 | John Yoder and his wife Joyce are owners of Yoder Meats, located in Yoder, KS. They are known for their custom butchering of hormone-free beef, pork and many other meats. They have been active in the meat processing business since 1965. You can contact them at (620) 465-3807, or toll free at (800) 952-MEAT(6328), or by e-mail at: yodermeatsinc@hotmail.com |
Food & Drink
2002-11-01 15:46:00
Smoke cooking & curing
ANSWER: Smoke cooking is done at higher temperatures in order to cook the meat. Smoke curing is really just smoking cured meat or sausage. Although smoking meat does provide some preservative effect, it alone is not sufficient to allow long term storage. Smoke is a very complex material, with upward of 200 components that include alcohols, acids, phenolic compounds, and various toxic, sometimes carcinogenic substances. The toxic substances inhibit the growth of microbes, and the phenolics retard fat oxidation, and the whole complex imparts the characteristic flavor of burning wood to the meat. QUESTION: What are the proper temperatures for smoke cooking meat? ANSWER: I prefer to keep the temperature around 180-200F. This means the temperature on the outside of the meat. When we use a probe to check the internal temperature we make sure it gets over 145F. I use a large log burning smoking pit with an offset firebox so it's easy to maintain this. In an upright water smoker you will have trouble keeping the temperature this low, since the heat builds up at the top where the meat is. You can achieve decent results with a water smoker, but the cooking time will be shorter and the depth of smoke penetration will be less. My briskets and pork shoulders smoke for 16-24 hours; pork ribs and pork loin roasts take less time. QUESTION: How important is temperature control during smoke curing? ANSWER: It is very important. If you are smoking sausages, excess heat will melt the fat out and leave the final product dry and crumbly. This I know from experience. Here, we're talking about temperatures around 140F, although it varies from recipe to recipe. This is very difficult to maintain in a wood burning smoker. You want your slow smoking section farthest away from the fire. With experience, I've learned to control the temperature in this section without overdamping the air inlet. Some other meats, like bacon and ham, are a little more tolerant of higher heat, but it can affect the quality of the final product. QUESTION: Is closing down the air inlet dampers a good way to keep the temperature down? ANSWER: If you keep the temperature low by closing down the inlet dampers, the smoke gets thick and sooty and produces an unattractive and bitter coating on the surface of the meat. I prefer to keep the fire burning more freely and control the temperature by providing some draft between the fire and the meat.
