Tips For Buying a Charcoal Smoker
There are 2 typical varieties of charcoal cigarette smokers for home use available on the market:
# Vertical smoker: A vertical smoker, also called a bullet smoker due to its shape, is among the most popular cigarette smokers, which is not too bulky nor too expensive. It utilizes a water pan in between the heat source and cooking grate, keeping the meat moist. The meat is prepared at a distance above the heat source.
# Offset horizontal smoker: With this kind of smoker, the fire in the compartment and the meat are kept different. There is a large cooking surface along with vents, which allow you to manage the heat and keep it moving in the cooking chamber.
Developing a Barrel Smoker
If you're feeling adventurous, have some time on your hands and want that cowboy feeling, this could be a DIY job for you. A barrel smoker uses a drum, turned on its side and split down the middle. This is extremely inexpensive to make but on the downside, it's not very steady and should not be expected to last very long. You can find out how to turn a barrel into a smoker from many available resources on the internet.
Using an Electric or Gas Smoker
By removing charcoal from the process, you lose out on much of the smoke taste that makes barbecue intriguing for eaters and cooks alike. While you can use wood with an electric or gas smoker, you just will not get the very same result. Some barbecue cooks might argue this point, but a lot of would choose to cook with charcoal to improve the flavour.
Electrical and gas cigarette smokers however, permit simpler control of the heat. Instead of charcoal, just experiment with the dial and voila!
Managing Heat
Charcoal is used as the heat source in the majority of cases, while the wood is used to include smoke and flavour. You may question why not use the wood for both heat and smoke. When you try to kill both birds with the same stone, or wood in this case, it typically leads to over cigarette smoking. It is easier to smoke and to manage heat using charcoal. Extreme smoking of the meat will likely lead to the meat becoming too bitter, thus destroying your culinary masterpiece.
Eyeing charcoal types
Charcoal is readily available in two ranges, each having their own fans:
# Charcoal briquettes: This is the most commonly used kind of charcoal for grilling at home. It is made from charred hardwood and coal. Nevertheless, this type is shunned by hardcore barbecue cooks in a lot of cases, due to the ingredients used in them to keep them burning and read more holding them together longer.
# Lump charcoal: This is just made from charred wood, with no of the ingredients found in the charcoal briquettes (and also lacks the smooth shape thereof). This charcoal burns quicker and hotter than the briquettes. They also cost more, and depending upon the level of sensitivity of the meat being prepared, the additional expense may be worth it as it also prevents undesirable taste from being added due to the chemicals found in the briquettes.
If you still decide to use charcoal briquettes, as many great barbecue do, make certain to prevent the ones with the lighter fluid in them. The chemicals used to light the charcoal can burn the charcoal and enter into your food. This will give it an unpleasant, acidic taste. Applying lighter fluid straight from the capture bottle is an equally bad concept as it will have the same effect.
Using a chimney starter
Instead of using the unpleasant tasting chemicals found in lighter fluid, you can rapidly and easily light your charcoal with a chimney starter. They can be found easily in home-supply or hardware shops.
To use it, things newspaper into the bottom section and fill the top section with charcoal. In a safe place, light the paper. You coals need to be ready in 15 to 20 minutes. Then dispose them in the smoker.