Smoking Techniques
Types of wood to use for smoke:
• Always use a hardwood that has been seasoned for at least 6 months.
• We recommend using Pecan, Hickory , White Oak, Apple, Alder or Mesquite.
• Never use any resin woods like Pine or Cedar.
Note: It is not necessary to soak the wood prior to smoking because hard woods have natural moisture in the wood
that will release in the smoker as it heats up. In a gas smoker, soaking the wood chips may prolong the life of the
wood chips but it will also take longer to produce smoke so we will leave that decision up to you.
What you need to smoke meats:
Internal Meat Thermometer
An internal meat thermometer is a must to cook large pieces of meat to make sure it is done internally.
Internal Temperatures for Select Meats
• Cooked Ham -140 degrees
• Ham, Beef-Med, Ground Beef - 160 degrees
• Veal, Lamb, Pork, Beef-Well done - 170 degrees
• Poultry - 180 degrees
Good Tongs or Meat Hook
Use a heavy-duty set of tongs to rotate meat in the smoker
because in some cases you may be smoking a very large cut
of meat. I prefer a meat hook for ease of use and it does not
knock any rub or sauce off of the meat.
Good Oven Mitts
Heavy-duty mitts will assist you in moving hot smoker racks
and large pieces of meats and assist in adding water and
wood chips.
Aluminum Foil
When the outside color of your meat product is at your
desired color or look to suit your taste, wrap meat product
in aluminum foil to keep any more wood resins from turning
your meat any darker. Also it will saturate fats from your
meat product.
Temperature Chart -
Refer to this USDA
Standard chart for properly cooked meat temperature.
IMPORTANT: Measure the meat temperature using a meat
probe thermometer. The temperature gauge on the smoker
gives the heat temperature inside the smoker cabinet, but is
not an accurate measurement of the meat temperature.
Smoking Tips
18
