I realized after my post on poultry I left out a wonderful and very tasty way of preparation, and that is smoking. There is a cold smoke and a hot smoke preparation for meats. The first doesn’t actually mean you do this in a cold or freezing environment, as the name implies, just that the temperature of the smoke never goes above 160 degrees. Many people are sticklers for even lower temperatures such as between 80-100 degrees, and thus it is ideal for meats such as Salmon and other fish, or oysters; while hot smoking can be used for anything really. The smoke essentially “cures” the meat and imparts an incredible flavor alone, or layered under whatever flavors you want to build up. More often than smoked meats have been soaked in a brine up for 4 hours or more commonly overnight to aid in the curing and flavor process. The USDA has great guidelines to follow when smoking meats, click here to go to the link.

For example a whole fryer chicken, approximately 3 to 3 1/2 pounds you would want a brine solution of 1 gallon water, 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup sugar, and if you like pickling spices, or any spices or chilies you might like to add. If you add pickling spices it is best to boil all ingredients together, add pickling spices at the end and chill completely before immersing your bird in the solution.

Okay, you ask yourself, a gallon of water and a bird in it? What a mess! How will I ever do something like this? Well, good question. I have seen a lot of ingenious ways of storing meats while being prepared to be smoked from 5 gallon buckets used by professional painters which were bought new, specifically for this purpose (washed before use) and stored in an extra refrigerator, or garage in winter if you live up north! You could get your biggest stock pot and move a couple shelves around and keep it on the bottom rack just overnight. Never out at room temperature though. A cooler can also do the trick as long as you take measures to keep the contents chilled below 41 degrees for the whole time. Ice does nice.

For the sake of ease and technicality we will stick with hot smoked food preparation as it is just easier and tastes really good. When you get into cold smoking at home, you run the risk of bacterial growth from improperly held temperatures, poorly made brining solutions, whether you live in a sub-tropical climate or not, etcetera. Also a plus is you don’t need to brine your meats before you hot smoke them, you can just do a simple marinade or just go for it as is.

Hickory is probably one of the most used woods for smoked meats. It is easy to come by and popular for the intense, slightly sweet aroma which penetrates the meat well. Appearing more often are apple and other fruit woods which are also wonderful alone or mixed with your favorite wood chips. Apple, walnut, cherry, ash, and maple are some that I can think of offhand that can most likely be found with ease.

One could buy a smoker for home around $50 or convert an old oven into one if you are feeling adventurous. For tips check out this link.

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