Do you preheat?

I preheat when smoking poultry.

quote:

Originally posted by Jammin_Jim:
I preheat when smoking poultry.

...And seafood.

Of all the years cooking on smaller Cookshacks,I sprayed the shelves,foiled stuff, got the wood loaded ,put the product in,and turned it to the cooking temp.

Smokin' Okie taught me that and it seemed to work well.

Stuart suggested , when using mesquite on




fish,let the cooker smoke until the yellow smoke runs clear,before putting in product.

When smoking delicate foods,down around 170*,I'd start the smoke running first and then add the product.

Even on the big traditional Cookshacks,I'm usually cooking less than 50 lbs,so I just start cold.

I've experimented with chicken pieces and ribs ,preheating the cooker,but can't tell I gained anything.

When cooking big meats,I figure they are done when they are done and the cooker compensates pretty quickly.

I like to burn the wood off and get cleaner smoke going first. I like to preheat if it is cold out. Warm weather I don't usually, unless poultry or jerky.

Good poll.

Put it in, turn it on.

Why? Because it gives me the results I want and I like to keep the process simple when I'm using the smaller CS's.

Not sure what you wanting to see in the results, so let's watch, then open a discussion about why you ask?

The only thing I pre-heat for is jerky. Will probably pre-heat for PR if I ever do one.

I agree with SmokinOkie, I put the product in, turn it on and either set the max temperature or the timer. I don't worry about the color of the smoke, even with fish (mullet) for I use Bay wood and the smoke is all the same - good.

Don't preheat for anything.. I'm a happy camper.

I don't preheat when smoking. But during the winter months I do smoke the ribs 1/2 hour longer because of cold.

I was kind of wondering if preheating would make a difference in term of getting more smoke flavor into the meat.

It might heat the meat more quickly and allow less smoke penetration.

A whole lot of variables there.

Small delicate product could benefit from having smoke flowing first,to allow smoking-without overcooking the product.

I believe smoke starts about 135* in the small Cookshacks.

Yep, and on the dial there is a 150* setting, how convenient! I have used it before and it does produce smoke from chunks when set there.

Excellent question. Thanks for posting.

I very rarely pre-heat. The only time I do is if I only want to smoke something for a very short period of time, then actually cook it by another means.

A good example is when I do mesquite chicken breasts. Mesquite is a very strong flavor for chicken breasts, so I only like to smoke them for about 30 minutes. I get a good smoke going before I toss the breasts in.

No I havent found it necessary to preheat. I put the food in and wait for the temp to come up while reading a digital for the lower rack and a deep fry thermometer for the top rack.

I will preheat only on a very short cook... like an hour to hour and a half.

This week I was going to do a whitefish filet. The temp out was 30 deg. It would probably take the 055 a half hour to come close to 225 so I started it about a half hour early and then put the filet in for an hour. Delicious!

I used to just put everything in, and turn on. Over time though, it seems like I'm getting oversmoked this way- I get lots of thick white and yellow smoke at the start with a wide variety of and amounts of wood. Now I put wood in, allow smoke to thin out (an hour or so), then add meat. I know something ain't right, but I can't figger it out...

quote:

Originally posted by KCAL56:
Now I put wood in, allow smoke to thin out (an hour or so), then add meat. I know something ain't right, but I can't figger it out...

You're doing what stick burners do. You want to get the clear/blue smoke. The initial burn is stronger, but since you only use a couple of pieces in a CS, it's not really an issue.

For people who put in 1 or 2 chunks and still think it's oversmoked, the pre-burn may be an option.

Keep in mind, just because you don't SEE smoke doesn't mean there isn't

So Smokin', the thick smoke at the start is to be expected?? I have gotten the real burned, creosote taste from it, figured something wasn't working right...

The thick smoke is to be expected. For 95% of the people out there, there aren't any side effects from lots of smoke. For the 5% that do get that "creosote" taste, it actually can be from a lot of things; the initial smoke taste, the actual wood type, the wood itself, lots of variables.

The key is to adjust your methods, like your doing, to your tastes.

I only start my AQ about 15 minutes before I put in my salmon for lox(cold smoking) since it will only be on for 30 minutes, I use alder chips rather than chunks because of the short time and the pre heating gets the chips smoking.