Smoke question?

[Dave Sikorski]

I like smoke flavor, but also believe you can over smoke very easily.

My smoker has the wood chip pucks that sit on a heating element to make smoke. They burn for 20 min, then are pushed off of the element by a new puck and extinguished into a water bowl.

If I'm going to only use smoke for a small portion of the cooking time, when should I use the smoke? beginning? middle? end? does this vary for different kinds of meat?

I'm looking forward to getting the smoker back in action in the morning.

-D

[hubris 1]

Im going to post pics tomorrow of my smoker, inside. I want to hear about the water bowl..........Is it something guys do? Everything ZI do read talks to me like I already know........I know nothing!

[clt_capt]

You want to get the smoke in early - get it in the crust before the cooking process seals the meat.


Hubris-
With most of the home type smoker, the water bowl is necessary to keep the humidity up and transfer heat to the meat. I usually add some herbs to the water bowl - rosemary is probably my preferred.

[Dave Sikorski]

That's what I thought Fred and it's what I did with my duck and salmon last week.

I fell asleep before I pulled the salmon off last time and it was still pretty damn good. This time I'll make sure I don't forget it.

My old smoker was also electric and had a bowl below the meat racks to catch drippings and keep the humidity up. I would also fill it with water and spices, and when doing pork I added apple juice as well.

This new one has a small water bowl that catches the wood chip pucks. Here's what they say on the company web site about why.....

"With the Original Bradley Smoker you receive a self-contained, clean burning smoker that requires little attendance. The Bradley Smoker utilises a unique system of consistent temperature settings to avoid high-temperature gasses, acids or resins that would distort the appearance or flavor with no aftertaste. This is acheived by having the Bradley Flavor Bisquettes burn for 20 minutes each and then automaticaly advance off the burner.

In addition to its dual uses of hot and cold smoking, the smoker can also be used as a slow cooker or a slow roasting oven. Consistent and controlled levels of temerature and smoke translate to a superior food product."

Here's a pic of mine



The little box on the left holds the pucks and advances them in 20 min intervals. When I applied 1 pucks worth of smoke, I knocked it off into the water to extinguish it and just went on with low temp cooking.

-D

[clt_capt]

I think you'll be happy with that smoker. Only heard good things about them. I went with a propane smoker - mainly because it was a lot bigger - could hold 2 - 3 whole turkeys or 20 chickens.

[Kahi]

You want to get the smoke in early - get it in the crust before the cooking process seals the meat.


Hubris-
With most of the home type smoker, the water bowl is necessary to keep the humidity up and transfer heat to the meat. I usually add some herbs to the water bowl - rosemary is probably my preferred.

The earlier you smoke the better penetration you will have into the fibers of the meat. Although the water also controls temp it is a way of adding humidity. Some people also use juices or vinegar instead to the bowl

[SportFishStaff]

Dave,
First is what kind of wood are you using? You can change the smokiness by changing the woods you use also. Hickory and Mesquite will give a stronger smoky flavor than Apple, cherry(my #1) pear any of the fruit woods.

I always do it the opposite of the way Fred does, but I was doing it for commercial use. I would always bring it up close to temperature than drop it to no heat and let the smoke roll. This was done as for my operation we were not eating it right of way it went to market or vacumn packed and frozen. so you don't want any real external moisture, the meat in side would be moist but it would be sealed on the outside. One thing to note the smoke was always going even during the cooking process.

You can also cold smoke to regulate the smokieness use no heat during your smoking but add 2 trays of ice on the bottom rack off your smoker the smoke rolls up through the meat but has no heat to it. This is great for seafood like salmon and tuna throw some cold smoke to it take it out. and cook it like normal for tuna throw it on the grill and you can still get a good med. rare to it with out over cooking it. So you will have a nice grilled fish with a subtle smoky sweet taste to it.

I would try changing your wood first especially if you are using hickory or mesquite.
Tim

[Scooper]

I have been told that the Smoke "flavor" takes place in the 1st hour or 2, depending on what you are cooking... after that you are not really imparting any more smoke flavor into meat, so you just want to supply constant heat source to complete the cooking process.

[SportFishStaff]

I have been told that the Smoke "flavor" takes place in the 1st hour or 2, depending on what you are cooking... after that you are not really imparting any more smoke flavor into meat, so you just want to supply constant heat source to complete the cooking process.

Scooper, I have found that not to be the case in my experiences , We would run the smoke 6 to 8 hours or more granted this was in a large scale commercial smoker, we could do 100 to 150lbs of fish steaks at a time but i believe in my experience that the saturation point is much longer than that. You will reach a point where it is just about drying out the outside. Cook first and smoke to the end. which is easier with a thermostatically controlled system. Tim

[GALAZIO]

In South Texas, we use Oak (dense, ie: Live Oak)... the stuff is twice as heavy as most firewoods and does a great job at not flaring up. Like what was mentioned earlier, Mesquite adds a stronger smoke. I usually mix oak and pecan (for red meats)... oak and applewood (for white meats). If it's just the boyz and beer, then we'll go the mesquite route for the first 6 hours then finish with oak about half way through (BBQ down here starts friday and wraps up Sunday... the smoker is going the whole time with shifts to man the thing). Our smokers are larger than the chest smoker you pictured. We have fireboxes on the side that feeds smoke across an area equal to 2 55gal drums on their side. We control temp and smoke with vents on the firebox as well as top of the stack. Briskets go for 14-18 hours depending on the weight. Sausage, chicken, stuffed jalapenos are much shorter.

Damn... I'm hungry.