The Grill Glove As Seen On TV
I am a big fan of putting wood chips into my grill to add flavor when I’m cooking out. What I didn’t realize is the charcoal is a by product of burning wood. In fact it is pretty much what is left when the impurities of the wood are burned off. When I found this out, I thought it was so interesting that I thought I would explain it a bit further.
If you take a regular log and burn it in a low oxygen environment it will burn in a specific way. Traditionally we think that things won’t burn with low oxygen but some of its components will and what we are left with is more or less charcoal. In a low oxygen environment the water inside the wood is the first thing to burn off. Tar will cook out next. Many of the volatile oils which do not taste very good will also burn away. Then there are a set of other impurities contained in wood that will burn off as well. After this process is done the wood will only retain about 30% of its weight.
We have probably all seen the remains of burning wood which appear very similar to charcoal and if we break it up we will have pieces of the number one fuel used to grill up our favorite foods. The reason is that it is almost pure carbon and it lights quick, burns cleaner and produces more flavor than things like briquettes.
Briquettes are not naturally occurring. In fact, Henry Ford is actually credited with inventing the first. It makes sense considering they are filled with various petroleum products. Briquettes are compiled of all sorts of fillers and if you can avoid using them and stick to some nice homemade coals you will be better off.
To light your wood based coals you can use several methods. I prefer to use and old chimney starter to get my coals burning until they are evenly ashy, and then dump them into my grill. This is simply my method of choice and you are unsure about how to do this safely please do not attempt. I just don’t like to squirt chemicals onto my food.
Another thing I like to do that makes grilling a lot easier is to use the Grill Glove. This is and As Seen On TV heat resistant grilling glove made of food grade silicone. It allows you to grab your food off the grill without using tongs or other accessories. It is a brilliant idea because it is the only thing you need to work the grill. You won’t get burned while you are turning your food and can even reach onto the coals without any problem.
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