The smoker is used to add flavor to meats and other foods by exposing them to the smoke from burning or smoldering materials, mostly wood. Though meats are most generally smoked, other foods like cheese and vegetables, may be smoked as well. Smoking may or may not be a key part of the barbecue process, but some citizen swear that the grilling feel is incomplete without smoking.
Meat smokers for outdoor cooking or grilling come in so many varieties that it is quite daunting for most beginners to determine on the right one. Charcoal is a beloved fuel for these smokers. Traditional American barbecue is generally cooked on one or the either of these charcoal smokers: offset charcoal smokers or Upright Drum Smokers.
Wood Smokers
The chief distinguishing highlight of the offset charcoal smoker is that the cooking room is usually cylindrical in shape, with other smaller cylinder attached to one end for the firebox. To smoke the food, a small fire is lit in the firebox. The smoke and the heat are drawn into the compartment where the food is kept through a connecting pipe. The heat and the smoke pass through the food, tenderizing it, before passing out through an exhaust vent. In cooking the food, the smoke also provides a unique flavor to it.
The other kind of smoker, the Upright Drum Smoker, as the name suggests, has an upright steel drum that is used for cooking. The contraption can be arranged in a collection of ways, but generally a basket retention charcoal is held at the lowest of the drum to contribute the smoke and the heat. Some charcoal smokers use a bowl of water in the smoker to keep the meat moist.
The propane smoker is also being increasingly used to smoke meats. As the term indicates, the heat in this smoker is generated by a gas burner. The gas flames, in turn, heat a steel or iron box that contains the wood or charcoal that provides the smoke. The technology heats the wood, but provides it with only sufficient oxygen to smoke, rather than to burn. The smoke passes through the vents smoking the foods placed in the containers.
Electric smokers are the beloved option for citizen who need a shorter start up time for smoking. Those galvanic smokers that come in upright models contribute a relatively larger large interior cooking space.
The most Traditional formula of smoking meats is the smoke box method. This essentially uses a fire box and a food box. The terms are self-explanatory in themselves, and the fire box produces the heat and the smoke to cook the food stuff in the food box.
Finally, there is also a collection of cold smokers that do not use heat to cook food at all. These are favorable for items such as smoked bacon, thick smoked cheese, cold salmon and trout. The only disadvantage of using this kind of smoker is that it takes a much longer time than the hot smoker.
Bogged down by the options? think your own tastes and conveniences when you shop for your smoker, and you won't go wrong!
Smokers For Outdoor Cooking - Picking the Best Smoker