De Buyer 18/10 Manuel D'utilisation page 10

WHAT IS SMOKING?
• Food is subjected, over a prolonged period, to smoke which has an antiseptic
effect and increases shelf life, at the same time enhancing the taste.
• Smoking gives food a woody taste.
• More specifically, you can smoke meat (steak, chops, filet mignon, etc.),
poultry (chicken, duck, etc.), charcuterie (essentially ham, bacon, all types of
sausages) and fish (salmon, trout, eel, mackerel, etc.).
• However, you can also smoke garlic, potatoes, cheese, butter, etc. and any
other food you so choose!
• The principle lies in exposing food to smoke at different temperatures, de-
pending on the desired result.
• It is impossible to give really precise instructions on smoking:
various criteria have to be taken into account when deciding on
how to process food: your personal preferences, the weight of the
food, whether to store it or consume it immediately, how much
salt or smoky taste you prefer, the type of sawdust, the tempera-
ture, moisture in the air, etc.
COLD SMOKING
• This gives raw food a smoky taste, has an antiseptic effect for in-
creased shelf life, and may be used to dry food.
• Temperature: 30°C max.
• The products obtained look like raw products and their natural
flavour is retained.
Examples (for information only):
• 1½ hour for sausages.
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• 2½ hours fora fillet of salmon or duck.
• 4 to 6 hours for a ham.
HOT SMOKING
• In contrast, hot smoking is a cooking method. When it comes out
of the smoker oven, your food will be cooked and smoked and ready
to eat. You cannot use this cooking method to lengthen its shelf life.
• Temperature: +30°C to +65°C.
Examples (for information only):
• 1 hour for breast of duck.
• 2 to 4 hours for a fillet of duck.
• 2½ hours for mackerel.
FUEL
• Use special smoking sawdust or wood chips.
• The size of the fuel specks will affect the smoking time and tem-
perature.
• You can use beech, oak, birch, maple, apple, etc. Birch and poplar
are softer than beech. Oak, with its tannin content, gives a stronger
and more acrid taste.
• You can mix sawdusts according to the taste you wish to achieve.
• You can also place aromatic herbs on the sawdust or in the bottom
of the smoker oven, such as thyme, bay leaves, slices of apple, etc.
• N.B. use special smoking sawdusts. The sawdust must be clean
and dry, free of resin, oil, paint and varnish residue, and any other
chemicals.