I haven’t posted anything about grilling or smoking yet, so here is a quickie.

I have been using some of the grape vine wood chunks that my brother-in-law bought as a gift for me a while back. At the time I had never heard of using this for smoking or grilling (apparently its very popular in France and Italy for grilling). The first time I really tried to use it for cooking I was taken back by how good it was. I used it to smoke a couple chickens. The flavor went extremely well with chicken. It also went well in a mix with apple wood for some ribs (mostly apple with a little grape vine). For poultry, it is now perhaps my favorite wood. On Sunday I tried a quick test with some steaks on the grill. As I was getting the coals ready I placed one chunk of the grape vine wood on the coals and let it burn down a little. I then seared the steaks over the coals and wood and then cooked them indirect. The grapevine wood didn’t quite work with the steaks. I guess Oak and Hickory are still the best for that task. The steaks were still good, but the wood choice didn’t really seem right. I guess no real surprises there though. I’ll have to try it with fish next, that should be good.