Is there an easy online reference time/temperature chart for smoking veggies? Smoked eggplants or garlic would be nice in a baba ghanoush. I have no idea how long to smoke them for.
Smoking dips and salsa is hard. I have tried. No real way to infuse the smoke into them. You can however, smoke the ingredients before you make them into dips and salsas. Smoking is about surface area, temperature and permeability. By temperature I mean both the temperature of what is being smoked, and the temperature of the smoker. I smoke on low heat myself (below 180 F.). For meats and veggies, I smoke for about 30 minutes, or until the surface temp of the meat/veggies gets warm. Studies have shown that smoke adheres best to cold surfaces. Once the surfaces get hot, not much smoke sticks to it any more. At that point I finish it off in the kitchen on the stove or in the oven. I use a Traeger pellet grill and I use competition grade pellets made of 100% woods, like apple, alder, maple, etc. Things I have found that smoke well are corn in any form; cob, chips, bread, or cut, they all smoke great. Potatoes are the opposite. They do not take up any smoke, and I have tried cut, fried, chips, and whole. Cut squash does well and cooks pretty fast. Onions and garlic do well but they vary a lot in terms of time. Bread is really good at taking up smoke, and the flavor is greatly improved. I suggest that anyone with a smoker smoke the buns and bread for things like brisket and pulled pork. It only takes about ten minutes to smoke bread, corn chips, corn on the cob, etc. Sliced peppers are easy to smoke, and chipotle is made by smoking jalapenos. You can throw that into dips and get a lot of smoked flavor out of it.
Cold smoking is usually done at or slightly above room temperature. The actual smoker is offset and the smoke runs through a pipe to get to the smokehouse allowing you to smoke things like cheese, salmon, dips, and anything else that can't get hot. Most cold smoking is done between 70-80 degrees. Here is a good link to a blog of someone who built one. I really want to build one some day. http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-cold-smoker-smokehouse.html
Cut off the very top of the bulb, Hot smoke the garlic, not too hot, cook till you can squeeze the garlic and it squishes out just a bit, when it is soft, it is ready....
No offense, but you have got to be kidding me. I do appreciate the advice though. I'm just not that fancy. It would take me 5 min to build a DIY smoker that would put out 70-80 degree temps no problem. Yep, I'm a redneck.
Lol, I didn't say you had to build one like the blog. I completely agree its over kill and i would never build one like that but if you read through a bunch of the stuff you can pick up a lot of great tricks and tips for cold smoking. Lots of people build cold smokers out of old grills. They even make a special tray for under 50 bucks that work great. I was just trying to share some insight on what it is and how its done from someone who has done a bunch of it.
I agree, but that's a damm nice cold smoker. If you did a lot of salmon or something that would be the ticket.
That is cool. I'm just a little too earthy for that style and her blog. The cinder block is a total waste of good heat. Don't get me started on her other cooking equipment...lol.
Good thread. Just did in and get some experience, you're a smart guy and will figure it out pretty quick.
We used to make salmon smokers out of old refers/freezers here when they were made of metal. Rather red neck in design. Not exactly cold smokers though, a firebox bolted onto the outside venting the smoke in there to the metal racks, we started it at 120 F. and finished it up around 180F., which is the common temps for smoking salmon here in the PNW. I do not like cold smoked salmon (like lox). I crave British Columbia style smoked salmon with the skin on one side with grill marks on it, and some carmelized edges. Different taste, but highly addictive.
Yep. I always thought smoking food was this really difficult skill to master until I tried it. Baking. That is the hardcore stuff. I have a super amount of respect for people who are pushing out pastries, breads, and such from wood fired ovens.
These things make smoking real easy... so easy in fact, that a lot of BBQ competitions want to ban them from being used now. Oregon made Traeger lil' Texas pellet smoker
