Instructions

1. Choose a type of hardwood to complement the food you are cooking. For example, mesquite is popular for imbuing chicken and beef with Southwestern zest. Hickory chunks are the classic choice for barbecuing pork. Apple wood offers a softer, mellow flavor for more delicate foods such as trout. Cedar is often used for barbecuing saltwater game fish, especially salmon.
   Wood chunks for barbecuing are available at hardware stores and specialty food shops.

2. Load the grill with 10 pounds of hardwood chunks. Adding more than 10 pounds of wood at a time can make it difficult to control the heat and thus control your cooking. Light the wood and let it burn down to coals.

3. Set the cooking grates in place and oil lightly with a quality olive oil.

4. Place the meat on the grill away from the burning wood chunks. Smoking and indirect heat from the wood chunks will cook the meat. Do not place the meat directly over the fire because it will char and burn on the outside long before the inside is cooked.

5. Close the grill and adjust the vents at the bottom and top to control air flow and temperature. Close the vents gradually to reduce the temperature and open them to increase oxygen flow to the wood fire, thereby making the fire burn hotter and increasing the internal temperature of the grill.

6. Check steaks, chops and hamburgers in 10 minutes, turning only once. Thicker cuts of meat, such as a 10-pound beef brisket, will take several hours to barbecue until done. These cuts should be checked about once or twice an hour, when you can add more wood chunks as necessary to maintain temperature and prevent the fire from going out. The goal is to sustain steady heat throughout the cooking time.

7. Pierce the thickest part of the meat with a meat thermometer to determine the internal temperature. Meat is ready to come off when the internal temperature reaches 165 to 170 degrees F. at the thickest portion.