Wood and smoke, step by step
Interactive lesson: which wood goes into the smokehouse and which never does, how to fire so it smoulders, a sawdust smoke generator and how to read smoke.
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The whole lesson as text
1. Wood smoulders, it doesn't burn
Good smoke forms when wood smoulders with little air and no flame.
- Smouldering embers — Wood smouldering at roughly 300–400 °C (570–750 °F) gives the best smoke. The process is called pyrolysis.
- Flame is too hot — A fire with flame gives heat, but little good smoke and a lot of harmful smoke: tar and PAHs.
- Air decides — Open air makes the fire flare. Closed too far, it chokes into thick, damp, sourish smoke. In between is thin, bluish smoke.
- Dry wood — Wood seasoned for 1–2 years under cover has roughly 15–20 % moisture. Green wood gives thick, white, sour smoke.
Why: When wood is heated without enough air, it doesn't catch fire straight away but breaks down. At 300–400 °C (570–750 °F) lignin breaks down and phenols form, which give the smoky smell and taste. Above 400–450 °C, with flame, tar and PAHs rise fast.
- Embers with too little air, with sawdust or chips on top, stay right in the range of the best smoke.
- Measure moisture with a cheap two-pin wood moisture meter, on a freshly split face of a log.
2. Which wood for smoke
Smoke comes from hardwood: little resin, a lot of lignin and a pleasant smell.
- Beech and hornbeam — Mild, even smoke and a golden colour. For everything: sausage, bacon, ham, cheese and fish.
- Oak, hickory, fruitwood — Oak gives stronger smoke and a darker colour, hickory a strong, bacon-like smoke. Apple, pear, plum and cherry give fruity smoke; prunings from winter pruning, seasoned.
- Alder, birch, corncobs — Alder is the traditional wood for fish. Birch only without bark, because bark gives soot and bitterness. Corncobs for bacon and sausage.
- Mixing — Most smoking is done with beech or oak. A good start is beech or oak with 20–30 % fruitwood.
Why: Beech is the basic smokehouse wood in Europe, and hornbeam is similar. Oak, hickory, maple and fruitwoods are added for flavour and colour. Old smallholders kept smokehouse wood on a separate pile, apart from the wood for the range.
- At the end of smoking, a handful of juniper sprigs or berries, bay or rosemary on the embers gives aroma. It's an addition, briefly, not a fuel.
- Corncobs only dry and mould-free.
3. Never in the smokehouse · Locked
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4. Firing for cold smoke · Locked
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5. The smoke generator · Locked
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6. Smoke, tar and PAHs · Locked
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