Top tips for cooking on wood

In Algarve, everyone becomes cheerful when it comes to grilling! Cooking on wood not only cooks the meat over heat but imparts a delicious smokey flavour and crispy bark! Whether you’re grilling meat, fish, poultry or seafood, we’ve found that everything cooked over a wood fire tastes better.

Pick the right wood

When it comes to fire pit cooking, wood is the classic, natural fuel source used for ages. Used by design, wood can be as fundamental and impactful an ingredient as fat or salt.

The most satisfactory choice of wood will depend on your personal flavour preference and what meat you are cooking. As a rule, hardwoods deliver the best outcomes in colour and aromas when cooking on fire than other options such as pine. 

You’ll also have a choice of wood cuts­, such as logs, chunks and our favourite: chips! Ideal for a brief cooking time such as steak, fish or chicken, the wood chips work best because they smoke quickly and are easy to manage. 

Try our Applewood or Whiskey Wood Chips for a delicate taste, best suited for poultry, fish and vegetables. The more wood chunks you use, the more intense the flavour!

In addition, you don’t have to use wood exclusively as your primary heat source when cooking on a fire. For example, a typical combination is to use charcoal with wood. In such a manner, it’s easier to maintain fuel sources while still getting a fantastic smoky flavour from the wood!

What do I need to light my fire?

If you’re wondering how to light your fire, you’re about to venture on a fun journey! You’ll need to gather the following items to start your wood-burning fire pit: 

• Kindling: They are small dry sticks, twigs or other pieces of wood used to create the base of your outdoor fire. 
• Tinder: No, we’re not talking about the dating app. Tinder is a readily combustible material, small pieces of dry debris that can be effortlessly lit with a match. Its primary purpose is to ignite kindling.
• BBQ Starter: As we mentioned before, many pitmasters today use a combination of fuel sources, such as charcoal with wood. So, if you’ve ever struggled to start your charcoal, you should try our barbecue starter. It’s a total game changer!

Cooking with Pizza Ovens

What can you cook in a pizza oven?

Outdoor pizza ovens are popular now, offering restaurant quality from the ease of your home. But, have you ever wondered what you can cook in a pizza oven? The list is more extensive than you might have thought!

You can cook pizzas in pizza ovens, and with Carawela Pronto Pizza Oven, you can easily bake flatbreads and calzones. In addition, it’s excellent for barbecuing meat, fish, and veggies, or pop a small skillet pan in and then cook everything from burgers, eggs, and the list goes on and on.

Cooking on Firepits

How do I use my firepit for cooking outdoors?

Fire Pits are a great way to relax and enjoy the outdoors. The beauty of fire pit cooking is that you can cook in multiple ways. While you may feel like grilling one night, next, you might want to try out your roasting skills.

Fire Pit cooking is incredibly versatile, so sear those steaks, hot dogs and burgers on your firepit, but don’t stop there! Throw a pan over the flames to cook seafood and veggies. You can make all those dreams and more come true when you realise what can be cooked in a fire pit. 

In short, whether you want to roast an entire chicken or warm up some hassle-free skewers, this is a fun way of cooking that allows everyone to get involved!

Cooking on BBQs

How to light a wood-fired or charcoal BBQ?

Whether your BBQ is charcoal or wood-fired, we have the perfect steps to help get you cooking on wood anytime!

Charcoal:

1. Fill the barbecue starter with charcoal.
2. Add kindling. Loosely crinkle two sheets of newspaper for kindling so that they’ll fill the bottom of the BBQ starter.
3. Next, place the barbecue starter on the grill grate.
4. Light the newspaper in several spots.
5. As the newspaper burns in the compartment below, the flames light the edges of the charcoal above.
6. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the coals glow, and flames flicker over the top layer. Pour when all the coals in the BBQ starter are ashed over. Then spread the coals out.
7. Congratulations, you’ve reached the final step of the process! Add a layer of wood chips over the top of your hot charcoal. That’s it, ready to grill!

Wood-fired 

1. Arrange a parallel set of logs with the bark facing down. This is the base of the fire, so you need to ensure that the logs are secure.
2. Facing the opposite direction, place two more logs across the base log layer.
3. Repeat step 1 on top of the second log layer.
4. Finally, place your tinder and kindling inside the opening in the middle part of the firewood pile. Set the kindling in first, and stack it so that it’s touching the logs. Place the tinder and even more kindling on top. Then you’re done!
5. You’ll need to use your match to light the fuel. You now have a vibrant and long-lasting fire!

Speaking of friends and family, they will all love the different masterpieces you pull from cooking on wood!

Visit our shop for more information and acquire a Carawela Cookout Oven. Free delivery in the Algarve!