Arden Smoker Supplies
Everything for Food Smoking

 There are generally three types of consumable used in food smoking, wood chips, wood dust, and briquettes (or bisquettes), made from different wood types, each of which has its own characteristics.

Wood Chips
Wood chips are generally used where the smoker is of the form of a barbecue smoker, and the smoking wood is experiencing higher temperatures where the chippings will eventually be consumed to an ash. This is a form of cooking known as smoke-cooking, or smoke roasting. The smoke simply adds flavour to a food which is cooked for consumption in a relatively short period of time and usually under 2 hours. Wood chips are used in Brinkmann water smokers, and can also be placed onto a open barbecue. When doing this, they need to be protected from instant conflagration and would usually be protected by some form of burner box or smoker box. An example is the smoker box that Brinkmann supply as an accessory for their smokers. Wood may also be dampened before use.  

Do I really have to state in print not to use construction timber scraps in your smoker or barbecue? Well, here I go. Most of these scraps are resinous pine or fir; some are treated or contain glue, like plywood. All are useless for cooking or smoking purposes. And, under no circumstances should you grill or smoke over woods such as, willow, pine, or poplar. Stick to the woods listed here and you’ll produce great heat and fragrant smoke. And when you consider smoking foods, think of the wood as a spice to add flavour instead of just being a fuel.   See our range of BBQ Companion Woodchips

Wood Dust
Wood dust is the province of the cold smoker where no significant heat is added to the food. Specialist cold smokers are usually home made affairs but the crucial thing about the fuel is that it should gently smoulder rather than flaring up in a sudden burst of heat and smoke. Wood in the form of dust, of the consistency of rough sawdust, is used in cold smoking as it will provide good repeatability and offers a more controllable burning characteristic.  Cold smoking generally requires much attention to detail in maintaining and monitoring the correct conditions although it has been made much easier with the advent of machines such as the Bradley Smoker. For home made cold smokers that require smoking wood dust we offer a range of Wood Smoking Dust .

Bisquettes

A relatively recent innovation in the history of food smoking is the briquette, known also as bisquettes most notably in the case of Bradley Flavour Bisquettes which are consumed in the Bradley Smoker.  In order to achieve a consistent and predictable smouldering of the smoking wood, the bisquettes are compressed at precisely controlled temperatures and pressures. The full range of Bradley Flavour Bisquettes are on sale here.