K
KYHeirloomer
Guest
Before getting started one point has to be made: “smoking” refers to two different food preparation methods.
One is smoke curing. This is perhaps the second oldest form of food preservation, and is actually an adjunct to drying. Smoke contributes flavor, provides antimicrobial action, and contributes to the overall cure. That’s not what we’re doing.
Smoke cooking is something else. This is a cookery method in which smoke is used to add an additional flavor element to the food.
Keltin and I have been discussing this privately, and are in agreement that there are a lot of subcategories. So I’m hoping lots of members chime in. Among other reasons for widespread participation: More than any other cooking, smoking has a lot of ways of achieving the same task. Thus, your way isn’t right and mine wrong. They’re just different. And the more different experiences and opinions we have, the better for everyone.
Personally, I’ve never used a gas grill or smoker, so anything I say may or may not apply. My smoking has taken place in a dedicated dry smoker, in a Weber-style grill. And in a grill with an offset firebox. But I imagine much of it is the same.
I’ve also never used a water smoker, so hopefully somebody with experience using them will jump in as well.
As indicated, there are no rules to smoking; just different approaches. But one aspect does come close to being a rule: low and slow are the watchwords. In 99+% of the time, smoking is done at temperatures between 200F & 250F, with most people favoring the low end. The food will be held at that temperature, in a smoky environment, for a relatively long time. St. Louis style ribs, for instance, are cooked from 4 to 12 hours at that temperature.
The second part of this “rule” is that you cook on indirect heat. In other words, you are providing an overall warm environment, but not directly heating the food over the coals or gas burner.
There’s one major exception to that. Save the stems from your fresh herbs. When you grill, be it burgers or steaks, drop those stems on the coals under the meat. The smoke produced will provide an interesting extra level of flavor.
There’s also an on-going debate over whether you should smoke foods wet or dry. That is, do you use a dry rub, and than sauce the result; or a wet sauce; or a combination.
Here’s my approach and explanation. I use dry rubs only. The meat is coated with the rub and allowed to sit for from ½ hour to 2 hours, at room temp, or overnight in the fridge. If kept in the fridge, it is taken out ahead of time so as to warm up. I like to have a pellicle form, even for smoke cooking, but others don’t care one way or the other.
I then get my smoker going. If using a Webber type kettle grill, prepare a handful of coals. When covered with gray ash use tongs to move them to the sides of the bowl. You’ll find it only takes 3-5 of them to produce the heat you need.
Add some soaked wood chips or other smoke source to the coals, put the grate in place, and add the meat so it does not sit directly over the coals. Cover the grill. Periodically add more coals and more wood chips so you have a fairly constant temperature and lots of smoke.
If using an offset smoker, follow the same basic procedure, except you can use more coals because you’ll control the heat by your dampers. Among other things, this allows you to use larger pieces of wood to produce the smoke. And you can use green wood, which is impractical in the kettle.
When turning or otherwise shifting the meat, use tongs rather than forks. You do not want to pierce the meat, or it will dry out.
When the meat is almost done (it’s done when the internal temperature is within ten degrees of the target temperature) you can then coat it with a wet sauce if you wish. By only saucing it in the last half hour or so of cooking you get a nice, slightly caramelized coating, whereas if you use the sauce right from the get-go it is likely to burn and turn hard, particularly if the sauce contains sugar.
When you’ve reached your target temperature, remove the meat from the grill, wrap it in foil, and let it rest at least ten minutes to up to a half hour. Then carve and serve.
From this quick run-through you can grasp some of the subtopics we need to discuss. Among them:
1. Type of smoker.
2. Kind of fuel: Gas or solid. And, if solid, what is preferred.
3. Smoking techniques.
4. Foodstuffs that lend themselves to smoking.
5. Rubs, sauces, etc.
6. Tools and accessories.
So, let’s all get going with this, and soon enough we’ll learn who shaved the barber.
One is smoke curing. This is perhaps the second oldest form of food preservation, and is actually an adjunct to drying. Smoke contributes flavor, provides antimicrobial action, and contributes to the overall cure. That’s not what we’re doing.
Smoke cooking is something else. This is a cookery method in which smoke is used to add an additional flavor element to the food.
Keltin and I have been discussing this privately, and are in agreement that there are a lot of subcategories. So I’m hoping lots of members chime in. Among other reasons for widespread participation: More than any other cooking, smoking has a lot of ways of achieving the same task. Thus, your way isn’t right and mine wrong. They’re just different. And the more different experiences and opinions we have, the better for everyone.
Personally, I’ve never used a gas grill or smoker, so anything I say may or may not apply. My smoking has taken place in a dedicated dry smoker, in a Weber-style grill. And in a grill with an offset firebox. But I imagine much of it is the same.
I’ve also never used a water smoker, so hopefully somebody with experience using them will jump in as well.
As indicated, there are no rules to smoking; just different approaches. But one aspect does come close to being a rule: low and slow are the watchwords. In 99+% of the time, smoking is done at temperatures between 200F & 250F, with most people favoring the low end. The food will be held at that temperature, in a smoky environment, for a relatively long time. St. Louis style ribs, for instance, are cooked from 4 to 12 hours at that temperature.
The second part of this “rule” is that you cook on indirect heat. In other words, you are providing an overall warm environment, but not directly heating the food over the coals or gas burner.
There’s one major exception to that. Save the stems from your fresh herbs. When you grill, be it burgers or steaks, drop those stems on the coals under the meat. The smoke produced will provide an interesting extra level of flavor.
There’s also an on-going debate over whether you should smoke foods wet or dry. That is, do you use a dry rub, and than sauce the result; or a wet sauce; or a combination.
Here’s my approach and explanation. I use dry rubs only. The meat is coated with the rub and allowed to sit for from ½ hour to 2 hours, at room temp, or overnight in the fridge. If kept in the fridge, it is taken out ahead of time so as to warm up. I like to have a pellicle form, even for smoke cooking, but others don’t care one way or the other.
I then get my smoker going. If using a Webber type kettle grill, prepare a handful of coals. When covered with gray ash use tongs to move them to the sides of the bowl. You’ll find it only takes 3-5 of them to produce the heat you need.
Add some soaked wood chips or other smoke source to the coals, put the grate in place, and add the meat so it does not sit directly over the coals. Cover the grill. Periodically add more coals and more wood chips so you have a fairly constant temperature and lots of smoke.
If using an offset smoker, follow the same basic procedure, except you can use more coals because you’ll control the heat by your dampers. Among other things, this allows you to use larger pieces of wood to produce the smoke. And you can use green wood, which is impractical in the kettle.
When turning or otherwise shifting the meat, use tongs rather than forks. You do not want to pierce the meat, or it will dry out.
When the meat is almost done (it’s done when the internal temperature is within ten degrees of the target temperature) you can then coat it with a wet sauce if you wish. By only saucing it in the last half hour or so of cooking you get a nice, slightly caramelized coating, whereas if you use the sauce right from the get-go it is likely to burn and turn hard, particularly if the sauce contains sugar.
When you’ve reached your target temperature, remove the meat from the grill, wrap it in foil, and let it rest at least ten minutes to up to a half hour. Then carve and serve.
From this quick run-through you can grasp some of the subtopics we need to discuss. Among them:
1. Type of smoker.
2. Kind of fuel: Gas or solid. And, if solid, what is preferred.
3. Smoking techniques.
4. Foodstuffs that lend themselves to smoking.
5. Rubs, sauces, etc.
6. Tools and accessories.
So, let’s all get going with this, and soon enough we’ll learn who shaved the barber.
).
