By Chris S
Smoking food is all about the taste. There's nothing
better than flavoring your favorite food with wood
in a smoker and/or on the grill. Many types of wood
are used to smoke food, such as meat, fish,
vegetables, and cheese. My favorite wood
to use for smoking food is alder, cherry, apple,
maple and hickory. You can purchase wood chips
from most department stores.
You don't have to buy a smoker to enjoy smoked
food. If you have a simple barbeque grill with
top and bottom vents for air flow, you can easily
flavor your own food with smoke. But be well
warned—once you do, you'll get hooked, and a new
smoker/grill will eventually be parked in your
garage or shed.
Smoking Heat Sources
There are primarily three ways to heat/cook food.
1) Direct heat method.
Food is placed directly over hot charcoals.
2) Indirect heat method.
Hot charcoals are placed on each end of the grill grade
and food is placed in the middle opening between the
hot coals. There are no coals underneath the food.
3) Smoking chamber. Hot coals in a chamber are separate
from the cooking area. Heat and smoke pass through the
chamber over the food and out the flue.
Using the direct or indirect method, once your
charcoals are hot and ready, place a handful of wood
chips over a corner of the hot coals. To help keep
your chips from igniting, dampen the wood chips
with water, put them in aluminum foil, wrap them
up, and poke holes with a toothpick to allow smoke
to escape the aluminum foil sack.
Add your food to the grill, place the lid on, and
open the top vent 3/4 and the bottom vent 1/4.
This will allow slow air flow. Then, stand back
and watch the smoke pour out of your grill. You
can use this method for just about every type of
meat, and you'll be surprised at the enhanced
flavor of your food.
Once you taste your smoked food, you'll want
to experiment with different types of wood chips,
meats and vegetables.
Aside from using a smoker, smoking your food using
a charcoal grill is the fastet and least expensive
best way to experience smoked flavored food.
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