As a new feature to our blog and recipe section, we will be highlighting a seasonal product in a smoking or natural wood-fired grilled recipe, to help you take advantage of the wonderful seasonal offerings we have for fruits and vegetables. For the most part, we will be following the harvest schedule in the Northeast but may occasionally make reference to a different region’s harvest schedule.

For September, we our highlighting potatoes! One of my favorite variety of potatoes is Fingerlings. Feel free to modify the recipe below to your preferred ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. fingerling potatoes*, scrubbed and cut into ½-inch lengths

1/4 cup olive oil

½ lb. thick sliced pancetta*, cut into 1/3-inch cubes, cooked

salt and fresh ground pepper

1 onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped dill or 2-1/2 Tablespoons of prepared dill

* may substitute any variety of potato and regular bacon for the pancetta

Wood Recommendations:

Wild Cherry and Ash hardwoods (cherry for a tart flavor and Ash for its moisture infusion)

Tear a large piece of foil to make a pouch or use a disposable cake foil pan. If using a disposable pan, also cut a foil sheet that covers the pan.

Place the pre-cut fingerling potatoes, cooked pancetta, sliced onion, and dill in the foil pan or pouch. Add salt and fresh pepper to preference. Toss all ingredients together then drizzle the 1/4 cup of olive oil over the ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Place foil pan or pouch on pre-lite charcoal grill, with woods placed directly under the mixture. Allow to cook/smoke until potatoes become tender (about 2-1/2 hours at 200 degrees). Serve warm.

Dr. Smoke and the Culinary team traveled to Oakville, ON, Canada on August 26, 2010, to assist the great people of Whole Foods Market – Oakville in feeding the guests of Cameron’s Brewery’s Cask Night. The Good Dr. was selected to “crack the cask”; a lager plus lime brew that was affectionately referenced as the “Lageritta”. What a fabulous night of exceptional food tasting including Wild Cherry Smoked Mini Jalapeno and Cheddar Sausage, Sugar Maple smoked Buffalo-Style Chicken Wings, and Hickory finished Pulled Pork. There was even freshly grilled organic corn on the cob with a lime-chive butter and two delicious sides prepared by Whole Foods own Chef Ron.

Many thanks to France, Steve, Chef Ron, and the whole Team at Whole Foods Market for inviting us to be a part of this fantastic event!

The Smokinlicious®Test Kitchen conducted an additional test using the Technique® Cast Iron Grill Pan and Smoker which many of you purchased from QVC as the Special of the Day. This time, we used our flavor-infused wood product called the Woodscuit ® on the stovetop.

What We Cooked: Boneless Pork Tenderloin

How We Cooked: on the stovetop using medium-low heat on the gas range

What Wood We Used: Bourbon Flavored Woodscuit ® – 3 pieces

Length of Cook Time: 2-1/2 hours

Findings: Again, as our previous test cooks have demonstrated, the Technique® Cast Iron Grill Pan and Smoker provides for a very moist product. This time, we lined our drip pan in foil to decrease the amount of elbow-grease needed to clean up. Since our Woodscuit ® product has a moisture content of ~45 percent, these wood pieces did not display the charred look like the woods used in the previous test cooks (both theWood Chips and Smokin’ Dust® were black by the end of the cooking time). However, once the tenderloin was finished, our panel of tasters did not find any significant smoke flavor to the end product. For those pieces that had been more to the center of the pan, the tasters noted slightly more smoke flavor but overall, there was no distinguishable smoke flavor infused in the food.

Currently, our Test Kitchen has found that the Wood Chips used on the stovetop, provide for the greatest flavor infusion of the wood used. As always, we will continue to test this cookware with a plan to see if adding water to the smoke pan with the wood product, helps to keep the flavor infusion going.

Stay tuned!

Fingerling Potatoes are Next

The Smokinlicious® Test Kitchen had an opportunity to use the Technique® Cast Iron Grill Pan and Smoker which many of you purchased via QVC. Here are some preliminary findings by our Culinary Team:

➝Use caution when selecting cuts of meat with this pan! We had purchased a 10 lb. pork shoulder and struggled to get the cover tightly on the pan. Right now, it appears that cuts less than 8 lbs. would be ideal for cooking/smoking/roasting/grilling.

➝I’m sure we were not the only purchasers to be disappointed to read in the Technique® brochure that you should “not try to smoke in the oven” with this unit. Rest assured, Dr. Smoke will see if there is a means of actually smoking in a conventional oven by using low temperature and Liquid Infused Wood Chips /Smokin’ Dust®.
/Wood Chunks
wood chunks with this smoker unit (more on these findings as they become available).

➝ We cooked both a bone-in pork shoulder and bone-in chicken breast. Both cooks revealed great moisture to the meat. We used the recommended medium heat setting on our gas range but found that the cast iron radiates a significant amount of heat. Thus, we recommend reducing the heat setting to a low-medium (“3″ if you have a digital setting) on gas units. We also turned the heat off our pan approximately 20 minutes prior to completing the cooking time in order to benefit from the cast iron’s ability to generate further heat on its own. Remember, all meat should rest prior to cutting.

➝ There was considerable “rendering” out of the fat drippings into the drip pan. There is significant staining on the stainless steel drip pan so you may want to consider lining the pan with foil or even parchment paper to reduce metal staining.

➝ Smokin’ Dust®Usage: although the dust will render black in this pan, it did give off a tremendous amount of aroma. We used the Smokin’ Dust®dry, about 2 Tablespoons worth, in the center of the smoking pan. This appears to be the correct amount although we did not feel it produced as much flavor to the meat as a conventional smoker.

➝ Wood Chips: we used Wild Cherry Wood Chips (standard grind) in the smoker pan while cooking a bone-in chicken breast on the gas stovetop. The chips also produced significant aroma in the air but we found that they produce much more flavor to the meat. Keep in mind, our chicken breast was just over 2lbs so it fit easily in the grill pan with the cover tightly on. The fact that more flavor was infused in the chicken could be the result of less air leakage than the pork shoulder and the fact the chicken is much more porous allowing for ease in accepting smoke. We used the Wood Chips pre-soaked for 15 minutes in water, then allowed to drip dry before placing in the smoker pan. We used approximately 1 handful and spread them in the smoking pan to allow the drip pan to fit easily in place. Once our chicken was finished, we noted that the wood chips also blackened during the cooking process, much like the Smokin’ Dust®.

At this stage in our testing of the Technique® Cast Iron Grill Pan and Smoker, we feel it is comparable to other stovetop units that we’ve tested. One important difference is the fact that there is no built in thermometer, so you must check the meat with a handheld or wireless thermometer to ensure you remove the food at the proper cooking temperature. Here are some other points worthy of mention:

➝ this is a heavy pan and all parts of it become very hot
➝ the pan can use some additional seasoning as there is some food sticking occurring with the grill pan
➝ it does take some effort to clean but if you re-season and continue to use the pan, I would anticipate this to become less of an issue
➝ there is a significant convection occurrence when cooking which produces a very moist product but as mentioned above, you must time the cooking process to ensure no over-cooking

Stay tuned for additional posting regarding this cookware. Our plans are to try the Smokin’ Dust®.
mixed with liquid as well as to try our Woodscuit ® Flavor-Infused products.

Till then, “Bon-Bar-B-Q!”

Donna G

When applying our Smokinlicious Smokin’ Dust® with the Technique Pre-seasoned Cast Iron 11” BBQ Grill Pan & Smoker you may have to add water to make a paste and put it on the bottom tray of the unit. This will prolong the burn life of the Smokin’ Dust® and increase the smoke flavor during the cooking process

We have ordered a unit and will be testing our products in the next couple of weeks. Dr Smoke and the culinary crew will be testing this unit and will be adding information to our “Match your Cooker“ section of our web site. Please check back to Smokinlicious®for updates! Please enjoy your unit!

If you need additional assistance, regarding product compatibility, or tips on smoking,please call 1-800-941-5054

Bon Bar B Q!

Dr Smoke

Here is the smoker’s introduction to this species

>> There are ten different varieties of Beech available around the world, but we will generally harvest American Beech or Red Beech(Fagus grandifolia Ehrh).

>> The heartwood is dark to reddish brown.

>> American Beech has been a popular choice for charcoal making because it burns so long.

>> Beech and Oak are part of the same wood family(Fagaceae), therefore, Beech is similar in flavor to White Oak.  It is considered a medium to bold flavor.  In our opinion it should be used mostly with beef, pork, venison and other wild game versus poultry.

We hope you try and enjoy this great addition to our hardwood family of products.  Remember all barbecue, NO bark!

 Thank you for educating me about the SAFETY of using wild cherry wood
 for smoking food. 

areas they can grow (India, Florida, Caribbean, Hawaii, etc.), Mango wood

is very popular for upper end wood products like bowls, vases, and even

some furniture.  However, you are correct.  Mango wood contains a sap

that is located at the base of the stem, branches, and trunk. As a result,

a recommendation is made never to burn mango wood as it emits a smoke

that is full of potent irritants.  Plus, Mango trees are highly

suseptible to a number of diseases and pest infestations,

including the fruit fly, black twig borer, sooty mold, and

southern green stink bug to name a few. Pesticide application

is generally necessary to maintain the health of these trees.

Because of the chemical application, Mango wood does not make

for good BBQ!

Stick to forest producing products for the safest woods for BBQ!

Use Smokinlicious® Gourmet Mango Smokin' Dust®  instead!