Barbecue Smokers - a little FYI

When is slow good? When cooking meat! And, for some of the very best-tasting meat, you may want to consider barbeque smokers. Smokers are a great variation on the barbeque grill. Smokers cook meat by enclosing it in a container that produces medium temperature smoke, hence the name. That heat from the smoke cooks the meal while various components of the vapor add flavor.

Like grills, smokers come in a wide variety of types: charcoal, gas, electric, and even brick oven. In every case, the smokers produces an even heat that slow-cooks the meat while filling it with delightful aromas. And, delightful aromas translate into heavenly tasting food.

Most smokers are in the form of a metal cylinder that allows the meat to be laid out on a grill or rotated on a spit. Many designs have some form of controlling the heat using so-called dampers. One popular method is to use a water basin that cools the smoke on contact. The water will absorb some smoke, but also release some. As the smoke moves through the chamber by convection, it's cooled then makes contact with the meat again.

To some extent an ordinary barbeque grill with a lid performs the same function, but with a smoker, the fumes themselves are essential to the process. Different types of charcoal and/or wood are used to add extra flavor. Hickory, cherry, alder and mesquite are popular choices. Each has a unique aroma and provides the meat with a distinctive flavor.

Just to forewarn you, barbecuing using a smoker is not a spur of the moment thing. You can't just decide one minute to smoke your food and expect a great-tasting meal in an hour. Smokers are intended to be used with advance planning. Preparing the smoke with just the right ingredients takes time. Slow cooking meat in a smoker can take as long as a day. But, again, that's what gives the meat that great taste. Time and smoke.

Often placed on a rotating spit, a good chunk of beef will be turned for hours, but not basted or sauced. The smoke, in essence does the basting for you. A fine crust forms on the exterior that makes for an eating episode that adds a physical sensation to the taste experience.

Brick Oven Smokers

While most smokers are made of metal, often cast iron, a great variation is the brick oven style.

The brick used in a smoker can be clay or even concrete block. Special composites are common these days, since materials science has even improved barbecuing. But whichever specific material is used, these smokers still have a hot basin and a flue to convey the smoke to a chamber where the meat cooks.

Synonyms:  BBQ, barbecue and barbeque are used synonymously.

barbque, barbequed, barbeques, barbaque, bar-b-que, bar b que, barbacue, barbecued and barbecues are typos for "barbeque."