Using Your Smoking BBQ
Standard set up
Our bbq's use a very simple process. HOT AIR RISES (a bit like fishing stories !!!)
Firstly you start your wood fire in the Fire Box chamber. (1st or right chamber) When this has a base on hot embers, you add either pre soaked wet wood or a few pieces of barked wood and shut the lids and air intake vent down. This will make the wood smolder instead of burn. The result of this is a lot of smoke.
The smoke rises and is forced into the hot smoking chamber (middle or 2nd chamber). This is where food is cooked and smoked by indirect heat (no flames). Because there are no flames the meat is not seared. This allows the meat to be infused with the smoke for a beautiful flavour.
You decide how much flavouring by controlling the air intake to regulate the amount of smoke.
YOU CANNOT BURN YOUR FOOD AS THERE ARE NO FLAMES.
By the time the smoke has passed from the fire, through the hot smoking chamber to the vertical cold smoking chamber (3rd or left chamber), the heat has been lost from the smoke. This chamber is for cold smoking and a whole lot of it!!! To cold smoke you need anything from 6-18 hours depending on what you are smoking.
BBQ & Hot Smoke
You can have the option of having a fire in the fire box as well as the middle chamber. This makes the vertical chamber (3rd) a hot smoking chamber.
You can have the option of having a fire in all three chambers to bbq for a huge amount of people and no smoking options. Basically there is an option for everyone.
We recommend Manuka (South Island) or Ti-tree (North Island) if possible as we believe that it gives the best taste. Any fruit tree wood is good including grape wines. It really is a case of experimenting on different wood, heats and cooking times.
Be warned. Any wood that has a lot of sap or gum can sour your food. Pine is definitely out as it does leave a very bitter taste.
Hint: Try soaking woods in red or white wines or different spirit drinks like Southern Comfort. It changes the taste dramatically.
As with any bbq you can cook what you desire. It is the same with smoking. You can smoke almost any type of food. All sea foods, all meats, all vegetables. You can do full roasts, legs, sides, ends, heads of all animals. Shellfish to fish either filleted or staked.
You are truly only limited by your taste buds.
Happy smoking and don't let your eyes inhibit your taste buds!!!!!
