Cooking Over Wood: A Guide to the Grills
At first glance, wood grilling is a rich person’s sport, with top models retailing for upward of $10,000. But you can find wood-burning grills in all price ranges. GRILLWORKS
Inspired by the Argentine parrilla and manufactured in northern Michigan, this is the gold standard of wood-burning grills. A flywheel raises and lowers the grate for heat control. The grate itself is formed of downwardly sloping V-shaped bars that channel off dripping fat to reduce flare-ups. Fancier models include a braseiro (log basket) for burning logs to embers, and a new Grillworks Infierno Blanco wood-burning oven. With prices from $3,475 to $13,775, these grills aren’t inexpensive, but you’ll be joining an A-list of Grillworks owners that includes restaurateur Danny Meyer, actor Matthew McConaughey and artist Damien Hirst, who bought seven.
NORTHFORK IRON WORKS
The brainchild of Brendan McCarthy, a Long Island fishing guide, this new kid on the block comes with a V-bar grate that raises and lowers with a flywheel. Its modular design allows you to insert a braseiro for burning the logs to embers, or a plancha for wood-fired griddling; you can also do hearth-grilling directly on the 10-gauge steel metal platform. There’s an overhead crossbar for hanging chickens and roasts over the fire. The 48-inch model weighs 400 pounds and starts at $3,500.
KALAMAZOO HYBRID FIRE GRILL AND KALAMAZOO GAUCHO GRILL
For charcoal and gas grillers not quite ready to abandon conventional fuels, the Chicago company Kalamazoo makes multifuel grills that combine the convenience of gas with the firepower of wood or charcoal. The Hybrid Fire Grill (starting at $12,995) has a solid fuel drawer under the grate; the Gaucho (starting at $20,795) has an open firebox crowned with a rotisserie and adjustable height grate on a flywheel.
AMERICAN MUSCLE GRILL
Another high-end tri-fuel grill ($5,999) with grates you can raise in the front to place logs or wood chunks over the burners. The fat-channeling U-shaped grate bars minimize flare-ups.
KUDU GRILLS
You needn’t spend a fortune for a wood burner. While living in South Africa, Stebin Horne, the founder of this Georgia company, designed an ingenious wood-burner ($499) consisting of a countertop-high metal fire pit surmounted by a vertical pole on which swivel a series of grates and planchas. Light the logs in the bottom bowl; when they burn down to embers, swing one of the grates over them and you’re ready for grilling.
WEBER KETTLE GRILL
The most economical solution of all is the grill you may have in your backyard already: a Weber kettle. Instead of lighting charcoal in your chimney starter, use hickory, oak or other wood chunks. When the embers glow red, dump them into the firebox. Add more wood chunks or small logs, and you’re in business. The downside of using a kettle grill is that you can’t control the height of the grate. Prices start at $99.