Alright folks I know it is late but here is my guide on smoking meats and cheeses. First thing, my disclamer.
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU COOK FOR GETS SICK FROM THIS PREP METHOD. Neither myself or anyone else I have prepared this for have ever gotten sick. However, when I was asking about something on a smoking forum I got flamed hardcore for not using any nitrate/nitrites in my curing process. My philosophy is that hundreds of years ago they didn't have that. All they had for dry curing was salt and sugar. Which is what I use in my brine solution that sits at the brink of freezing for a week. Now on to the method behind the madness.
I am going to assume that you already have a smoker and wood but for clarity sake I will provide a pic of my smoker setup.
here is a shot of the chimney style charcoal starter that I use. Note the wire rack in the bottom not a stamped plate. The wire version works much better simply pour charcoal in the top and put 2 loosley wadded up full squares of non glossy newspaper in the bottom and light that on fire. Don't worry about the ink if it is from non glossy paper the ink is actually soy based.
First thing that happens is the brine solution. Put all your meat in a cooler that will either fit into your freezer or the trunk of your car (make sure it has a good seal for this method). If you use the freezer method you will have to put the cooler in and out of the freezer to make sure the meat doesn't freeze. This will greatly retard the process of the salt and the sugar from permeating the meat. If using the cooler in the car method make sure that the outside temp is low enough that the meat won't spoil.
Now just fill the cooler with the brine solution to cover all the meat. My dad keeps telling me you need so much solution per pound of meat but I just make sure to cover all the meat. If a bit is sticking out the top cause it is floating don't worry about that. The brine solution consists of each gallon of water getting 1 cup salt and one 2 lb bad of brown sugar. I use Mortons brand for the salt and for the brown sugar I use C&H dark brown sugar. The dark has more molasses in it than the light and medium. But any version of brown sugar will work. I have not tried any of the artificial sugars or super sweeteners but I wouldn't recommend it as I don't think it would do the job that it is supposed to do. It is not there just for flavor. If you want to adjust the salt/sugar flavor all I do is either dome or dish the cup of salt. Leave the meat in this solution for a week. The last few times though I have had the "tender" the deepest portion of the breast on turkeys to come out just a mush. I believe this is due to all the turkeys that are not coming from a meat locker to being pre brined so if doing a turkey that is pre brined I would only suggest leaving in this brine for a maximum of 2 or 3 days. Anything else leave in the brine for a week.
Now a couple tips and tricks I have picked up over the years. All the charcoal and wood goes in the offset box that is on the right side of my smoker. If you don't have an off set box just put it all the way to one side and try and keep the meat as far to the opposite side as you can. Now I do a cold smoke in the fact that I am actually trying to NOT cook the meat in the smoker. This greatly increases the time in the smoker but I find the flavor to be noticeably better. If the temp is to high for to long of a period of time I feel that the smoke flavor has a certain acrid/acidic aspect that I don't care for. As far as what temps I smoke my meats at I just try and keep the temp as low as possible. Hence why I do all my smoking in the winter (I live in Iowa). If I am paying attention to it I can keep the temp inside the smoker well under 100F. When doing cheese I do that at the beginning of the process so the temp is at most 75F. The big advantage to this is that I can use just the wire rack that is the top level in my grill and not need any aluminum foil which blocks an entire side of the block from receiving the smoke. Also do NOT use any charcoal that has lighter fluid already in the briquets. This will add that flavor to the meat and is probably not good for you. My guess is that it is full of methyl-ethyl-bad ****. I use nothing but standard Kingsford charcoal. For woods I have used so far is maple and hickory. However, for this winter I have some cherry, plum, and I am going to try and get some peach wood from my brother. Also actual wood pieces work much better than bark. For the argument between dried and green wood I couldn't tell you. All I know is that all the wood that I have used has been cut down for at least a summer. Some people say that you get a better flavor with soaking the wood in water as well. I tried that and couldn't tell any difference. After that experience I did a bit of online research and found that unless you keep the wood in boiling water for 6 hours+ the water won't even be fully saturated into the wood even after a week of being in the water.
Now to the actual smoking process. Set all the meat on the smoker after the charcoal has ashed over. I usually start with about 6 briquets and 3-5 pieces of wood. I do not use chips as they tend to burn up to quick. Here is a shot of the charcoal I use and a good image of the first charge of wood and charcoal.
and here is the first charge there is 6 birquets. 5 in a ring and one on top. Now the wood in this shot is a bit longer that what I would normally use. So, what I would do here is let it burn for a while and then move what was left to on top of the charcoal.
Now comes the time and the work investment in this project. Each 15 to 20 minutes you need to check on the charcoal and the wood adding more of each every time period. I usually have 3 pieces of wood burning with just enough charcoal to keep them hot. This is how I keep the temp down and why it takes so long. Here is a quick run down of how long different things take in the smoker
Brick cheese - 2 hours with parmesan only being about 20 minutes due to it being so porous and dry to begin with.
Salmon - 6 hours
whole chicken - 6 to 8 hours
whole pork loin (not the small center cut crap but the whole 10lb loin) - 8 to 10 hours
bone in actual ham not the processes or spiral cut crap - 12 to 14 hours
whole turkey (try and stay under 14 lb birds here anything bigger than that I think just tastes funny) - 16 to 18 hours
Now, after this time investment, the meat still needs to actually cook. Now is a great time to do it since the temp in the meat has already come up a bit so the cook time is reduced. Just cook in the oven at what ever temp you would normally cook said piece of meat until the deepest portion of the meat is up to a safe temperature level.
questions and comments welcome
Melvang
