Cooking With A Smoker Box

Filed under Grilling , Smokers

Cooking on the grill is fast and conveinent, but you loose that great smokey flavor. That's where a smoker box comes in handy. Cooking with a smoker box will enhance your foods tremendously. The aromatic wood flavors permeate your food adding nuances of aroma and flavor. There are different types of smoking wood which give you differnet types of smoke flavors.

Types Of Wood

The most common smoking wood types are mesquite and hickory. While these two great hardwoods impart distinct and delicious aromas and flavors to your food, they are not the only options. You will find smoking wood usually in chips or chunks. You will want to get the wood in chips for cooking in your smoker box.

• Alder - Delicate flavor with only a hint of sweetness. Good with lighter flavored foods like fish, pork, poultry and some game birds.
• Almond - Sweeter smoke flavor which is great with most meats.
• Apple - Mild, mellow, and subtle with a slightly sweet flavor. This is great with poultry and pork.
• Cherry - Mild and fruity. Also great with poultry, pork and even beef.
• Grapevines - Very dense smoke but it is rich and fruity flavored. Excellent accompaniment to rustic poultry, red meats, game and lamb.
• Hickory - This, along with mesquite, is one of the most common and popular smoking woods. Sweet but quite strong and almost has a bacon-like smoke flavor. Good with full-flavored pork, ham and beef preparations.
• Maple - Slightly sweet and mellow. Accents pork, poultry, and most game birds very nicely.
• Mesquite - Another of the most commonly used smoking woods. Strong earthy aroma which if too intense can be mellowed by combining with other more mellow woods like apple or cherry. Can compliment beef, fish, chicken and game nicely.
• Mulberry - Slightly sweet and not dissimilar to apple.
• Oak - Very heavy smoke flavor. Good with red meat and pork (particularly on ribs!) as well as fish and heavy game.
• Pear - Subtle, mellow and sweet flavor similar to apple. Very good with poultry and pork.
• Pecan - Somewhat like hickory but with a bit sweeter and milder flavor. Excellent with poultry, beef, and pork.

How To Use A Smoker Box

If you only have a gas grill, using a smoker box is the best way to get that smokey flavor into your foods. Follow these steps to get started cooking with a smoker box.

1. Soak the wood - If you don't soak your wood chips before adding them to the smoker box, they will tend to burn up quickly. By soaking your wood chips for 15 to 30 minutes, your wood chips will not ignite quickly and will release smoke for a longer period of time before burning up. Another trick is to add half dry and half soaked chips to get the smoke started quicker.
2. Place smoker box on grill - You will want to get your smoker box on the grill about 10 to 15 minutes before you start cooking. This will give the wood chips time to heat up and start smoking. You may need to try different combinations of wet wood and dry wood and how long to heat the wood up before adding your food to the grill.
3. Cooking your food - When cooking your food you will want to keep the grill lid closed as much as possible. This will let the smoke stay around the food as long as possible. The lower and slower you cook your food will also let more of the flavor from the wood chips into your food. You can also add wood chips to the box as the wood burns up. If you are slow cooking food that requires a lengthy cook time like a brisket, you may want to add wet and dry chips throughout the cooking process.

Cooking with a smoker box is really very simple. It may take a little practice to get just the right combination of wet and dry chips, cook time and of course the type of wood that you like the best. Once you have all that in place, you will not ever want to cook without good smoke again!

Enjoy!

Grilling Safe With The Kamado Joe

Filed under Grilling , Smokers

Keep grill stable

Be sure that all parts of the unit are firmly in place and that the grill is on a stable surface. We strongly recommend keeping the outdoor cookers in the provided cart. Do not place the cooker on a table or other object even if you consider it heat-resistant.

Avoid touching metal parts of the grill while cooking

Metal parts, especially the top vent can become very hot depending on the desired temperature. Use flame-retardant mitts when necessary. The ceramic base and lid of the Kamado Joe can get very warm, but incidental touching will not cause a burn injury.

Keep your fire under control

If you operate your grill above 500°F, then deprive the fire of oxygen by closing the top and bottom air vents, a sudden surge of flame called a “flashback” can occur if you suddenly open the lid of the grill. To prevent this, first reopen the top and bottom vents and then allow 10 seconds to pass before you open the lid of the grill. It's also a good idea to "burp" the lid by opening it an inch or two before fully opening it.

Be ready to extinguish flames

The best way to control a fire is to put the lid down and close the top vent and draft door. As with any controlled fire, have a fire extinguisher or garden hose nearby should other combustible items nearby catch fire such as leaves or lawn debris.

For outdoor use only

Set up your grill in a well-ventilated area that is away from buildings and overhead surfaces that may be combustible. Avoid high traffic areas.

Use long-handled cooking utensils

Use barbecue utensils with long handles to avoid burns and splatters.

Be aware of your clothing

When cooking, avoid loose clothing, shirt tails, or apron strings that can catch fire.

Never leave a grill unattended once it is lit

Although your fire is contained, it is important to supervise the area for the safety of yourself and others.

Use an appropriate fire starter

Use a chimney or other starter specifically made for lighting charcoal briquettes or wood chunks. If electric, unplug and remove a hot starter with caution and be careful where you put it. Always cool the starter completely before storing. Never use it in the rain or when standing on wet ground.

Getting Started With The Kamado Joe Smoker

Filed under Smokers

Kamado History

Clay vessels have been used by humans to cook food for many thousands of years. Clay cooking pots have been found in every part of the world and some of the earliest dated by Archaeologists to be over 3000 years old have been found in China. It is believed that in these circular clay cooking vessels are the origins of the modern Kamado albeit the clay finally being superseded by ceramic materials.

The name kamado is the Japanese word for stove or cooking range. The word has become a generic term for this style of ceramic cooker.

Natural Lump Charcoal

Natural Lump Charcoal is highly recommended for cooking in your Kamado Joe. Beyond the superior taste of the food it is a natural and sustainable product. Lump charcoal is made from hardwoods like oak, hickory and maple.

It is therefore highly recommended that you only use natural lump charcoal in your Kamado Joe.

• When lump charcoal is used in a grill or smoker that has good ventilation control with adjustable air vents, the burn rate of the lump charcoal can be better controlled and this helps in regulating the cooking temperature.
• Since there are no additives or fillers, there is very little ash remaining after the coals burn. This is a big plus and makes cleanup after grilling or smoking easier.
• Lump charcoal lights faster and burns hotter than briquettes. It is possible with some brands of lump charcoal to get the temperature of your Kamado Joe above 750ªF. This is perfect for grilling steaks.

Lighting Lump Charcoal

Never use starter fluid or “instant light” briquettes. It will give an undesirable flavor to your food and impregnate the ceramic material of your Kamado Joe Grill and Smoker. There are many other ways to light up lump charcoal.

Newspaper: Start by tightly crumpling 3-4 sheets and place them in the bottom of the fire box, then place 2 or 3 handfuls of lump charcoal over on top of the newspaper. Open the bottom draft door and light the newspaper. Once lit, close the dome and fully open the top vent. Allow the Kamado Joe to reach the desired temperature.

Fire Starter Squares are the preferred way as well as the quickest way to start your grill. They are odorless, smokeless and environmentally safe. Each cube burns up to 1300ºF for 8-12 minutes to ensure that you're ready to cook in 15 minutes.

You can also use a charcoal chimney or an electric charcoal starter.

Controlling The Temperature

Controlling the temperature inside your Kamado Joe is as simple as controlling the air flow through the Kamado Joe using your top and bottom air vents. The air flow through your Kamado Joe cooker is illustrated in the diagram on the right.

The more open the vents, the more air that will be allowed to flow through the cooker and the hotter the temperature will be. The opposite is also true. The more closed you keep the vents the lesser the air flow and the lower the temperature.

Cooking Temperature Guide

You can use the following vent adjustment guide for approximate top and bottom vent settings for various temperatures and foods. The more experience you have using your Kamado Joe cooker, the easier it will be for you to adjust the vents to get the desired cooking temperature inside the dome.

The thermometer located in the dome of your Kamado Joe will give you a precise temperature reading of the temperature inside the dome. When cooking, make sure you check the temperature every 30 minutes and make the necessary vent adjustments in order to maintain the desired temperature.

Cleaning and Maintenance

After every second or third use of your Kamado Joe, remove the ashes that have collected in the bottom. They can be removed with the provided ash tool. Do not allow the ash to build up as this will hinder the air flow. The fire ring and fire box do not need to be removed for cleaning. If the gasket around the upper or lower rims of the grill shows signs of wear it can be easily replaced. Remove the old gasket material with a scraper, clean the surface thoroughly, allow it to dry, then attach the new self-adhesive gasket. To purchase a new gasket, contact Boyd's Equipment for all your Kamado Joe needs.

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