Are offset smokers any good?
Chef's answer
Despite being called stick burners, offset smokers work best when fuelled with a combination of wood and charcoal. Cooking with a combination of wood and charcoal is far less fiddly than cooking with all wood, producing a smoky flavor without the risk of excess ash, soot, or creosote ruining the meat.
Frequently asked Questions 🎓
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Firstly, it acts as a heat sink to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the entire cooking chamber. And, secondly, to filter the smoke through more slowly so that everything you're cooking gets exposed to a similar amount of heat and smoke and you don't need to rotate pieces throughout your cook.
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In this case 2-4 fist sized chunks of wood should be enough to create the right amount of smoke. If you are using an offset smoker, wood is the primary heat source.
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Maintaining the Temperature in your offset meat smokerOpen up the dampers to allow more airflow if the fire is going out. Add more fuel i.e. charcoal or wood. Use a Charcoal Starter Wand on the fan setting to blow in clean hot air to build the fire back up. Close off the dampers if the heat is running too high. .
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As well as looking the part and producing some of the richest, smokiest meats, offset smoker advantages include: They're ideal for cooking lots of food at once. You can easily add more fuel and/or wood chips without opening the cooking chamber which disrupts the temperature and smoke levels.
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Then, open the cooking chamber an rotate the meat. If you have the standard offset smoker, you're going to have to keep your thermometer or temperature probe somewhere close. It's harder to maintain constant heat in this type of smoker. Harder, but not impossible.
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The color of the smoke tells you how clean your fire is." You can now throw on your meat. Until you are experienced with your machine, check the temp every 15 minutes or so. As the logs burn down continue to adjust the airflow with dampers and add a new log every 45 minutes or when you see the temp start to dip.
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Despite being called stick burners, offset smokers work best when fuelled with a combination of wood and charcoal. Cooking with a combination of wood and charcoal is far less fiddly than cooking with all wood, producing a smoky flavor without the risk of excess ash, soot, or creosote ruining the meat.
A few more cooking questions 📍