Growing up I remember my folks were often given smoked turkeys for the holidays. Tasty. But I also remember that the meat was dry / very dry....needed lots of mayo. As a cooking adult I have eaten all kinds of smoked products. Fish seems to weather the process best.( I was always told It was "supposed" to be flaky - meaning well cooked... and dry.) A move to southeast Wisconsin
I cleared a place in the garage, stripped the insides of an old refrigerator and placed a couple of hot plates on the bottom. After much reading, mainly in Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas, I concluded that smoked doesn't have to mean dry. Control factors are the brining process, cooking time and internal temperature ( this one you have to really watch). But I quickly learned that it was going to take a whole lot more than hot plates and a how-to book.
The hot plates were mainly for smoke; heat was secondary. To maintain a steady flow of smoke the hot plates had to be on constantly. No temperature control resulted in a smoky product - but cooked too fast, too dry. I tried using the hot plates as a temperature control but the meat was missing the desired smoky flavor.
So I bought another used refrigerator: gutted it and got rid of all the plastic; insulated it and lined it with stainless steel. I bought the innards: heating element, blower fan, thermostat and temperature control and smoke generator. Now I have a smoker that can process in excess of 100 pounds with somewhat accurate temperature and smoke control. The finished product is some of the best I've tasted - cooked, smoky...and moist!.
These days I have a bit more respect for those who smoked that dry turkey of my youth. The smoking process for this bird can take up to 18 hours. I needed a way to start the smoking, real early, so I wouldn't be up past midnight. I figured the X-10 system that turned house lights on/off could turn on the smoker and all of its elements in the proper sequence. So I rigged some pilot lites to indicate on/off (this entire contraption is in our unattached garage)
At first, it worked well. Now the smoke generator and smoker could be sequenced starting at an early hour. I chose 3 am. Then during my nocturnal peregrinations, I could check the status of the smoker. But the X-10 system uses the electrical lines to send signals and some appliances can send static through the lines to turn on/off those lights/items. FYI, filters are not always reliable.
Had to go back to the drawing board. I decided to copy the controller in my brewery. It uses an old Allen-Bradley programmable controller along with an Omega temperature controller. Now all I have to do is to set the start time and the AB controller does the rest. An added benefit using the Omega temperature controller is that the temperature can be changed four times during the process. The temperature starts at 130°F for four hours then is raised 20° every four hours ending at 190°F.
I cleared a place in the garage, stripped the insides of an old refrigerator and placed a couple of hot plates on the bottom. After much reading, mainly in Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas, I concluded that smoked doesn't have to mean dry. Control factors are the brining process, cooking time and internal temperature ( this one you have to really watch). But I quickly learned that it was going to take a whole lot more than hot plates and a how-to book.
The hot plates were mainly for smoke; heat was secondary. To maintain a steady flow of smoke the hot plates had to be on constantly. No temperature control resulted in a smoky product - but cooked too fast, too dry. I tried using the hot plates as a temperature control but the meat was missing the desired smoky flavor.
So I bought another used refrigerator: gutted it and got rid of all the plastic; insulated it and lined it with stainless steel. I bought the innards: heating element, blower fan, thermostat and temperature control and smoke generator. Now I have a smoker that can process in excess of 100 pounds with somewhat accurate temperature and smoke control. The finished product is some of the best I've tasted - cooked, smoky...and moist!.
These days I have a bit more respect for those who smoked that dry turkey of my youth. The smoking process for this bird can take up to 18 hours. I needed a way to start the smoking, real early, so I wouldn't be up past midnight. I figured the X-10 system that turned house lights on/off could turn on the smoker and all of its elements in the proper sequence. So I rigged some pilot lites to indicate on/off (this entire contraption is in our unattached garage)
At first, it worked well. Now the smoke generator and smoker could be sequenced starting at an early hour. I chose 3 am. Then during my nocturnal peregrinations, I could check the status of the smoker. But the X-10 system uses the electrical lines to send signals and some appliances can send static through the lines to turn on/off those lights/items. FYI, filters are not always reliable.
Had to go back to the drawing board. I decided to copy the controller in my brewery. It uses an old Allen-Bradley programmable controller along with an Omega temperature controller. Now all I have to do is to set the start time and the AB controller does the rest. An added benefit using the Omega temperature controller is that the temperature can be changed four times during the process. The temperature starts at 130°F for four hours then is raised 20° every four hours ending at 190°F.
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