Garlic?

[chantzusmc]

I've heard about adding things other then wood to the chip box. I'm a garlic lover and was wondering if anyone has heard of or added cloves of garlic to the chip box if so does it add taste or is it a waste of time?

 

[noboundaries]

At a large western rib cook-off I saw one team adding whole garlic bulbs and halved onions to their charcoal/wood fire.  I remember thinking "that's a good idea!"  I tried it with both garlic and onion and didn't notice any difference at all in the taste.  Adding garlic and onion to the wrap gives better flavor IMO.    

 

[daveomak]

In a frying pan, when garlic burns, it has a bitter flavor.... Try it and give us a report......

 

[mdboatbum]

 
At a large western rib cook-off I saw one team adding whole garlic bulbs and halved onions to their charcoal/wood fire.  I remember thinking "that's a good idea!"  I tried it with both garlic and onion and didn't notice any difference at all in the taste.  Adding garlic and onion to the wrap gives better flavor IMO.    

A lot of folks at festivals and restaurants do this. Not so much for the flavor, but for the aroma. It increases the "BBQ smell" drifting out over the crowd by at least 10X. There was (or maybe still is) a fairly famous rib joint in a seaside resort town that attributed their success not to their food or fancy advertising, but to a custom made exhaust system that was aimed at the street in front of the restaurant. I can remember walking by there and it being really difficult not to go in, as the aroma was incredible. I believe I remember reading that they tossed the onion scraps (they were also famous for their fried onion loaf, so went through a lot of onions) into their smokers.

  I once tossed half an onion into the coal basket of my mini while camping just to see if it really made that much difference. It did. We had people coming around and snooping most of the day, asking what smelled so incredible.

 

[noboundaries]

 
A lot of folks at festivals and restaurants do this. Not so much for the flavor, but for the aroma. It increases the "BBQ smell" drifting out over the crowd by at least 10X. There was (or maybe still is) a fairly famous rib joint in a seaside resort town that attributed their success not to their food or fancy advertising, but to a custom made exhaust system that was aimed at the street in front of the restaurant. I can remember walking by there and it being really difficult not to go in, as the aroma was incredible. I believe I remember reading that they tossed the onion scraps (they were also famous for their fried onion loaf, so went through a lot of onions) into their smokers.

  I once tossed half an onion into the coal basket of my mini while camping just to see if it really made that much difference. It did. We had people coming around and snooping most of the day, asking what smelled so incredible.

That my friend, is some inexpensive marketing!  Genius!

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello.  Both Dave and MD are correct ( but then they knew that ).  The onions and especially garlic will give off a bad flavour IMHO if thrown directly into the coals but back in my high school days we used to do a BBQ from time to time to make money.  If you put onions and garlic on the grill you have folks who just seem to help themselves coming over to see, smell and buy your product.  GREAT advertising.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[dannyp]

 I know this is a bit of an old post but I figured id add my 2 cents.... I bought a big tub of garlic from sams club and put it in the dehydrater to completely dry them out... those dried cloves added a wonderful aroma to the cook and I never noticed any off flavor to anything cooked with the dried cloves added every time I added another split id add a small hand full. I did notice a different flavor to mild meats like chicken or fish done with mild wood like pecan.