G'day
I've got a 4 yr old webber Q which is located 3 paces outside the back door on the verandah. In the summer months it a little workhorse and most meals are cooked on it . I also have a wood fired oven but in summer it's just too hot to operate.
I miss the smell and taste of woodsmoke so I started to investigate the smoking thing . Cold smoking hot smoking, uprights offsets its a pretty complex thing. Webber kettles I've used so could I use wood chips to introduce some wood flavour.
First experiment a handfull of iron bark chips whittled from a block into a flat aluminum foil pack some holes onto the Q on high and soon enough... Smoke. Some good beef snags onto the breakfast plate to slow the cook down. Results great, nice smoky taste. Lessons, close the back door, SWMBO was not impressed with the smoke smell in the house.
Secound experiment smoked salmon. Now I'd found that you can make an offset smoker effect on a multiple burner BBQ. Chips at on end on high meat at the other no burner going, so its a slow cook. Problem Q has only one burner.
So that's why the salmon it cooks fast so the smoke should last.
Son MK 11 arrives with a present a s/steel smoke box and a bag of hickory chips. It's getting serious as he talks of pork ribs... No way.
So its dry chips in the box on high till there smoking then aluminium foil and trivet. Salmon salted and peppered a bit of oil on the trivet drop the temp. Half an hour it's done. Pleased with the results, definitly a pleasant smoky flavour. No tar flavour and a good colour. ( not grey like the Jamie Oliver one) Have done the same twice more now so it wasn't a fluke.
Only thing I've changed is that I oil the trivet otherwise you leave the skin behind.
Next experiment was a full chicken . I'd dry brined a chicken at Xmas and used urbangrillers fast rub, a packet of master foods taco spices some brown sugar and oil. It had turned out so well I was wondering if I could introduce some smoky flavour to it as well . I'll post the results later as the lawns to be mowed.
Regards dave
Regards dave
Smoky flavour on a webber Q
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Gumb
Re: Smoky flavour on a webber Q
Nice work Dave. I use the foil packet method as I find it takes less time than the smoking box to start producing. I also try to raise the food up a bit higher inside the Q, I think it gets a bit more smoke up there. Thanks for the info, very helpful, especially the bit about shutting the door.....been there, done that ! 
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Cobblerdave
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:17 pm
Re: Smoky flavour on a webber Q
G'day
Noted about the aluminium method is faster that good to know. The s/steel box looks the part and is a present but it takes up too much room for starters and I thought it was slower . Also after cooling and inspecting the remains I appear to make hickory charcoal.
Anyway with the chicken I found a clip on the web showing some pork ribs being done over a 6 or 8 hr period. A bit more more investigation turns up to get that temp down 1/2 the burner was covered with aluminium foil.
Gulp. Thats a bit scarey ! No way am I going to do any jury rigging to a gas appliance. I don't care how many times they got away with it, the one time they didn't is the one that counts.
Anyway part of the trick was to put the meat on a rack over a water filled tray. Now that sounds safe and doeable.
I got a cheap metal tray trivet on the top. Popped dry chips in the box and 1/2 hr later we had smoke. Filled the tray with hot water put the chicken in. 1/2 hr later I started to smell something nice and took a peek.... Water was nearly gone! Filled it up real fast. That set the pattern for the afternoon. 20 mins 1/2 hr boil the jug fill it up, new beer.
It was a long peacefully afternoon boil jug, fill tray, new beer, till 6:00 and it was pretty obvious that the temp had stuck in the 70s C on the remote thermometer . I thought cool I'm ready for this this is what I've read about,I bumped the temp up and the alarm goes of at 82C.
Into some foil, wrapped in towel to rest. Finished off the veg and made one of the best gravy I've ever tasted. Spending the time refilling that shallow tray payed off alright. The visible smoke ran out pretty quickly but there was always the smell of it all afternoon. The smoke flavour was good but not overpowering. The water tray took the cooking time out to 31/2 hours roughly double the normal time. The water also kept things moist and that bird fell apart even though fully cooked.
Rave review from SWMBO although I did get in trouble for amount of beer I consumed over that time. ( she didn't see the empties I threw straight in the recycle
)
I think this was a success. Lots of work. But like most things I'll have to repeat it before serving up to guests ( I only experiment on family )
Regards dave
Noted about the aluminium method is faster that good to know. The s/steel box looks the part and is a present but it takes up too much room for starters and I thought it was slower . Also after cooling and inspecting the remains I appear to make hickory charcoal.
Anyway with the chicken I found a clip on the web showing some pork ribs being done over a 6 or 8 hr period. A bit more more investigation turns up to get that temp down 1/2 the burner was covered with aluminium foil.
Gulp. Thats a bit scarey ! No way am I going to do any jury rigging to a gas appliance. I don't care how many times they got away with it, the one time they didn't is the one that counts.
Anyway part of the trick was to put the meat on a rack over a water filled tray. Now that sounds safe and doeable.
I got a cheap metal tray trivet on the top. Popped dry chips in the box and 1/2 hr later we had smoke. Filled the tray with hot water put the chicken in. 1/2 hr later I started to smell something nice and took a peek.... Water was nearly gone! Filled it up real fast. That set the pattern for the afternoon. 20 mins 1/2 hr boil the jug fill it up, new beer.
It was a long peacefully afternoon boil jug, fill tray, new beer, till 6:00 and it was pretty obvious that the temp had stuck in the 70s C on the remote thermometer . I thought cool I'm ready for this this is what I've read about,I bumped the temp up and the alarm goes of at 82C.
Into some foil, wrapped in towel to rest. Finished off the veg and made one of the best gravy I've ever tasted. Spending the time refilling that shallow tray payed off alright. The visible smoke ran out pretty quickly but there was always the smell of it all afternoon. The smoke flavour was good but not overpowering. The water tray took the cooking time out to 31/2 hours roughly double the normal time. The water also kept things moist and that bird fell apart even though fully cooked.
Rave review from SWMBO although I did get in trouble for amount of beer I consumed over that time. ( she didn't see the empties I threw straight in the recycle
)I think this was a success. Lots of work. But like most things I'll have to repeat it before serving up to guests ( I only experiment on family )
Regards dave