you burn this wood, you may release harmful chemicals as well as creating a lot of smoke that can ruin the food and harm your health.

Choose a locally available wood

When choosing the wood you want to cook with, do your best to source it from local sellers. By sticking to local wood, you are being a responsible consumer as imported wood may carry wood-diseases that do not exist in your area, as well as harmful bugs and pests.

While you may not be able to get exactly the wood you want in your area, it’s your responsibility to make the right choice and avoid jeopardising the wood industry and environment in your area.

Picking the right wood to cook with can be tricky, particularly if your new to this style of cooking. However, with careful research and remembering the facts we’ve included above, you can pick a wood that makes your food taste great while ensuring your safety and the health of the environment around you.