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• Consider placing a BBQ mat under the smoker unit to avoid staining your deck or patio.
• Always preheat your Hark gas smoker before commencing cooking. Remove the cooking
racks beforehand and load them with the food once the smoker is preheated. Loading racks
into the smoker takes time and can let out significant heat.
• Soak your smoker wood chips in a separate bowl of water for at least 20 minutes prior to
smoking. This will give a longer burn time and improve the smoky flavour. DO NOT SOAK
WOOD PELLETS AS THEY WILL DISINTEGRATE!
• Line the wood chip box and water bowl with aluminium foil to minimise cleaning later.
• Put some wood chips into the wood chip box and slide the box onto the wood chip box rack.
• Insert the water bowl and add hot water. Other liquids can be used, such as beer or wine.
• Insert clean cooking racks (grids) at the levels you want and lay the meat on the grill (always
place the smaller pieces on the lower grid if double loading).
• Remember that some meats will drip during the cooking process, so place vegetables on a
rack above the meat to eliminate contamination.
CAUTION:
The wood chip box and lid become very hot during the smoking process. Always wear protective
BBQ mitts or use long handled tongs when adding wood during the smoking process.
7.3 Good Smoking Practices
Preheat
Always wait until the fire has stablished and the cooking chamber is up to the desired oven
temperature before commencing cooking.
Thin Blue Smoke
Too much acrid creosote laden “white” smoke will ruin the entire cook. Always use flavour wood,
wood chips or pellets sparingly, be sure to add small amounts at a time, waiting 30 to 45 minutes
before adding any more. Smoke will penetrate meat up until internal temperatures hit 77°C
(170°F). Beyond that, smoke and therefore flavour won’t penetrate the meat much. Most smoke
penetration occurs within the first two hours of cooking. If you choose to add glaze to your meat
prior to finishing cooking, you may wish to add a small amount of smoke to give the glaze a smoky
flavour.
The biggest “rookie” mistake is to over smoke the food. With this style of smoking or barbequing,
less is more!
Air Flow
Control your Hark gas smoker by the gas control knob and simply adjusting the vents. Make fine
adjustments to the airflow out of the Hark gas smoker to achieve the desired temperatures.
Monitor Temperatures
Invest in a good thermometer to monitor the temperature. A digital meat probe is also important for
tracking the internal temperature of the meat you are cooking.
Ambient weather conditions can affect the cooking temperatures. Rain, wind and snow can
significantly lower the cooking temperature.
Tip: Rotate the thermometer gauge on the Hark gas smoker door so that your target temperature
is at the top of the dial. This will allow you to easily track whether the needle is vertical and
therefore “on temperature”.