Talk to me about Smoking!
- Thread starter Mike L
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jthyttin
Well-Known Member
This should get you started. I don't use charcoal BBQ but a device similar to Weber Smokey Mountain (not a knock-off since Weber is not the original product of this type, just don't recall what was). So don't know any nuances but basic procedure is like this:
You need something to monitor the temperature of the BBQ, and inside temperature of the haunch. If there's analog meter in Weber don't trust it. Basically two digital thermometers, or one with dual probes.
Principle is, that you control the burn, temperature and smoke generation by oxygen starvation. I.e. only let enough oxygen in to keep the temperature at 100C or so. If there's too much oxygen, the apple tree bits or whatever you put in will burn and not generate smoke. Since it's not convenient to add briquettes to Weber (or any simple charcoal BBQ), you need a way to lit them one by one (few by few) not all in the beginning. One way is "snake method" where you put briquettes along the outer wall.
The haunch won't be on top of the briquettes but to the side (indirect heat). Usual practice is to put aluminium baking tray or similar to the briquette tray below the meat.
You need something to monitor the temperature of the BBQ, and inside temperature of the haunch. If there's analog meter in Weber don't trust it. Basically two digital thermometers, or one with dual probes.
Principle is, that you control the burn, temperature and smoke generation by oxygen starvation. I.e. only let enough oxygen in to keep the temperature at 100C or so. If there's too much oxygen, the apple tree bits or whatever you put in will burn and not generate smoke. Since it's not convenient to add briquettes to Weber (or any simple charcoal BBQ), you need a way to lit them one by one (few by few) not all in the beginning. One way is "snake method" where you put briquettes along the outer wall.
The haunch won't be on top of the briquettes but to the side (indirect heat). Usual practice is to put aluminium baking tray or similar to the briquette tray below the meat.
All of this is correct but maybe a bit tricky if you've not done smoking before. It can be a real faff to manage the heat in a kettle type BBQ for larger bits which needs a long time
Also smoking works best for foods which have a decent amount of fat in them as that is what tends to take up the smoke flavours (hence the classic smoked bacon, salmon and mackerel etc)
You can do it with leaner cuts but they can just dry out so not sure haunch (or most venison at all) suits hot smoking
But you can try doing it in the oven and finishing off in the smoker for an easy trial and work up from there
This is more a Texan BBQ style like you get ribs or brisket and you can find lots of "Texan style BBQ in you home oven instructions online"
3 stages
Brining: not essential but helps a lot.
Read up any recipes online for bacon or pastrami. Wet brine suits lean meats better than dry brine
Salt/sugar/spice for a few days then leave to air dry for a bit
Actual cooking
Very low oven (65-90C)
Meat covered and About 1 hour per inch of thickness but min 2 hours
Meat should be very tender
Add sticky sauces at this point if you like or half way through the oven bit
Final smoking
When it comes out of the oven have the BBQ ready
Small bed of charcoal briquettes nicely burned down all pushed to one side
BBQ preheated but not roasting hot
Cover with a bag of wood chips soaked on water for 10 mins and shook dry half on the charcoal and running into the non charcoal area (so the wood can smoulder and burn all of it slowly)
SHut the lid, seal all the vents and leave it half an hour
Not as hard as it sounds but either you need to go full science mode with thermometers and micromanaging or just accept it as an art which you'll screw up plenty and never manage to reproduce the perfect one you did the first time
63
Well-Known Member
I went through a deep ‘Weber nerd’ phase a few years ago….
I agree hot smoking a venison haunch would dry it out. However if you just roast it in the BBQ instead of the oven it should work fine. (Same temp and time). Chuck some wood chips in and you’ll get a good dash of smoke to it.
There’s lots of Weber instructional on YouTube, I found this guy really good:
Schuey’s BBQ
He’s potentially a bit irritating, but his recipes are spot on and his instructions/guides are very clear and easy to follow. I’ve done over 20 of his recipes with no major issues.
I used a straightforward thermometer with two probes off Amazon. One goes in the meat, on goes on a clip in the air above the grill to give the ‘oven temperature’. Could never get the app to work on mine so just put it where I could see the screen out of the window.
Amazon probe
I found the temp relatively easy to control after a couple of practice goes and following the vids. I did a whole roast dinner a few times!
I agree hot smoking a venison haunch would dry it out. However if you just roast it in the BBQ instead of the oven it should work fine. (Same temp and time). Chuck some wood chips in and you’ll get a good dash of smoke to it.
There’s lots of Weber instructional on YouTube, I found this guy really good:
Schuey’s BBQ
He’s potentially a bit irritating, but his recipes are spot on and his instructions/guides are very clear and easy to follow. I’ve done over 20 of his recipes with no major issues.
I used a straightforward thermometer with two probes off Amazon. One goes in the meat, on goes on a clip in the air above the grill to give the ‘oven temperature’. Could never get the app to work on mine so just put it where I could see the screen out of the window.
Amazon probe
I found the temp relatively easy to control after a couple of practice goes and following the vids. I did a whole roast dinner a few times!
I have got smoked a muntjac leg before, turned out very well. Brine the meat for around 48hrs or so then sit in the fridge in whatever rub or sauce for another 24 hrs. Smoking you want to make sure you can monitor the temperature as has been said, both of your smoker (bbq) and the meat. I use meater probes as they give you an ambient and internal temp. For the first hour or so be prepared to top up the smoke every 20mins top half hour i found and moisten the meat. After that use your discretion on if you want more smoke but be sure as its lean to add moisture back to the meat.
A water pan with a mix of water, orange juice or apple juice and some coke I find works for me as well as a spray bottle of either the same mixture of some apple cider vinegar.
A water pan with a mix of water, orange juice or apple juice and some coke I find works for me as well as a spray bottle of either the same mixture of some apple cider vinegar.
Just after Christmas @Tim.243 had a young muntjac going spare that was in fantastic condition and looked as though it would be great eating. I broke it into primals, vac packed it and put it in the freezer until I could think of something I wanted to make.
Fast forward nearly a month and I settled on smoked jerk venison. Never tried jerk venison before put I had a recipe from the first time I went to Jamaica about 5 or 6 years ago that I've made a couple of times and always enjoyed.
I brined the venison for 2 days in a mixture of brown sugar, salt, water, pepper corns...
Fast forward nearly a month and I settled on smoked jerk venison. Never tried jerk venison before put I had a recipe from the first time I went to Jamaica about 5 or 6 years ago that I've made a couple of times and always enjoyed.
I brined the venison for 2 days in a mixture of brown sugar, salt, water, pepper corns...
jthyttin
Well-Known Member
If smoking venison I use 53-57 Celsius internal temp. I might have smoked whole roe haunch once, but only do separate trimmed cuts usually. Mostly top round and bottom round (these might be US terms?). The meat won't dry, but the obvious "deficiencies" still apply (lack of fat). I like the trimmed stuff because this lower temperature does nothing to connective tissue etc. but cannot see why it won't work if you slice the haunch properly.
I also do everything dry. I weigh the cut, measure 2.5% fine sea salt (no added iodium), maybe other seasoning. Wrap in butcher's paper and place in fridge in a bowl (rule of thumb, one centimeter per day). Before smoking it's beneficial to remove the wrap and leave meat in fridge for half an hour or so (this will dry the surface).
My Smokey Mountain style BBQ has vertical design, and there is bowl between the coals and top grate. This is supposed to be filled with water, but I've filled it with sand (to get bit of mass to stabilize temperature) and put a aluminium foil on top to catch drippings. Water would help to keep the temperature, but whole idea of smoking / BBQ is to form a crust so I don't use it (and don't use liquid rub either).
Few things to remember is, that temperature at the grate varies greatly no matter the design. So you really need to keep thermometer in each piece of meat if you want repeteable results (of course you can relocate the probe from smaller to larger pieces as you take smaller pieces out). And every time you open the BBQ, it adds like 15-30mins to the total time. This doesn't matter with venison but if you do other stuff you want >80C you should really plan the process and not keep peeking at the grate.
There will be a "stall" phase (around 67-70C) where the temperature might keep even 2-3 hours and not get up. There's some methods to tackle this but usually I won't bother. One way, not as much "cheating" as others, would be to raise the temperature to 120-125C and depending on the meat you might get by the stall and not even notice it!
I also do everything dry. I weigh the cut, measure 2.5% fine sea salt (no added iodium), maybe other seasoning. Wrap in butcher's paper and place in fridge in a bowl (rule of thumb, one centimeter per day). Before smoking it's beneficial to remove the wrap and leave meat in fridge for half an hour or so (this will dry the surface).
My Smokey Mountain style BBQ has vertical design, and there is bowl between the coals and top grate. This is supposed to be filled with water, but I've filled it with sand (to get bit of mass to stabilize temperature) and put a aluminium foil on top to catch drippings. Water would help to keep the temperature, but whole idea of smoking / BBQ is to form a crust so I don't use it (and don't use liquid rub either).
Few things to remember is, that temperature at the grate varies greatly no matter the design. So you really need to keep thermometer in each piece of meat if you want repeteable results (of course you can relocate the probe from smaller to larger pieces as you take smaller pieces out). And every time you open the BBQ, it adds like 15-30mins to the total time. This doesn't matter with venison but if you do other stuff you want >80C you should really plan the process and not keep peeking at the grate.
There will be a "stall" phase (around 67-70C) where the temperature might keep even 2-3 hours and not get up. There's some methods to tackle this but usually I won't bother. One way, not as much "cheating" as others, would be to raise the temperature to 120-125C and depending on the meat you might get by the stall and not even notice it!
dropmdead
Well-Known Member
One other way to do cold smoking is using a repurposed calor gas bottle, a metal pipe and a smoke box made from wood etc.
The idea is to use the gas bottle for the fire.
The metal pipe to be the chimney to the smoke box. You can experiment with the length of pipe to keep the temperature of smoke within the smoke box.
Again by adding a bit more volume to the wooden smoke box can help with regulating your temperature.
If it's a relatively large box, you can add cheeses to it too lower down
The idea is to use the gas bottle for the fire.
The metal pipe to be the chimney to the smoke box. You can experiment with the length of pipe to keep the temperature of smoke within the smoke box.
Again by adding a bit more volume to the wooden smoke box can help with regulating your temperature.
If it's a relatively large box, you can add cheeses to it too lower down
jthyttin
Well-Known Member
Cold smoking is another thing, I have labyrinth type generator that is made of stainless. Bottom and walls (that make up the labyrinth) are wire mesh. You put saw dust type chippings there, and start the smoldering from one end. The generator will give smoke for something like 12+- hours. There are few generator sizes, and ambient temperature has huge effect.
Ambient temperature is the biggest culprit also. I like to cold smoke only when temperature keeps about 0-10C for days. Usually I keep the meat, fish, cheese, whatever for 48-72 hours in the smoke. For many years I've been going to make a device that can more or less be used all year round. Or at least during the colder months.
I've seen many of those, basically you take a tall fridge and modify it. Problem is the smoke / tar, it gets literally everywhere. And you want to keep at least some parts in "controlled environment" while not in use. Meaning, I have a heated garage, and you want at least the grate(s) not to be left outside. Otherwise you soon find out what is the difference between different stainless steels varieties... btw I do the same with my BBQ, store the grate inside. Sometimes the whole BBQ, but you'd want to let it "air out" for a day or two...
EDIT: meat preparation is same for cold smoke as BBQ, but I use 5% fine sea salt by weight. Also be gentle with seasonings, and herb type seasoning you can also sprinkle on top of smoke generator not necessarily on the meat
Ambient temperature is the biggest culprit also. I like to cold smoke only when temperature keeps about 0-10C for days. Usually I keep the meat, fish, cheese, whatever for 48-72 hours in the smoke. For many years I've been going to make a device that can more or less be used all year round. Or at least during the colder months.
I've seen many of those, basically you take a tall fridge and modify it. Problem is the smoke / tar, it gets literally everywhere. And you want to keep at least some parts in "controlled environment" while not in use. Meaning, I have a heated garage, and you want at least the grate(s) not to be left outside. Otherwise you soon find out what is the difference between different stainless steels varieties... btw I do the same with my BBQ, store the grate inside. Sometimes the whole BBQ, but you'd want to let it "air out" for a day or two...
EDIT: meat preparation is same for cold smoke as BBQ, but I use 5% fine sea salt by weight. Also be gentle with seasonings, and herb type seasoning you can also sprinkle on top of smoke generator not necessarily on the meat
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