Article by David Johns

Smoking meat fish and vegetables has been very popular throughout history and many generations as can be seen by the sheer variety of smokers for sale. Many have discovered the great taste that smoking infuses into all types of foods. Smoking food can be used to flavour, cook or even preserve food. Nowadays there are lots of alternatives available for us if we want to enrich the taste of our food by smoking it. In fact the choice of home smoker can be daunting.

Let’s talk about the fuel the most common choice is wood or wood products. The hobbyist/backyard home smoker can use wood, charcoal, propane or even electric to fuel their cookers. The important thing to remember is that you need a smoke source, so you are going to need some types of wood, logs, chunks or chips to provide the smoke for your cooker In North America, hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, alder, maple, and fruit-tree woods, such as apple, cherry and plum, are commonly used for smoking

Smoke is an antimicrobial and antioxidant, but smoke alone is insufficient for preserving food in itself, unless combined with another preservation method. In the past, smoking was used in combination with other techniques, most commonly salt-curing or drying. The main problem is the smoke compounds adhere only to the outer surfaces of the food; smoke does not actually penetrate far into meat or fish. In modern times, almost all smoking is carried out for its flavor

Cold smoking can be used as a flavor enhancer for foods such as, beef, pork chops, chicken breasts, salmon, scallops, and steak. The food item can be cold smoked for just long enough to give some great flavor. Some cold smoked foods are then, grilled, baked or roasted, or even saut

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The Process of Hot Smoking

“Hot smoking” exposes the foods to smoke and heat in a controlled environment. Although foods that have been hot smoked are often reheated or cooked, they are typically safe to eat without further cooking.

Hams and ham hocks are fully cooked once they are properly smoked. Hot smoking occurs within the range of 165°F/74°C to 185°F/85°C. Within this temperature range, foods are fully cooked, moist, and flavorful. If the smoker is allowed to get hotter than 185°F, the foods will shrink excessively, buckle, or even split.

Smoking at high temperatures also reduces yield, as both moisture and fat are “cooked” away.

Or simply put, HOT SMOKING is a cooking process where special hardwood powder is smoldered in the base of the smoker whilst the food cooks from above!

For hot smoking, just place your wood chips on the charcoal, as you produce enough heat to simultaneously cook your food. Barbecuing – To barbeque, just light your charcoal fire underneath the food and regulate the air as you wish, either with the lid or vents. ‘Designed by cooks for the ultimate in healthy living’.

Easy to use and designed for the outdoors. Your neighbours will come flocking when you open the door and release all those wonderfull smokey aromas.

The Bradley Smoker

The Bradley Food Smoker is a unique and compact “smoke house” that is sold complete with its accompanying smoke generator in which flavour bisquettes are burned for 20 minutes each so that the temperature does not fluctuate, thus eliminating the high temperature gases, acids and resins that can distort the flavour of smoked food.

The Bradley smoker is light enough to carry and is about the size of a small fridge making it ideal for use in relatively small spaces.

The Bradley Food Smoker makes clean tasting food without any aftertaste. While other smokers need to be tended constantly, the Bradley Smoker automatically produces clean, cool smoke for up to 8 hours safely and without intervention

Additionally, using the independently controlled internal heating element the Bradley Food Smoker will also hot smoke, or may be used simply as a slow cooker or slow roasting oven.

The low temperature cooking environment is perfect for any smoking project and the infra red heater source is also particularly well- suited for drying fruits making it a versatile and much loved cooking device that has gained a loyal worldwide following from avid smoker fans.

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