Wood Has Character

• Each kind of wood used in barbecue generates its own flavor, just as the vegetables in your garden taste different from each other. Some, such as mesquite, are so strong they can easily overpower the flavor of your meat. They're best used in moderation. Fruit woods such as apple and cherry have relatively mild flavors, and they're excellent with pork or fish. Among nut woods, hickory is highly valued for its smoke, but -- like mesquite -- hickory can sometimes be overpowering. Pecan wood represents the middle ground, slightly more potent than fruit woods but without hickory's overwhelming wallop of flavor.

Cooking Over Hardwood

• Cooking over wood requires a lot more space than charcoal, so usually you'll require an open pit or a smoker that's designed for wood burning. Build a large fire and let it burn down to hot coals, then add your pecan wood for flavor. If you're just grilling a steak, do it directly over the hot coals where the smoke is thickest, or close the lid briefly to trap the smoke. If you're cooking brisket or another cut that requires long, slow cooking, adjust the vents to keep the temperature to 225 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Keep a second fire burning so you can replenish the coals as needed. You won't typically use pecan wood for the main fire, because of its cost, unless you have ready access to an orchard.

Other Cooking Methods

• You can add pecan's rich aroma to your beef with other cooking methods, as well. On a gas grill, wrap a few pieces of pecan in heavy foil and then puncture the package with a skewer to let smoke out. Put it directly over the gas flames to generate smoke. On a charcoal kettle or smoker, you can add pecan directly to the coals. In either case, grill your beef directly over the heat and smoke. For slow cooking, have the heat and your pecan pieces on one side and the meat on the other. If your smoker is electric, use the quantity of hardwood recommended in the manufacturer's setup instructions.

Diminishing Returns

• Although pecan lends a wonderfully savory flavor to your beef, it's certainly possible to have too much of a good thing. Coffee makes a good comparison. A lightly roasted Mexican coffee is milder than a dark-roasted Sumatran, but you can still make it undrinkably strong if you use too much. The same holds true for pecan, which is milder than hickory or mesquite but still fairly assertive. For slow cooking, you might only need a total of three to five ounces of wood by weight. You can use more if you're grilling, partly because much of the smoke is lost and partly because your beef won't be exposed to it for as long.