•
During the smoking process, avoid the temptation to open lid to check
food. Opening the lid 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
Cimarron 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
11
*Water pan sold separately.