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Continued from Page 2
The Confusion And
The Light
Because this produces smoke like the old coal fired
locomotive, the method became known as "Smokin'" and later
euphemized as "Smoke Cooking." Being unfamiliar with real
barbecue techniques (and apparently its taste and texture) and
naive about the placement of thermometers relative to the meat,
temperatures registered from 225 to300 degrees, clearly in the
roasting range, and meat became overcooked, creosoted and
phenolized. Nevertheless, those who had been shocked by the sharp
taste of the vinegary North Carolina barbecue sauce and onceiving
that to be the essence of barbecue, fervently defended it as not
being barbecue, but smoking or smoke cooking.
Because "Smokin'" sounds so catchy, "Smoke cooking" entered
the vocabulary of many of those without close connections the
long history and the rich lore of outdoor cooking and preserving
meat with curing and smoking. The criteria for each technique is
very simple, because the purpose of each is a function which is
determined by the temperature range.
TERMS TO KNOW
Cold smoking, for preservation, as well as for adding
flavor has a temperature ceiling of 90 degrees and requires days
and days.
Hot smoking, for cooking and flavoring food which need to
be eaten or refrigerated ranges from 80-190 degrees and requires
1 to 4 days..
Barbecuing, with or without, vinegar sauce, is cooking
between 180 and 220 degrees and requires 4-24 hours, depending
upon whether it's a chicken wing or a whole hog.
Roasting is accomplished between 225-400 degrees, usually
2-4 hours.
Broiling is done at 450-900 degrees in a matter of minutes.
All of these are done in the dry heat of wood coals.
In recent times, smoke is used much more for flavoring than for preserving. It behooves us, therefore, to find out more about the flavoring process.
Wood smoke is a complex, and variable, witches brew that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, contains over 200 identifiable compounds. Many of them, in sufficient strength and quantity, are seriously hazardous to your health. The complete list takes up two pages of double columns in "The Great American Barbecue & Grilling Manual."
Continued on Page 4
Smoky's 5th basic position for really great barbecue'n.
'According to Smoky' is © by C. Clark Hale
who is solely responsible for its content. Comments
should be addresses to cchale@bellsouth.net
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