So you want to know about Woocookers. WoodCookers is just that – a website about wood cookers. Cooking with wood is an age-old method that our ancestors have been doing for generation after generation (after generation and so on…). Modern appliances and technology have contributed to speed and efficiency. That’s good. We love the convenience of gas grills. There is a place for them and we want to say that from the outset.
But there is something about cooking with wood and charcoal (and the cookers that use them) that really instills that peaceful, relaxed and serene state of mind that is lacking in the fast-paced world we live in.
Several years ago, we were gascookers (our term for those whole solely cook using gas as a fuel). We were happy with that. We loved cooking outside and gas grills were certainly a fast and easy way to do it. But then parts of our grill started falling apart and breaking. Burner tubes rusted. Knobs fell off. We would forget to turn the gas off.
Eventually, there was a problem with even getting gas through the burner tubes. We were left with either spending some cash and having someone fix it or trying to fix it ourselves. We didn’t have the cash to buy a new one at the time. And I knew that fixing it myself would take a lot of time and know-how. I didn’t have much of either.
We always knew in the back of our minds that we were going to get a charcoal grill at some point. We couldn’t quite put our finger on it, but we knew that food somehow always tasted better from a charcoal grill. So, given the circumstances with our gas grill, we opted to purchase a charcoal grill. We bought a Weber 22.5 inch kettle grill. We had in mind that it was a stopgap until we buy another gas grill. That was four years ago. We haven’t bought a gas grill yet. In fact, we have bought more Weber products since.
What is it about cooking with fire and wood that evokes such a pleasant feeling while you grill? Is it the smell? Is it the taste? Or is it the slow pace of life that you must take on (to some degree) while coals heat up? Is it the connection with our past and the way our ancestors use to prepare foods? Is it the nostalgia for those bygone years when cooking with wood and charcoal was more prevalent?
The answer is “yes.”
Woodcookers aims to re-kindle (pun intended) that love for cooking and the outdoors that lies dormant in so many. Rediscover the past. Learn to slow down and enjoy the journey and not just the destination.
But the destination sure tastes better when coming from a wood cooker.