Re: Water Smokers-Attn:Heidi

[Guest guest]

>One thing that he did say was the water smokers are a waste of heat, and

>give off too much smoke. He thinks that dry smokers are more efficient

>when done right. Is there a reason you choose a water smoker over a dry

>smoker? You may want to have a look at his site just because you may

>find it interesting. A question and answer section goes into water

>smokers and other grills, also. If you have any questions you can email

>him and he will answer. Let me know what you think... Have fun... Jafa

Cool! I will read it. But I chose a water smoker because it cooks the meat

and *does not burn it*. Read: I am a lazy cook. It is no good for, say,

making smoked dried sausage. But wow, can it do a great turkey with minimal

supervision! Or salmon!

As for " waste of energy " -- ours uses propane, and we go through maybe one

or two tanks a year. Which is just not much, cost-wise. In reality, the net

amount of energy on earth

does not change much (depends on what the sun is doing) it just changes

form a lot. I figure in a few years we'll be recycling our energy much,

much better (see www.discover.com: " anything into oil " ).

Heidi S

[Guest guest]

Heidi-

>But wow, can it do a great turkey with minimal

>supervision! Or salmon!

I assume I know the answer to this question, but just on the infinitesimal

chance I'm wrong, is it possible to use water smokers indoors? I live in a

Manhattan apartment, but I'd love to be able to smoke certain foods.

-

[Guest guest]

>I assume I know the answer to this question, but just on the infinitesimal

>chance I'm wrong, is it possible to use water smokers indoors? I live in a

>Manhattan apartment, but I'd love to be able to smoke certain foods.

Whoa, no, not unless you want to punch a hole in the ceiling. You might

be able to do one on the balcony. But a lot of cities are adopting strict

" clean air " regulations and these give off a LOT of smoke! (and the

steam makes it look worse than it is).

There are water smokers you can use on your stove for sale. I have

no idea how these could work without setting off your smoke

alarm though. One magazine article recommended putting

some wood chips in the bottom of a wok, with a cup of water,

and the meat on a grill.

Heidi S

[Guest guest]

>? You may want to have a look at his site just because you may find it

>interesting. A question and answer section goes into water smokers and

>other grills, also. If you have any questions you can email him and he

>will answer. Let me know what you think...

WOW it is a great site! Thanks!

I tend to agree with the assessment that the Brinkman is not the best. It

IS inexpensive though, and works good enough. Someday when I have more

expertise I'll get something better. Or make something. But for $69 (my

first one) what can you lose?

I do not agree that they take " 4 times " as long to cook something. There

have been times we've had problem with the propane tank and it just didn't

get hot enough, but frankly, only the first hour of *any* smoking adds to

the flavor much. After that you can pop it in the oven, if needed. But most

food seems to cook fast enough.

I have to agree with " smokey " on most stuff. Even on his " Microbes " column

(and that is unusual!) :

Hi ,

Most poultry available in the US is raised in conditions which foster the

growth of salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria and, during their slaugter

and dressing, this is spread around rather than irradicated. Poultry houses

try several things to reduce the bacteria count. Sometimes they work.

Pork may carry trichinae (a nematode type worm) in their bodies which, if

not killed by heating to at least 137* F., will have a wild party in your

body and make you sick.

Except for some species, i.e. lionfish, puffers which are naturally

poisonous and barracuda which become toxic from feeding on fish which have

fed on " red tide " organisms, fish are pretty safe and clean. If they lay

around long enough to be dangerous they signal by their odor not to eat them.

Shrimp, not taken in severely polluted water, are marinated in lime/lemon

juice and eaten raw in lots of places. If you get fresh shrimp and wash

them good, they're safe. Fish, likewise, are eaten raw.

Raw oysters from polluted waters or during red tides are not safe unless

cooked.

Not many folks are as lucky as I in gathering their food. I am careful when

and where I buy seafood -- normally right off the shrimp boat, into my ice

chest and those not eaten quickly go into a package filled with water and

into the freezer. When thawed, they are just like fresh. Fish get the same

treatment whether boated or bought. I normally buy oysters by the sack, eat

until I and all around are stuffed. Grill a few. Put the rest in a recyled

whiskey barrel with salty water and eat them over the next few weeks.

As for beef, I don't trust store ground beef for burgers and rarely buy it

for any reason. I catch chuck cheap and grind my own. Therefore I feel safe

when I eat a rare burger.

Re: Cutting boards. It has been proven that wooden cutting boards have an

antiseptic quality that plastic boards don't have. Like you, I would never

use glass. I won't even carve on a glass or porcelain dish.

>

Heidi Schuppenhauer

" If you like Magic, you need CONJURINGS! "

Subscribe today! (It's free: just send me a note with SUBSCRIBE in the header)

www.cabritasoftware.com

[Guest guest]

>I assume I know the answer to this question, but just on the infinitesimal

>chance I'm wrong, is it possible to use water smokers indoors? I live in a

>Manhattan apartment, but I'd love to be able to smoke certain foods.

On that great website though, there is info about grilling. You CAN grill

inside -- in fact I bought this cute little Korean indoor grill for all of

$19.00. It has a little propane can (or butane, I never can tell) and is

very easy to use. Called the " Magic grill " . For another $20.00 I got a

little grill-thing that pops on top that has a water reservoir. You are

supposed to set it in the middle of the table and everyone puts their

favorite vegies and meat on it to grill for a bit (they like their meat

rawish) and then you eat it with rice. Kind of like Korean Fondue. The

thing is really fun -- we roast marshmallows on it too. My 8-year-old can

work it. However, it is NOT a smoker. And I usually disable my smoke alarm

when I use it.

BTW: There are special smoke alarms you can buy for kitchens with a special

button -- you press the button to disable it for 10 minutes or so. What can

I say -- this is a VERY useful feature for me!

Old Smoky's reponse:

Ahhh! What perils, ine,

Depends upon how enclosed is the area and other factors. Natural gas, or

propane, burners properly adjusted to combine with a precise amount of air,

produce carbon dioxide and water as by products. With incomplete

combustion, carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas is also given off. Even

otherwise innocuous carbon dioxide, being heavier than air, could

eventually displace the air in a tightly enclosed area and put you in great

peril.

If however, you had a chimney or a vented hood under which to place your

grill -not a BBQ (please read the glossary)- you could, with absolute

safety, grill indoors on your gas grill.

As a practical matter, millions of folk continue to use unvented gas

heaters in their homes, and gas stoves, some unvented, are widely used.

Therefore, if you can broil in the broiler of your gas stove, why not broil

on the grill of your gas grill? Just make certain that the flame burns

bright blue without any yellow and open a window. Make certain that a gas

shut-off valve is located some distance from the grill.

No cliff hanger, this time.

Smoky

[Guest guest]

Glad you liked the site. After reading a bit on the difference between water

smokers and wood smokers, I am left being a little confused. Have you had any

experience with wood smokers? According to Smokey, water smokers are a waste of

energy and very time consuming. But, I got the impression from you that the

meat comes out much more tender in a water smoker. Could you shed some light

on this? Also, do you know if the smoke from a water or wood smoker is toxic.

He spent a lot of time explaining how to cook over coals and not fire or smoke,

because of the toxicity. Is it different for a smoker? Thanks, Jafa

Heidi Schuppenhauer <heidis@...> wrote:

>? You may want to have a look at his site just because you may find it

>interesting. A question and answer section goes into water smokers and

>other grills, also. If you have any questions you can email him and he

>will answer. Let me know what you think...

WOW it is a great site! Thanks!

I tend to agree with the assessment that the Brinkman is not the best. It

IS inexpensive though, and works good enough. Someday when I have more

expertise I'll get something better. Or make something. But for $69 (my

first one) what can you lose?

I do not agree that they take " 4 times " as long to cook something. There

have been times we've had problem with the propane tank and it just didn't

get hot enough, but frankly, only the first hour of *any* smoking adds to

the flavor much. After that you can pop it in the oven, if needed. But most

food seems to cook fast enough.

I have to agree with " smokey " on most stuff. Even on his " Microbes " column

(and that is unusual!) :

Hi ,

Most poultry available in the US is raised in conditions which foster the

growth of salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria and, during their slaugter

and dressing, this is spread around rather than irradicated. Poultry houses

try several things to reduce the bacteria count. Sometimes they work.

Pork may carry trichinae (a nematode type worm) in their bodies which, if

not killed by heating to at least 137* F., will have a wild party in your

body and make you sick.

Except for some species, i.e. lionfish, puffers which are naturally

poisonous and barracuda which become toxic from feeding on fish which have

fed on " red tide " organisms, fish are pretty safe and clean. If they lay

around long enough to be dangerous they signal by their odor not to eat them.

Shrimp, not taken in severely polluted water, are marinated in lime/lemon

juice and eaten raw in lots of places. If you get fresh shrimp and wash

them good, they're safe. Fish, likewise, are eaten raw.

Raw oysters from polluted waters or during red tides are not safe unless

cooked.

Not many folks are as lucky as I in gathering their food. I am careful when

and where I buy seafood -- normally right off the shrimp boat, into my ice

chest and those not eaten quickly go into a package filled with water and

into the freezer. When thawed, they are just like fresh. Fish get the same

treatment whether boated or bought. I normally buy oysters by the sack, eat

until I and all around are stuffed. Grill a few. Put the rest in a recyled

whiskey barrel with salty water and eat them over the next few weeks.

As for beef, I don't trust store ground beef for burgers and rarely buy it

for any reason. I catch chuck cheap and grind my own. Therefore I feel safe

when I eat a rare burger.

Re: Cutting boards. It has been proven that wooden cutting boards have an

antiseptic quality that plastic boards don't have. Like you, I would never

use glass. I won't even carve on a glass or porcelain dish.

>

Heidi Schuppenhauer

" If you like Magic, you need CONJURINGS! "

Subscribe today! (It's free: just send me a note with SUBSCRIBE in the header)

www.cabritasoftware.com

[Guest guest]

>Glad you liked the site. After reading a bit on the difference between

>water smokers and wood smokers, I am left being a little confused. Have

>you had any experience with wood smokers? According to Smokey, water

>smokers are a waste of energy and very time consuming. But, I got the

>impression from you that the meat comes out much more tender in a water

>smoker. Could you shed some light on this?

We have a non-water smoker too. It makes great dry-smoked foods. But they

are very different! Our dry-smoker doesn't cook food quickly at all -- it

is very low temp. It makes good smoked salmon, and my hubby lets it go for

a good day to get dry-smoke salmon. At higher temps, it works like a

barbeque -- you have to be careful not to let the outside get hard and

crisp (burnt!).

The water smoker has a temp control, and it does a chicken in, say, about

an hour or two. We've had some problems with the gas line for some reason,

so sometimes it ends up being on " low " when I think it is on " high " , but

generally it works pretty fast. The outside of the meat is still moist,

though eventually it gets drier -- sometimes I pop the chicken in the oven

for crispier skin. Salmon though, is always kind of wet on the outside when

I take it from the oven.

And yeah, I think it comes out MUCH more tender in a water smoker!

>Also, do you know if the smoke from a water or wood smoker is toxic. He

>spent a lot of time explaining how to cook over coals and not fire or

>smoke, because of the toxicity. Is it different for a smoker? Thanks, Jafa

If fat hits a hot coal, it for sure creates toxins. In a water smoker, the

fat hits the water, generally, so you end up with a pan with fat on the top

of the water. Which also prevents " flare ups " , making it easier to cook.

(May be why the Chinese got the idea to begin with!). So water smoking is

less toxic. The wood smoke itself may have some toxins -- the folks who

make " liquid smoke " remove carcinogens from it (they say) so you get the

taste without the toxins. I'm guessing that the hot fat has more toxins

though, and in any case our ancestors ate (and breathed) a lot of woodsmoke!

Heidi S