The area of high end natural BBQ fuels and food smoking appears to be a rapidly growing market in various regions across the world. The growth of this niche market is connected to a realisation of the wonderful nature of specific various type chips (alder, apple, beech, cherry, hickory, maple and more) in flavouring food, particularly meats, adding tremendous depth of flavour in a natural and sustainable way.

Smoking food is an extremely satisfying method of cooking for chefs at all levels of experience and expertise. While the field of smoking meats may have been led by celebrity chefs and highend restaurants in the past, this cooking technique is now steadily filtering down to the amateur kitchen where families are embracing the diversity and depth of this natural, smokehousestyle cooking.

The growth in demand for high quality, singlespecies aromatic BBQ wood fuels has opened up a growing vibrant market. Stronga were recently approached by a client to provide a drying solution which would add significant value to their BBQ wood chip production businesses.

Drying BBQ wood products to consistent moisture content not only kills any bugs that may be in the wood, it also helps in the BBQ firestarting process. Dried wood allows end users to start fires easily and at lower temperatures, allowing chefs to start cooking in as short as 15–20 minutes. Once chefs become accustomed to cooking with 100% natural wood, there is no better fuel on the market for adding great flavour and texture to barbeque dishes.

Aromatic BBQ wood chips and chunks each have specific properties; they are generally hard woods but their individual characteristics vary. BBQ wood products generally include alder chips; apple chips & chunks; cherry chips & chunks; hickory chips & chunks; maple chips & chunks; mesquite chips & chunks; peach chips; and pecan chips & chunks. Stronga are able to assess the unique properties of the client’s chip or chunk type to scale the drying solution accordingly.

BBQ wood products have seasonal demands so it is vital that the client is able to dry the product ondemand. The FlowDrya system from Stronga is unique in that it provides a “screening” dimension whereby the super high value fines product is delivered in the lower plenum, in addition to the biggersized chips dried in the plenum above. After drying, both products can be bagged before selling to the end user.

As ever, the client’s whole process must be carefully managed, all the way from the wood chipping phase, to the handling phase, to the avoidance of mould, and to the drying of the product to correctlevel moisture content to avoid inbag deterioration of the product. Each project is individual, Stronga pay close attention to the details of the whole process to ensure optimum efficiency in wood drying outcomes.

Clients are increasingly turning towards renewable biomass heat sources to provide the heat for the drying process. This client is another example of an organisation who has arranged an environmentally friendly and sustainable, whole drying process.

Organisations are increasingly considering efficiency in electrical and thermal terms. At Stronga, we believe the FlowDrya and Heatex drying systems provide the winning solution when compared to other type dryers available in the market which are extremely hungry for electrical energy. In these inflationary times where fuel and labour are increasingly exponentially in price, you need to take action to ensure your overheads are accounted for.

Are you interested in drying a BBQ wood product? If so, contact our technical team today to discuss your wood drying project – [email protected]

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