Direct Grilling Over Wood

Charcoal gives you a clean, high, dry heat for grilling, but it doesn’t impart much flavor. The flavor-producing components are burnt out of the wood when it’s kilned to make charcoal. Wood, on the other hand, gives you a great flavor—a fact appreciated by grill jockeys from Florence to Buenos Aires. (I’m talking here about grilling over wood, not using wood for smoking.) In order to enjoy wood-grilled food, you used to have to go to a restaurant. New fuels and technologies have made it easy to grill over wood at home, and you’ll be astonished by the flavor. If you have a kettle-style charcoal grill, it’s easy to cook with wood. Just remember: Always grill over hardwood, such as oak, hickory, apple, cherry, and mesquite. Softwoods, like pine and fir, produce too much soot and unpleasant, even dangerous, residues.