Smoking meat is a way to add authentic country flavor and aroma to a dish. This procedure I have is a very simple and there are two kinds of smoking, cold smoke and liquid smoke process. Cold smoking is just letting smoke from the burning wood chips to infuse inside the meat for hours. While liquid smoke, is just smoking water, yes you read it right! smoking the water and using it to add smoke flavor to the dish you are preparing.
Compared to hot smoking, cold smoking is more efficient as it allows total smoke penetration inside the meat. Very little hardening of the surface of the meat occurs and smoke penetrates in the meat easily. Hot smoking dries out the surface of the meat creating a barrier of smoke penetration.
For the Cold Smoking you will need:
Large charcoal grill with cover and vent
Natural fire wood chips
charcoal
Procedure:
- Use natural firewood chips for smoking. Avoid using scrap wood. It may contain anti-termite chemicals or paint or other potentially health hazardous chemicals.
- Light up a small amount of charcoal and add some wood chips on the burning charcoal.
- Place the meat on the cold part of the grill away from the coals and cover the lid.
- Smoke for at least one hour.
- The meat is ready when it turns golden brown. That indicates the smoke flavor on the meat.
For the Liquid Smoking you will need:
Large charcoal grill with cover and vent
Natural fire wood chips
charcoal
a small metal pot
Procedure:
- Fill the pot with half full of plain water.
- Move the coals towards the middle of the grill and place the pot directly over the coals and wood chips.
- Cover the grill and let it simmer and smoke for at least one hour or just enough to infuse smoke on the liquid.
- Liquid smoke can be added to soups, stew, braised food, ragout and other dishes where you want to add the subtle taste of authentic country style cooking without the use of smoked ham or bacon.
