•
During the smoking process, avoid the temptation to open lids to
check food. Opening the lids allows heat and smoke to escape, making
additional cooking time necessary.
•
Food closest to the firebox will cook and brown faster. Rotate food
midway through the cooking cycle. If food is excessively browned or
flavored with smoke, wrap food in aluminum foil after the first few
hours of smoking. This will allow food to continue cooking without
further browning or smoke flavoring.
• When cooking fish or extra lean cuts of meat, you may want to try
water smoking to keep the food moist. Before starting a fire in firebox,
place charcoal grate in cooking chamber. Use a flat bottom metal pan
that is shallow enough to fit between the charcoal grate and cooking
grill as a water pan. Set the metal pan on charcoal grate under food
and cooking grill and fill with water or marinade until
q
full.
CAUTION:
Always use oven mitts/gloves to protect your hands. Liquid in
water pan will be extremely hot and can scald or burn.
Always allow liquid to cool completely before handling. Do
not allow liquid to completely evaporate from water pan.
• Always use a meat thermometer to ensure food is fully cooked
before removing from smoker. A meat thermometer may be ordered
directly from Brinkmann by calling 1-800-468-5252.
Smoke Cooking Tips
Regulating Heat
To increase heat and air circulation, fully open firebox air vent and
smokestack damper. If increased air circulation does not raise temperature
sufficiently, more wood and/or charcoal may be needed. Follow
instructions in “Adding Charcoal/Wood During Cooking” section of this
manual.
To maintain the temperature, more wood and/or charcoal may need to be
added during the cooking cycle.
NOTE:
Dry wood burns hotter than charcoal, so you may want to
increase the ratio of wood to charcoal to increase the cooking
temperature. Hardwood such as oak, hickory, mesquite, fruit
and nut wood are an excellent fuel because of their burning
rate. When using wood as fuel, make sure the wood is
seasoned and dry. DO NOT use resinous wood such as pine as
it will produce an unpleasant taste.
Additional charcoal and/or wood may be required to maintain or increase
cooking temperature.
To obtain your favorite smoke flavor, experiment by using chunks, sticks
or chips of flavor producing wood such as hickory, pecan, apple, cherry,
or mesquite. Most fruit or nut tree wood may be used for smoke flavoring.
Do not use resinous wood such as pine as it will produce an unpleasant
taste.
Sticks of wood 8" to 12” long and 2" to 3" thick work best. A lot of wood is
not required to obtain a good smoke flavor. A recommended amount for
the Stillwater is 5 to 6 sticks of wood. Experiment by using more wood for
stronger smoke flavor or less wood for milder smoke flavor.
Additional flavoring wood should not have to be added during the cooking
process. However, it may be necessary when cooking very large pieces of
food. Follow instructions and cautions in the “Adding Charcoal/Wood
During Cooking” section of this manual to avoid injury while adding wood.
Flavoring Wood
10
*Water pan sold separately.
