Archives for October 2010

Get That Great Smoked Flavour With Barbecue Smokers

By Mick Jonesey

So what are they really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about barbecue smokers–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

If your barbecue smokers facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important barbecue smokers information slip by you.

Do’s and DON’T’S:

1- Please don’t mix up barbecue smokers with Grilling – This is one of those greenhorn things that forever differentiate loyal barbecue smokers enthusiasts from the ignorant public. Remember, grilling is a fast, hot fling you have with a steak, burger, or hotdog..whilst barbecue smokers depicts the day long relationship you have with a rack of ribs, a pork shoulder, a beef brisket, etc. A lot more finesse is needed for barbecue smokers, as well as lots of time

2 – Lighter Fluid – Unless you savour the taste of petroleum distillates (i.e. Petrol, lamp oil, paint thinner), don’t even try it. Your barbecue smokers food is going to have a while to get acquainted your fuel source, and we don’t want smoke to be substituted by fumes.

3 – Self-lighting briquettes – these little lazy guy lumps are in essence lighter fluid sponges.see above.

4 – Liquid Smoke – This stuff is made by burning green wood and liquefying the resulting smoke. If properly cooking barbecue over wood coals, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER IT? The only place I’ve seen it used, where it might make sense, is in barbecue sauce, but even that is debatable. Everywhere else, including jerky, is fraudulent. It’s like opening up a can of Spaghetti-O’s and calling it Fine Italian Pasta.

5 – Ovens – At NO TIME should an oven be considered as part of the barbecue smokers procedure. Therefore, it is IMPOSSIBLE to make barbecue smokers ribs in the oven. You can make some great oven-cooked ribs, but please don’t call them barbecued.

6 – Boiling Ribs – the ultimate taboo..Most of the taboos listed above have one or two exceptions that will keep you from getting hung, but this one NEVER EVER EVER EVER should a rib of ANY type come into contact with boiling water unless you’re making soup. If you need to boil them to make them tender, hang it up and order take-out.

7 – Crock Pot w/Barbecue Sauce – Ugh, a cross between the oven taboo and the boiling ribs taboo..need I say more? Throw some foil in the mix and you’ve just insulted the entire community.

8 – Best Cooker – asking a man what the best barbecue smokers rig is, is akin to asking him who the best ball team is. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone else disagrees. Be very wary when asking for this opinion topic, as it could easily get out of hand..and if you use the word ceramic or egg in your question..you better DUCK!

9 – Favorite Meat – very regionally sensitive discussion. Various parts of the nation have their own version of barbecue smokers, which involves different cuts of meat from different animals. Generally speaking: east is pork ribs, southeast is pork shoulders and whole hogs, south is beef and brisket.

10 – Wet or Dry – sauced or on the side. Very much like meat, this preference is displayed along regional lines, with the eastern folks liking the sweet and/or vinegary sauces, and the Texans liking the barbecue smokers or DRY situations.

11 – Lump or Briquettes – Here’s one near and dear to my heart. When I started this barbecue smokers hobby, I had a Brinkman Offset, a pile of hickory logs, and a bag of a certain brand of charcoal briquettes. Some fine fine barbecue smokers cooks tell me that they don’t notice anything different between fuels, but others say that there is a nasty, bitter, acrid, chemically smell/taste they find when using certain royal and kingly briquettes..and I’m inclined to agree.

12 – Cooking with flaming logs or glowing coals – right off the bat, I’ll say that BOTH are right.but one is much harder and, for me, much more expensive. The conventional purists insist that the original barbecuing pitmasters would burn their wood all the way down to coals before adding food to the pit. Then, they would add glowing coals to the pit as the cook progressed, preburned in another area. But, when cooking with blazing wood, you must be careful to have just the right fire going or you’ll ruin your food with bitter creosoted smoke. (small hot fire with almost invisible smoke) When using barbecue smokers with preburned coals, you don’t run that risk but you waste a lot of wood and spend a lot of time preburning and shoveling.

find out more… http://www.barbecue-smokers.net/

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