Tips…
www.macsbbq.co.uk
16
5
Cures…
Quick Tips
Use hot water in the water pan at the start, this will allow the unit
to come up to the desired temperature a lot quicker.
Make sure that the air vent in the lid is kept fully open during use,
failure to do so will disrupt the airflow and may result in the fire
going out.
If you’re looking, the food’s not cooking. Every time the lid is lifted
to inspect the food, it will take up to 30 minutes for the smoker to
come back up to the required temperature. Familiarity and the use
of probe thermometers will reduce the need to inspect the food
visually.
Start with a small amount of wood to create smoke on your first few
attempts, as it is very easy to “over smoke” food and remember, to
get a smoke flavour all that is required is a wisp of smoke, smoke
billowing out of the unit is not desired and will often leave a sooty
deposit on the food which doesn’t taste good.
Use a good quality lumpwood charcoal or charcoal briquettes. Some
brands of fuel have unsavoury fillers and may impart an unpleasant
flavour to the food.
Buy good quality ingredients, as this makes all the difference.
Allow the food to come up to room temperature by taking it out of
the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you intend to cook it.
Meat at room temperature allows smoke to penetrate more.
Use only tried and tested non-resinous woods, see chart in manual.
Try to source wood that has no bark on it, as the bark can contain
bugs and other nasties that may be poisonous.
Most importantly... experiment! Try different woods, rubs and
sauces until you come up with the combination that suits your taste
buds. We’ve included a few recipes in this booklet, but feel free to
add your own twist to them.
Brines
Brines are generally used on white meats such as fish or poultry and are used to
produce a juicier and more flavourful end product. The brining process will enhance
food that is to be either “Hot” or “Cold” smoked. Before you start brining, there are a
couple of basic rules to follow.
Containers – as brines are basically a salt solution, the containers need to be clean and
made from a non reactive material. Plastic tubs or glass containers are fine.
Before placing your meat into the brine, the temperature of the brine must be about
3-4ºC (38-40ºF) this temperature needs to be maintained throughout the process. A
good quality digital thermometer will help with monitoring this. Make sure the meat is
fully covered by the brine.
Brines can NOT be reused.
Basic Brine Recipe
1/4 Cup of Kosher salt
1/4 Cup of brown sugar
4 Cups of water
In a medium bowl, combine the salt, sugar and water. Stir vigorously until all the salt
and sugar has dissolved. Then pour this mixture over the meat, poultry, or fish that
you are preparing. Soak for several hours, or overnight. You may wish to add some
herbs or spices to the basic recipe.
Go to page 13 to see how this is used in a recipe.
Dry Cure
Dry cures are predominantly used by commercial smoking operations these days,
because they require less time to cure the meat, however it is a very easy method
that can be used by the home smoker.
Dry cures are made up of salt, common table salt is fine
(do not use Iodised salt)
,
and sugar, herbs and spices can also be added to taste.
