Before digging too much into my own personal smoking adventure, I figure that not everybody knows exactly how smoking works: what better way to start than by clearing this up?
We're all familiar with the traditional grill, where charcoal or gas heat directly cooks the food, but a water smoker provides for adding wood chips/chunks to the heat to produce smoke, and interposes an actual pan of water between the heat source and the food. This creates a wet, smokey heat that provides an entirely different result than the fire on the grill does.
Gas and electric smokers usually take wood chips in a metal pan sitting just above the heat, and though charcoal smokers can use a pan too, they can also take wood chunks or chips directly on the hot coals.
The water pan is exactly what it looks like, and it serves the dual purpose of moderating the temperature — so it doesn't get too hot — as well as to keep the food moist while cooking. I've had dishes turn out badly, but not usually for being too dry.
Some people add other liquids to the pan (beer, wine, broth, spices), but I've never done this.
Wood chunks or chips are usually soaked in water before adding to the smoker, and large chunks only work well while in direct contact with the smoldering coals: when using a pan, smaller chips are used instead.
I'll note that this is hot smoking, which is distinct from cold smoking.
The latter still uses smoke, but the heat source is some distance from the food, so the main cooking agent is the warm smoke rather than the flame. Cold smokers are more often in a horizontal configuration, to allow the heat to rise up and away, while directing the smoke horizontally towards the food chamber, while hot smokers tend to be vertical.
Cold smoking is perhaps best known for lox (salmon), which in some ways still appears to be uncooked (hot-smoked salmon isn't ever confused with raw). I've never done cold smoking, though I sure do love lox.
Also, not all smokers are water smokers: the Big Green Egg is a very popular unit that doesn't generally have a water pan. You can also smoke on a standard kettle-type grill, with chips on the charcoal (often, there's no room for a water pan).
During the smoking process, you have to replenish the wood, water, and fuel periodically.
There are, of course, additional variations on variations, but I'm not looking to create a comprehensive guide, only to give some background to those who may wish to explore this wonderful cooking method themselves.
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