Coffee wood impressions

[Firemonkey]

I just realized that I had not posted my impression of the coffee wood Dennis can provide. Better late than never, right

I have tried the coffee wood from Dennis on a a few meals, and the initial smoke is definitely harsh, as Dennis described. Luckily Dennis had posted that you needed to burn it down, or I may have ruined a meal. A whiff of the initial white smoke from a chunk of this wood is enough to burn the back of your sinuses - one of the harshest I have found. BUT, once you get past the initial acrid smoke, it is very mellow - mellow like apple or alder with a little different "nose" to it.

I was so intrigued with the coffee smoke, that as an afterthought I burned a couple of pieces in my firepit to add to a roasting cook where I had already added the meat. Again, I was taken by the acrid initial smoke, and that was when being burned in the coals from an oak fire! My curiosity had me grabbing a chunk out of the fire every minute or so, and taking it away so I could smell it on its own. The first few times I did this, it wasn't "ready", and I think I had the burn from that smoke in the back of my throat all night!

This wood is good stuff, but you need to practice with it. You cant just toss it in like you might with some other wood types. I was talking to another member recently who used it like regular wood, mixed in with the lump to cook some ribs...and he said they were so smokey he had to throw a bunch away.

For a quick grilling, you can toss a couple of pieces in the fire and let it burn off before you add the food. For a longer, low temp cook, you will definitely want to pre-burn it outside of the grill. In either case, since you are burning away more of the smoke, be prepared to use a little more than you may be used to. I also have a cast iron smoke pot, a la Szyzgies, but I am not sure that would help with this wood. I may try it on a chicken, if so I'll post back the verdict.

I currently have apple, cherry, peach, hickory, pecan, grape, maple, alder and persimmon in my arsenal, and the coffee has a definite spot in the mix.

[Syzygies]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

Hmm. I missed the warning, and threw in a few chunks with apple chips for my last brisket, using a "smoke pot": A two quart cast iron dutch oven, a few 1/8" holes in bottom, lid sealed on with flour paste. I noticed a different taste but nothing askew, and the brisket was a big hit.

Once I worked out the smoke pot idea, Laurie has more or less forbidden me to use open chunks of smoking wood. (Hey, it was her idea to upgrade to the KK, Dennis has really nailed the SAF rating for these cookers.) Two quarts of anything would be pretty rough, burning out in the open, but in a smoke pot the effect is mellow.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

And from the land of Mesquite...

Cook something inexpensive like burgers and use the very first smoke, then cook a couple more when the smoke goes more translucent.

First, you will see how long it takes for the smoke to change.

Then you can taste test the two smokes.

I personally like the first smoke.

Some people don't, see what you think.

[Tribeless]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

No way I'll get coffee wood in NZ, but - and I'll try this weekend, so will report back - but what do you reckon about throwing roasted coffee beans into a foil bag with my water soaked wood, on top of the charcoal?

I think if nothing else, it'll smell good. Worried it might end up very acrid though, as coffee is bitter.

In fact when I think about it I'm going to try a range of herbs (starting with rosemary) and spices in with the smoke wood.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

In fact when I think about it I'm going to try a range of herbs (starting with rosemary) and spices in with the smoke wood.

Check out this post

For These Chefs, Even Fire Can Be Improved

[Tribeless]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

Hah! Knew I was onto a good thing

[Firemonkey]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

Hmm. I missed the warning' date=' and threw in a few chunks with apple chips for my last brisket, using a "smoke pot": A two quart cast iron dutch oven, a few 1/8" holes in bottom, lid sealed on with flour paste. I noticed a different taste but nothing askew, and the brisket was a big hit.[/quote']

Thanks for that - I will give it a try

[Firemonkey]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

And from the land of Mesquite...

Cook something inexpensive like burgers and use the very first smoke, then cook a couple more when the smoke goes more translucent.

First, you will see how long it takes for the smoke to change.

Then you can taste test the two smokes.

I personally like the first smoke.

Some people don't, see what you think.

Must be all those cigars

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

And from the land of Mesquite...

Cook something inexpensive like burgers and use the very first smoke, then cook a couple more when the smoke goes more translucent.

First, you will see how long it takes for the smoke to change.

Then you can taste test the two smokes.

I personally like the first smoke.

Some people don't, see what you think.

Must be all those cigars

Mesquite of course has a lot of acid in it and the first smoke is quite bitter but very popular in Texas..

I wonder it their rubs are adjusted with more sugar to balance the acid's bitter flavor?

I'm guessing that the very strong smokey taste that mesquite is famous for is from the first smoke not secondary.

[Firemonkey]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

Right. The mesquite charcoal is a perfect example. It leaves a different flavor, but it's not the acrid nasty stuff like the raw wood would leave.

[TheNakedWhiz]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

I did some chicken breasts with a middle eastern glaze on them. I don't remember how many chunks I used, but I'd guess 2. Tasted great, but the glaze had a lot of flavor.

I did some boneless short ribs of beef with just salt and pepper. I used 2 chunks fer sure, maybe a third. I did them about 2.5 hours at 250ish and they had a very strong smoke flavor. I liked it, but it is was bordering on too strong.

I did some cheese using the "5 briquettes and 3 or 4 slices of coffee wood in a foil pan" method. Smoked the cheese about 1 hour 10 minutes. Very strong. I've been trying the cheese every day (I'm on day 4) and still quite strong. Of course, after a few pieces, your buds go numb a bit, and the taste isn't as strong. In retrospect, I'd probably do the cheese using just 1 cycle of smoke, perhaps 40 minutes, rather than add another slice when the smoke died down.

So for the moment, I've been using all first smoke and think I'll try using first smoke again, just less of it. We'll see.

[Cookie]

Re: Coffee wood impressions

I tried the coffee wood for the first time last weekend for a batch of ribs. I was running mangrove charcoal as my primary, and just one chunk of the coffee for the smoke. I let the KK soak and come up to 250 (about an hour) before adding the coffee wood. After adding the coffee, I let it burn for 30-45 mins, watching the smoke go from a heavy white to almost no white. I thought perhaps that I'd missed the window of opportunity for much of the coffee flavor profile, but boy was I wrong.

First impressions: I really like the flavor, hard to explain, different, but really good; A little bit goes a long way; I did not miss the flavor window, adding the meat any earlier would have been too much for my tastes (and I like a strong smoke flavor); Looking forward to a long low and slow with two chunks staggered in the basket for something like a pork butt -- I expect I'm going to find that this smoke penetrates better than most others and is excellent for large pieces of meat on long cooks.