The good folk at Smoke Woods Australia claim that natural hardwoods can be used to add fat-free flavour to anything from an eggplant to an eye fillet. And they're 100% correct - but only if the right amount of smoke from the right wood is used in the right manner.

THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SMOKE

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Smoke should be used like a condiment and treated with respect. You wouldn’t think of covering a steak with an inch thick crust of salt or pepper would you?

Well, smoke is exactly the same - a little bit can give a big flavour boost to whatever is being barbecued but too much can completely overwhelm any natural flavours. Carried to extremes, it can even impart a strong cresote taste.

What you want to achieve is a gentle plume of sweet-smelling smoke - not a dense cloud full of acrid-fumed fall out.

THE RIGHT WOOD

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There are a lot of Australian timbers you would not want to have anywhere near food and some of these are listed in the fuels section. Make absolutely no mistake - use the wrong wood and the consequences can range from having to throw the food away to becoming very ill.

As a general rule of thumb:

Avoid resinous woods such as pine or cedar as they can make food taste absolutely awful.

Never use treated hard and soft woods. The letters CCA, which refer to a common treatment process, actually stand for Copper, Chrome and Arsenic. The treatment is designed to repel insects and stop decay - not to add flavour to food.

Stay right away from previously painted or coated timber. It wasn't really that long ago (at least by Blue standards) when lead was used in house paint and some paints still contain some rather scary heavy metals and potentially toxic solvents.

If you want to use wood as your primary heat source, it is absolutely vital that you know what type of tree the timber was cut from and that it is completely free of any harmful chemicals. And, for most of us city dwellers, that is a pretty big ask.

To get the flavour of wood smoke without the risks, I strongly recommend that you stick to using commercially produced wood chips teamed with charcoal or LPG heat sources. Not only are they safe to use but they are also cut from special aromatic timber.

And I'm not talking about the wood chips sold cheaply in big bags by nurseries and hardware outlets. They usually contain pine bark and are best used where they are intended - on garden beds.

Personal preference and the type of food being barbecued will dictate your choice of commercial wood chip varieties. Delicate foods are best flavoured with smoke from mild woods like apple. However, when I barbecue fish or shellfish, I often use a handful of fresh green herbs (rosemary and thyme are good ) or a few bay leaves torn from the garden and simply tossed on to the coals.

Robust woods such as hickory, pecan and mesquite are popular choices for adding flavour to beef, pork and lamb. However, you need to be very careful with mesquite because it can quickly add a bitter ‘off’ flavour.

Hickory and its very close cousin pecan are the perfect all-rounders. My particular preference is for pecan as its flavour has greater depth and seems a little more mellow than hickory. However, the two are so similar that one is often sold as the other. I have it on good authority that most ‘genuine hickory’ axe handles sold in Australia are, in fact, pecan.

THE RIGHT MANNER

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Smoke is what you want and soot is what you don't want. A disgusting, foul-tasting layer of soot on your food shows that the wood you added to the barby flamed rather than smoked.

You've got to slow things down so that the wood chips quietly smoulder away and progressively release the smoke scent. The big thing to remember is to never use dry chips. Always soak them in water for at least an hour - but overnight is better.

Most of the actual take-up of the smoke flavour happens early in the cooking process when the food contains maximum moisture. That's why I usually wait for the wood to start smoking before I place the food on the barby.

Hibachis

To give that big outdoor taste to steaks and satays, simply sprinkle wet chips, half a handful at a time, directly over the coals/charcoal/briquettes. You'll need to have a good supply of chips as much of the smoke will not come into contact with the food.

One way to achieve a more pronounced smoky taste is to make a simple tent out of aluminium foil to keep the smoke in contact with the food for longer. But make sure it has a slit so the smoke can easily escape - otherwise it's back to soot city. I've also used a wok lid for this - but it was fitted with a tiny but effective vent on its crown.

Trolley Barbecues

Foil tents, wok lids or even the metal top halves of electric frying pans can help flat top (unhooded) barbecues add a distinct smoky flavour to steaks, seafood and any other food that cooks quickly. However, you have to be prepared to be more involved than using a barbecue with a factory made hood.

The flow of smoke needs to be watched carefully and the cover removed from time to time to allow it to dissipate. You'll also need to whip off the lid regularly to drop the internal temperature so the food does not overcook.

Soaked wood chips are best placed next to the food and, to slow down the combustion process, they should be wrapped in a few layers of foil and then stabbed repeatedly with a fork. While you can add the chips directly to charcoal it’s not a good idea to toss them on the volcanic rocks or ceramic blocks in a gas barbecue as ash could find its way down to the jets and block them.

Having a hooded barbecue puts you in the driver’s seat in regard to control of temperature and smoke flow. While the chips in foil trick works well with hooded barbecues, a metal smoking box is probably worth the outlay of around $15. I prefer the cast iron versions (with lids) as they release smoke consistently over a longer period of time because of their large chip capacity and heat-holding ability.

Where to position the box will depend on the design of your barbecue and the amount of heat being used. In some hooded barbecues, you can place it on the grill (slotted) bars while in others it needs to be placed directly on to the heat dissipaters (volcanic rocks/ceramic blocks).

When I use my hooded trolley barbecue, I remove the solid plate altogether. I plonk the smoke box on the rocks directly above a burner and, when it starts smoking, position the roast on the slotted grill at the other end of the barbecue and close the hood.

By fiddling with the burner under the smoke box, you can have some influence on the smoking rate – but remember a cast iron smoke box cools down about as quickly as a cruise ship comes to a stop. To adjust the actual cooking temperature, use the burner next to the one beneath the smoker box.

The best bet is to have a go and make a few notes about how long the chips smoke and at what temperature. The aim should be to have a steady plume for about 20 minutes very early in the piece for small to medium sized roasts. A denser cloud, judiciously trapped for a few minutes inside a hood, will add a superb flavour to grilled steaks. However, if you are slow smoking a giant hunk of pork or beef, you will need to adjust the smoke box position and temperature so you get thin wisps spread out over hours rather than minutes.

Kettle Barbecues

Although originally designed for grilling, kettle barbecues are ideal for adding smoke flavour to any type of food. The rounded shape is the secret. It allows as much of the smoke as possible to swirl around whatever is being barbecued before finding its way out through the exhaust vent.

However, this also means there is a greater risk of developing a bitter taste if too much smoke is generated or for too long. The trick is to use wood chips on a little and often basis. Apply about half a handful of well-soaked chips directly to the charcoal on one side and when the smoke flow eases add about the same amount again to the other side.

Okay, okay. I know just about every barbecue expert says: "If thou removeth the lid during cooking the great big Weber in the sky shall smite thee down." Take it from me, it doesn’t happen.

But you do have to be fast and organised. You don’t want to hold up the lid letting all that heat out while you’re parked in neutral wondering where on earth you put the wood chips or tongs.

You also have to be early. The smoke is best generated in the initial stage of cooking when the food is most receptive to taking up the smoke flavour and the barbecue is generating the greatest heat.

A single handful used over about 10 to 20 minutes will be enough for a chicken but a big chunk of beef might need a few handfuls applied at intervals over an hour or so. Just keep an eye on what comes out of the exhaust vent and think in terms of plumes or wisps - not stinking great clouds.

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