Easy 1st Hot Smoking Recipe?

[Grendel]

I may be buying a Electric hot smoker and wandered if someone had a fool proof 1st recipe I could try out since paranoid I'll give myself food poisoning or something. I tried cold smoking cheese with my Pro Q Cold smoke generator in the past but don't have any experience with cures since never tried hot smoking although did buy some Prague Powder No 1 but never used it since blew up my last hot smoker before I could use it properly.

[Tiny]

Hi Gremdle,
A meat thermometer is an absolute must and guarantees no food poisoning!

would suggest starting small, chicken thighs are good or ribs, that way you can play about with rubs, smoking woods, sauces etc and discover what floats your boat.

Also this way you are not tied to a 10-15 hour cook with a £30 piece of brisket at stake.

I have read and followed a lot of advice from here amd have always ended up woth something nourishing,

Good luck
Tiny

[Catsup and Mustard]

Gremdle, Not sure why you seem to think you must cure meat before smoking as you stated in a other tread.
Its not needed unless your making hams and bacon etc.

The smoking process does act as preserve in its own right.

Also how on earth did you blew up a smoker?

[Grendel]

I was told by others (not on here) and in a book that you need to cure all meat you smoke due to the low cooking temp you run a risk of the meat gong off from growing bacteria.

As for killing my last hot smoker bit of a school boy error. Bought it from US Amazon got it delivered changed the plug then plugged it in which then melted the element and blew the fused in my house since forgot US currency is 110V and we run on 240V

So your saying for either hot or cold smoking you DONT have to cure the meat for hours in salt solution before you smoke it as I had previously been told?

[keith157]

I was told by others (not on here) and in a book that you need to cure all meat you smoke due to the low cooking temp you run a risk of the meat gong off from growing bacteria.

As for killing my last hot smoker bit of a school boy error. Bought it from US Amazon got it delivered changed the plug then plugged it in which then melted the element and blew the fused in my house since forgot US currency is 110V and we run on 240V

So your saying for either hot or cold smoking you DONT have to cure the meat for hours in salt solution before you smoke it as I had previously been told?

That's for COLD SMOKING, the temps are hot enough in Low & Slow to kill off the bacteria. A low and slow become a collar ham if cured, and brisket becomes Salt Beef (nowt wrong with that) not a delicious hot cooked beef slab.

[Catsup and Mustard]

That's for COLD SMOKING, the temps are hot enough in Low & Slow to kill off the bacteria. A low and slow become a collar ham if cured, and brisket becomes Salt Beef (nowt wrong with that) not a delicious hot cooked beef slab.

Don't forget one of my favourite cold meat's Pastrami

[YetiDave]

I think the confusion's coming from a lot of American recipes - bacon in the states is hot smoked at very low temps, as are barbecue sausages and alike so the cure is there as an insurance policy against bacteria. If you're cooking it above 200F then you don't need to cure. However don't let that stop you from playing about with cured meats - the curing salts give that meat a special 'tang' that you can't get with smoke alone. As you already have some prague powder, I would highly recommend getting a copy of Ruhlman's "Charcuterie" as there are plenty of recipes in there for American style hot smoked bacon and alike, which is also perfectly safe to cold smoke

[derekmiller]

I think Dave has summed this up well.
I have made bacon the American way, using a cure and smoking untill the internal temp is around 150F. The Weber "Smoking" book has got some nice recipes in it.

Pics of our first attempt at bacon.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 45796e2e68

Derek