Smoke Flavoring of Meats
by Joseph Parish
 

There is only one true method of natural barbecuing and that is gradually cooking the food over an open flame fire. Even though this style of food preparation is slow and tiresome, it allocates for the complete saturation of the smoke into the meat. When prepared with this approach the smoke aroma is a pleasure to behold. Shockingly it is simpler to carry out then you may well expect.

The contemporary Grill Chief is afforded countless options for supplementing the Smokey essence into his food. The open pit process of smoking meat is by far the superior means of achieving that desired flavor however; it also requires the most effort. With the benefits of our up to date barbecuing tools the equivalent results can be realized without all the extra work involved. The fastest way to add the smoke flavor to any meat is by the use of a liquid known as smoke. This can be added to any food from baked beans to grilled fish. There are several downfalls to this item as it does not impart a true smoke flavor to your recipe nor should the liquid be employed on an ongoing daily basis. We recommend this product only to spice up homemade sauces.

It is not uncommon of an occurrence to draw on your backyard gas BBQ grill for limited smoking of small quantity of meats. Several manufacturers of grills now include a smoke trough where you can insert a mixture of wood chips, pellets or chunks of hardwood for use as smoking material. The hoods on these grills typically necessitate closure when smoking of meat is accomplished. If you have an older grill which lacks the trough don’t despair as you can purchase a smoke box at your local department store or for that matter assemble your own out of aluminum foil pockets to hold the wood chips. The only problem with using the backyard grill for smoking is the grill tends to cook the meat rather quickly. It must be remembered that the art of fruitfully smoking meat is to cook the meat gradually over a longer period of time at lower temperatures. Making use of the BBQ grill for smoking the meat will result in the food being done much too rapidly while failing to impart the desired smoke flavor.

I would like to afford you with several suggestions bent towards improving your meat smoking skills and should suffice to get you started in this culinary delight.

Always preheat your smoker for approximately 15 minutes prior to proceeding to placing your meat in it.

With your smoker previously preheated lay your steaks, ribs or chops lightly into it and proceed to grill for 20 minutes per pound leaving your food in no longer then 2 hours maximum. Woods, which especially impart a good smoked flavor to the meat, include hardwoods such as hickory, mesquite or alder.

When you smoke hamburger, spread your ground beef in a shallow pan for 20 minutes. If you fancy a more embellished flavor use alder or hickory wood in your burner. Apple tends to impart a mellower flavor to your meat.

When smoking roasts pursue the same course of action except you may wish to use some different woods for the fire. Cherry, Mesquite and Hickory are excellent choices for beef, while Apple provides an exceptional flavor on lamb or pork.

If you anticipate smoking bacon slices, link sausages or slices of ham you may aspiration to obtain a tangier flavor using wood such as alder or hickory, while smoking your meat with apple would give your food a slightly sweeter flavor.