San Antonio Express-News
September 5, 2001 Wholly Smoked By RON BECHTOL
Smokehouses were an important part of early Texas culture. Constructed by Czech, German and Polish settlers throughout Central
Texas, they provided long-lasting sausages and smoked meat from the pigs, cows and wild game slaughtered in season.The same meats, and more can often be found hanging in the custom smokehouse
built by John and Russi Crain in the back yard of their King William home. Far more elaborate then the ones used by early settlers, theirs consists of a counter-height steel firebox that also serves
for direct grilling. To the side is a small smoke chamber about 3 feet tall, below which a fire can also be built for direct cooking if desired. And beyond all this is a closet-size room
lined with unfinished oak flooring -- now black from use -- in which hams, cheeses, or "anything you want to smoke without any heat at all" can be hung, says John Crain. Smoke from the remote firebox
is pulled into this chamber by a fan at knee level. For a recent get-together; and with a fire built only in the first firebox, Crain smoked a whole turkey on a rack near the bottom of the first
shaft and hung ribs and brisket from hooks higher up. "I'm using mesquite exclusively now," says Crain, who bought a cord two years ago and still hasn't burned through it. But he considers
pecan an ideal, all-around wood, especially for more delicate smoking. "Oak is good for beef and venison -- anything you'd drink a big cabernet with," Crain claims, considering it "too acidic"
for the likes of chicken. Ribs and mesquite, on the other hand, are a compatible couple. If panic has set in at this point, try not to worry. You can do most of this at home without
sacrificing the firstborn to build a shrine to smoke. Cooking.com
recently offered a stovetop smoker about the size of an oblong cake pan for $39.99. Instead of burning logs, of course, you're using wood chips, sawdust or other aromatics, such as tea leaves for the flavor they impart; the heat from your stove burners merely activates them.
Cooking.com
also offers a somewhat elaborate contraption from Brinkmann called the Smoke 'N Grill. The smaller, 19-inch version is cylindrical, with a charcoal pan above and two separate grills.It
holds about 50 pounds of meat and goes for $59.95, making it a good entry-level device for the semiserious smoker-in-training. Several local sources, such as Barbeques Galore, can provide smokers with
more bells and whistles. And the oildrum cooker available just about everywhere in San Antonio also works -- once you understand the process. For the kind of cool smoking sometimes
practiced by the Crains or by professional chefs with special devices at their disposal, you need either an expensive, multi-chamber portable smoker or a dedicated smokehouse. Hot smoking can be done
with care in a vertical smoker -- just follow instructions. But stovetop smoking can be accomplished with the simple, purchased pan described above or by other; homemade means. Delicate
items, such as small fillets of salmon or trout, can be stovetop-smoked for flavor and cooked all at the same time, but contemporary cooks are also using variations on the technique to impart a smoke flavor
before grilling or cooking by another method. And the ancient Chinese would poach or steam poultry or fish before smoking them for both color and flavor. Author Barbara Tropp talks
about the process in "The China Moon Cookbook," describing methods for using flat-or round-bottom woks or improvising a smoker from a Dutch oven or stockpot. The only requirement is that the pot be
heavy enough to resist high heat for about 30 minutes without liquid, and that it have a tight-fitting lid. According to Tropp, "Traditional Chinese smoking materials include hickory, camphor
and cypress woods, raw rice, peanut shells, black and jasmine teas, brown sugar ... (and) fruit peels." Her own mixture starts with equal parts of brown sugar, rice and dry black tea leaves. But
from there, she improvises with different types of teas -- including the spiced varieties, the addition of fragrant Szechwan peppercorns, cinnamon stick, dried fruit peel. "The sky's the limit,"
she says, as long as you use only dry ingredients and don't overload the pot. (Dried chiles, especially the already-smoky dried chipotle, might even be appropriate for a Mexican/Southwestern slant.) Marinades or dry rubs are generally required for anything to be smoked-roasted -- which is what you'll get if using your Weber Kettle or trusty oil drum according to this simple principle:
Build the fire at the end nearest the air intake, place a pan of soaked wood chips on top of the coals, put the food to be smoked at the opposite end -- (presumably under the chimney), add a water pan under
the food to keep it moist, if you wish, and have at it. Your choices now consist of what to smoke, what wood to use, and what brine or rub to employ to enhance the end result. In his book
"Smoke It," chef Paul Kirk catalogs just about any wood you're likely to contemplate using for smoking by characteristics and suggested use. Apple is said to yield a slightly fruity flavor and is
targeted for use with beef, poultry, game birds, pork and ham; mesquite's strong, earthy flavor makes it especially appropriate for beef and even vegetables; and oak, which yields a heavy smoke flavor; works
for red meat, pork, fish and game. Kirk also supplies numerous rub and marinade recipes and a chart of recommended pre-seasoning times, ranging from 30 minutes for fish to 6-8 hours for ribs,
venison and duck, and overnight for whole turkeys. Executive Chef Paul Gibbs of the Adam's Mark River Walk Hotel has also created several custom rubs for smoking. His technique is to coat
meat -- say a pork tenderloin -- with the rub and leave it in the refrigerator overnight, uncovered, so a kind of crust forms. If you are serious about real, several-hour smoking, you'll need to
spend some money to get a good smoker. Just be content in the knowledge that a well-built smoker will last a lifetime. Jeff Wright and Christian Puchot at Jeff's Backyard sells three
brands of serious smokers -- the Lyfe Tyme (made in Uvalde from large sections of pipe), the Tejas (welded together from sheet steel in Mexico) and the super-duper, all stainless rig made by Pitmasters, in
Tomball. Prices range from $499 for a small, fire-pit-plus-smoking chamber version to $2,745 for a ceramic-module gas grill -- and we're not even going to mention the built-in models. The difference in price has to do with the weight of the material (more weight equals better heat retention and less warping) and the degree of air-tightness (the tighter it is, the better the
control of air and thus temperature). Puchot says be learned to modulate the heat of even the less-expensive Lyfe Tyme model in a season of smoking to the point that one load of wood can last up to
four or five years. "You need to look for translucent smoke," he says, which means that you can start a fire with bark-on wood, but you can't continue to geed it with the same; the bark makes
the taste bitter. Pecan, hickory, oak and mesquite are the woods they normally stock, though chips of others, ever alder from the Northwest, are usually available as well. And real lump charcoal,
made from oak burned in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere, is also sold as a more desirable alternative to briquettes. Jeff also offers a full line of accessories. But the most important item
on the shelf might just be the digital temperature probe or the plug-in thermometer available for models not already equipped. "The temperature needs to be at least 180 degrees; 225 is the
ideal," says Puchot. In a smoker with two smoke chambers, a difference of about 60 degrees can be expected between the closest and farthest chamber from the fire, which means that chicken or fish might
be best for the low-temperature section, brisket for the higher. Don't despair; you'll figure this out. Just get a good book on the subject, go to a shop such as Jeff's for more advice
that you ever really needed -- and experiment. Or patronize your favorite barbecue joint or restaurant. |
