Smoking Techniques

The world of barbecue has its own language and set of techniques to help you create fall-off-the-bone results.

Brines

There are two types of brines. A wet brine is best for chicken, turkey, pork loin, and pork chops. This involves submerging the meat in a saltwater solution overnight, or for a minimum of four hours, before cooking. Brining poultry and pork helps the protein retain moisture, keeping it juicy while cooking. This book includes an all-purpose Basic Brine that can be used on chicken, turkey, or pork. Alternatively, a dry brine is best when smoking fish, such as salmon and trout, for an end result similar to fish jerky. Dry brines help to remove excess moisture before drying the fish out overnight to form a pellicle—then you smoke it.

Marinades

Soaking your meat in a flavorful herb solution with an acidic base and a little bit of oil imparts robust flavor. Bypass store-bought marinades loaded with artificial ingredients by making your own with fresh herbs, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. This book includes many seasoning pastes and marinade recipes you can use with other proteins or customize to suit your tastes. Remember to reserve some marinade in a separate container if you plan to baste with it.

Resting

When smoking meat, it's important to let meat rest tented with foil for about 10 minutes. When you let the meat rest before cutting into it, the muscle fibers (taught from heat) relax again as they cool. The flavorful, succulent juices re-distribute into the meat rather than running out onto the cutting board or plate.

Cold Smoking

This is a method of infusing food with smoke without actually cooking it, smoked within a range of 68°F to 86°F (20–30°C). For food safety reasons, I don’t recommend cold-smoking meat. However, foods such as cheese or chocolate benefit from cold smoking; they can obtain smoky flavor that makes them taste great, but they don’t become melted in the smoker. Many smokers require purchase of a cold-smoking attachment. Cold-smoking is best in cooler climates so the ambient temperature of the smoker doesn’t get too hot. To help keep the inside cool, I recommend putting ice into the water bowl.

Prepping Your Protein

When you get your meat home from the butcher or grocery store, chances are it will still need some prep before going into the smoker. Any fat cap on the outside of meat will need to be removed, or at least scored, as the fat will block the smoke and a rub from absorbing into the meat. A brisket, for example, will need to have the large, hard fat removed so the flavors can penetrate. It's a good idea to score the meat (i.e., lightly slice in a cross-hatch pattern) to help flavors enter deeper into the meat. Scoring is also recommended for pork butts. For ribs, you will always need to remove the membrane—this can be done by using a butter knife to help remove the membrane, and a paper towel to help to grip it. Poultry often benefits from butterflying, or spatchcocking, the meat. You simply remove the backbone and press the bird as flat as possible, helping it to cook more evenly. You can ask your butcher to do this for you.

3–2–1 and 2–2–1 Method for Ribs

This refers to the timing technique for smoking tender ribs. For the 3–2–1 method, you first smoke for three hours directly on the grates, then two hours wrapped in foil in the smoker (called the Texas Crutch), and lastly finish for one hour back on the grates to let the sauce caramelize. The 3–2–1 method is recommended for the bigger spareribs, and the 2–2–1 method is recommended for smaller baby back ribs, as they need less time.

Carving

A good, sharp knife makes all the difference when carving meat. A boning knife is ideal for taking meat off the bone, while a slicing knife with a blade that is long and slender will cut down on friction when slicing. An electric knife can make carving larger items such as a ham or whole turkey easier than doing it manually. When slicing meat, always cut against the grain (i.e., against the muscle fibers), which will make it more tender. Slicing with the grain usually produces more chewy meat.