Food Smoking Tips For A Successful Vancouver BBQ Style Meal

January 28th, 2012

Smoke flavored foods are always a delight and never stop being a popular choice at potlucks and parties. Here are 1 or 2 key tips from the West Coast for the flavour of Vancouver BBQ.

If you are attempting to find that smoked flavour from your bar-b-cue, you can use a charcoal griddle, gas BBQ, or wood smoker.

If you’re using a charcoal grill, arrange the charcoal on both sides of the grate and put a tin pan between the charcoal. This will serve as your water pan while smoking. Put 2 cups of water into the pan with any marinade you desire. Once the charcoal is prepared, place the wood onto the coals and wait until it is smoking before cooking. If you’re using a gas BBQ, many come with a smoker attachment. Many popular BBQ stores sell these types of add-ons.

When employing a smoker, be sure to rest it on a heat-proof surface. To set up the smoker, place a heap of charcoal in the centre of the grate, ignite and spread them uniformly around the chamber. If you’re using a water pan, put it on the lower bracket and fill with hot water and any flavors. Next you need to place the wood on the coals and keep the vents open halfway. Place food on the suitable grate, leaving space for smoke to enclose each piece.

The initial thing you want to do is soak chunks of wood in water for an hour. If you are using chips or twigs, they only need a half hour of soaking. Before adding the wood to the fire, be certain to throw off any excess water. For a genuine West Coast taste, use woods like alder and maple for salmon, and oak and pecan for poultry. Red meats like bolder tastes in the style of mesquite or hickory.

Water helps meat come out tender and flavorful so be careful to keep the water pan full. Bear in mind that for heavier roasts you could have to keep adding water to the pan.

You should put the food in the middle of the cooking grate above the water pan. Try to limit the occasions when you lift the cover to test the food as smoke and heat escape each time you do so. Remember to add about 15 minutes to the cooking time whenever you do have a look, and remember that all boneless meats will shrink during cooking. To make certain food is cooked though not overcooked, employ a meat thermometer as taking a look at the meat might not help since smoke-cooked foods look differently than other grilled food. Do not use charcoal that’s soaked with lighter chemicals as it often can make the food not taste good. For safety, always use tongs and mitts.

Try this advice for a successful smoke and you will be in demand every time your neighbors and pals desire BBQ!

Nash Shivji is the owner and manager of the seriously successful Vancouver patio furniture and BBQ store in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Canada called “The BBQ Shop”. They carry all the leading brands such as Weber BBQ. Nash has been successfully operating the store for many years and has just recently enjoyed high growth during 2011 when other stores in his niche have not seen similar success.