Thursday, April 5, 2007

Smokers Shelter Expands Cooking Season

Many people hooked on smoking do not let weather stand in the way of a good smoked piece of meat. While the weather may be unpredictable, having your grill protected by a smokers shelter will allow it to be used in all but the worst weather conditions. It can be permanent or temporary and can have three, four or five sides.

For general protection from the wind, a three-sided structure will usually suffice but the sides should be a minimum of two feet from the sides of the smoker. The materials used on the smokers shelter can be whatever you desire, but if it is to be temporary should be light enough to be installed quickly.

If planning a four-sided shelter you must also plan for an entry and exit and you will need to insure it allows for rapid exit if the need arises. A smokers shelter with five sides should have a gap where the walls meet the roof to allow for proper ventilation. A small pavilion-style building with removable sides makes an ideal smokers shelter and the permanent nature of the roof provides more stability.

Fight The Factors Not The Weather

While cold weather will have an effect on the amount of fuel used in your smoker, the wind is the real culprit in maintaining a constant temperature. The wind may blow the heat out of the cooker and may also get in through the vents, lighting more fuel, driving the temperature up. A smokers shelter designed to block the smoker from the wind will help keep you cooking regardless of the weather.

There are those who have built a smokers shelter to surround their smoker during use, and then decided to leave it in place when not using it. They have all advised to line the inside of the box with aluminum foil to help reflect the heat back to the smoker. Additionally, three-inch holes on two opposing walls of the enclosure will typically provide enough air as well as one three-inch hole at the top to allow for the exhaust.

By using heat shield insulation you can make an insulated jacket as a smokers shelter for your smoker to keep the wind from affecting how it works. It will need to wrap the entire height of the smoker, allowing enough room at the top for the exhaust. The material must be able to withstand temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees.

Friday, March 9, 2007

The Ultimate Brinkman Smoker Grills

Brinkman Smoker grills are marketed with the slogan of; “The Ultimate Grilling Experience.” For those people who love to grill and smoke meats, Brinkman’s slogan rings true. Think about late spring or summer and the smells of the grill, the sweet smell of smoke escaping the smoker and calling out to everyone hungry. Add some corn on the cob and coleslaw and heaven on earth has arrived. Brinkman makes grills and smokers that cover the full spectrum. There is a grill and smoker for all price ranges.

From smaller units costing around sixty dollars, to major units around seven hundred dollars and up, Brinkman takes great pride in customer satisfaction and they know what the customer wants because they love to grill also. Brinkman has an extensive inventory of grills and smokers built with standards far superior to many of their competitors.

Every Brinkman product is built with quality components designed to last for years. Whether one likes electric or flame, Brinkman makes it. From the “Smoke’ N Grill” to the heavy duty “Stillwater” heavy gauge, there really is a Brinkman product for everyone. If the customer is searching for their new or first grill or smoker, look at the vast lineup of Brinkman smoker grills.
Comparing Smoker Grills

There are many smoker grills available to the consumer. How can one move from consumer to customer? When the consumer is shopping for a new product, bring a pad of paper and pen and shop around to see what is available. Shopping around and taking notes sounds like a bit much. It’s just a grill, how hard can that be? Well, with prices ranging from fifty dollars to over one thousand dollars, it pays to shop around.

Buying the right grill is important because if one decides on Brinkman smoker grills, they will last longer than ones auto or in some cases, one’s marriage. (Make sure to keep the Brinkman smoker grills.) The consumer can begin the search for grills by going to the Brinkman smoker grills website. There is an extensive amount of information on the website to either print off or write down.

Once the consumer has all the information, then compare Brinkman smoker grills with the competition. This shouldn’t be a rushed decision. Take the amount of time it takes to be educated about the market. Then choose the grill that is right for one.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Enjoying Fish And Meats With A Cold Smoker

Smoking meats and fish is a way of cooking that has been around for generations, yet few people know how to cook in this manner or how tasty it can be to use this method of cooking. When fish or meat is smoked, the flavors from the wood or wood chips used blends with the meat, creating a wonderful and unique aroma and taste.

This fashion of cooking is popular in many European countries, yet there are many smoking enthusiasts in the United States that enjoy this type of cooking as well. There are many types of smokers available, such as propane, gas, and electric, yet a cold smoker is a bit more uncommon than other varieties.

How To Cook With A Cold Smoker

When using the cold-smoker method of smoking fish and other meats, the temperature one uses is far lower than the hot-smoker method. Fish is most often used with this type of smoking, and should be frozen prior to the process in order to kill any susceptible parasites within the fish.

The fish must stay in a brine solution for a longer period of time as well, and the cooking time is much longer than with the hot-smoker method. Often, a cold smoker cooks very slowly, from one to five days, depending on the amount of fish that is in the smoker itself.

Different kinds of fish can be placed within the cold smoker, most often salmon or cod. Herring can also be used, as well as eels. This is a popular item in European countries, but generally not as well accepted in the U.S.

A homemade cold smoker can be built using a refrigerator, yet it is usually more time consuming than it is worth, and there are many quality brands available on the market. When cooking fish in this way, the fish can last for many months in the refrigerator, whereas using the hot smoker method, the fish spoil in just a few days.

If one desires to preserve their meats or fish, a cold smoker is the better option. Wood chips or powder is used in the cold smoker as well. Choosing between a cold or hot smoker is solely based on individual preference and needs, yet both should provide delicious and satisfactory results to the avid meat or fish lover for years to come.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Barbeque Grill Covers

When you have paid for a barbeque grill, one of the first things you are going to want to invest in is one of the barbeque grill covers that can be found. This is something that is very important for you to get for your barbeque grill. There are many reasons that barbeque grill covers become very important when you are taking care of your property, for many reasons.

Why Use Them?

It is very important that you use barbeque grill covers when it comes to the upkeep and maintenance of your grill. First of all, the barbeque grill covers will protect your grill from the elements. This is perhaps the most important thing that a cover can do for you. A good grill cover is going to protect your grill from water, snow, and other moistures, as well as from heat and sunlight. All of the things in nature can really wreck havoc on your barbeque grill, so it is most important that you also invest in a good barbeque grill cover when you are purchasing your grill.

What Type To Use

There are several different types of barbeque grill covers that you can choose from. When you are deciding what type is best for you, the first thing that you should think about is what kind of weather your barbeque grill is going to be exposed to. If you are in a situation where there is a lot variance in your climate, you are going to want to purchase a much heavier and much stronger barbeque grill cover than if you are in a place where the climate is basically the same all year long.

You should also think about where your grill is going to be stored. If you are planning on keeping it in the garage or another covered place when you aren’t using it, then the barbeque grill cover will become more of a dust cover, keeping the dust away from it and not letting small animals into it.

In these cases, you don’t need a very heavy or very strong grill over. However, if you are going to be storing it outside all year long, you are going to want to invest in a grill cover that is going to be able to withstand the elements that will be forced upon it. In the end, it all comes down to what your grill needs to be protected from, and what type of grill cover best protects your grill from whatever that is.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Water Smoker For Best Meals

A water smoker is a great way to prepare flavorful meals for friends and family. The smoker is used with different kinds of hard woods such as hickory, oak or mesquite that add wonderful flavors to foods. Each cook using a water smoker will want to learn about the different flavors that can be added to foods by using this appliance. Most smokers come with great recipe books and instruction manuals that provide guidance on smoking foods. Some of the water smokers come with packages of the most popular woods so a cook can try some of these to find the best combinations.

Some foods lend themselves to cooking with a water smoker. Pork, turkey and chicken can taste great when cooked with the proper woods in a smoker. Salmon and other fish can be smoked to keep the moisture and taste that might be destroyed with other cooking methods.

A water smoker can prepare these fish products with great taste and the highest nutritional values. A good cook can prepare vegetables with lots of flavor in a good smoker. The vegetables will also retain much of the nutritional value that is lost with other cooking methods.

A Water Smoker Is Easy to Use
A water smoker is easy to use to make the most flavorful meals for a great social gathering. The smoker should be set up with the wood that is best for the type of food that will be cooked. The woods should be heated for some time to get them nice and hot before the next step. While the woods are heating up, someone should get the water receptacle that comes with the unit and fill it with water. The water container should then be placed in the proper location. The water smoker is now ready for the addition of the food into the compartment for smoking.
The water smoker is a great way to prepare nutritional meals for friends and family. There is evidence that a smoker retains more of the nutritional elements than other cooking methods. The smoker should not add fat or cholesterol to the food that is prepared because there is no oil or fat necessary for cooking the food. The water smoker will prepare the food in the best way possible for optimum health values. Many of the water smokers available on the market can also be used for preparing other dishes without smoking them.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Homemade Meat Smokers

There are many ways to prepare all types of food which vary from culture to culture, country to country, even state to state. Some people like to eat only raw foods, others like only cooked foods. Some enjoy grilling, others like to bake, steam or broil. There is also another way to prepare foods, especially meats, fish and poultry, and this is by smoking them.

Smoking meats is a tradition that has been passed down through generations and continues to be enjoyed by many enthusiasts worldwide. There are many smoking connoisseurs who don’t just want to go out and purchase a pre-made smoker, but they want to create one themselves, for their specific use. T

his custom approach makes homemade meat smokers a fun and exciting venture for many, even a way to make extra money as well. Let us explore the world of smoking a bit further.

Types Of Homemade Meat Smokers

Manufactured meat smokers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with many styles and brands to choose from. There are electric-powered smokers as well as propane smokers. Yet, often a person who enjoys smoking their meats likes to build his/her own homemade meat smoker in order to suit their individual needs and tastes.

The homemade meat smoker can be assembled from a variety of materials, many of which can be found on-hand in one’s tool shop or barn. Depending on the smoking needs of an individual, smokers can be made very large or small enough to fit on top of a cabinet. Much is dependent on the wants, wishes and needs of the smoker him/herself.

One type of homemade meat smoker can be made from an aluminum trash can. A hole is typically cut in the bottom of the can and a hot-plate of sorts is placed on the bottom of the can with whatever type of wood one chooses to use. Apple and maple are two popular brands of wood that are used for smoking purposes.

This reportedly gives the smoked meat a special blend of flavors. Placing the lid with a grill rack near the top of the can be a wonderful seal for a delicious mix of flavors while smoking. Smoked meats generally take a bit longer to cook than other methods of cooking, such as grilling or broiling. The temperature is much lower, yet the outcome is one worth waiting for.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Great Barbecue Grill Secret

I like to share with you something about Barbecue Grill and what recipe make the best barbecue.

Everyone who has a backyard or even an outside patio probably owns a barbecue grill. The grill is as important as anything else lying around the house. Most men consider the grill and the area surrounding it “man land.” Cooking meat on an open flame satisfies the caveman part of the brain.

The smell of the meat on hot coals will make anyone hungry. A barbecue grill comes in many shapes and sizes. Small grills that can be placed on a table can cost very little and they work just the same as the big ones.

On the other end of the spectrum, one can find large stainless steel models that cost, in some cases, over two thousand dollars. When it comes down to the basics, a barbecue grill cooks meat. Everything else that is built into one is either a cooking aid or nice to have accessories. Some grills also come attached with smoker accessories so the unit can accomplish more than just grilling.

Whatever the customer wants, there is probably a grill that suits his or her taste. Something to consider when shopping for a grill is: What size does one want or need? Meat racks can be small, maybe enough to cook two steaks, or large enough to cook for a large party.

Tips To Aid The Cooking Of Meat

It doesn’t matter what kind of meat one is cooking. Whether its beef, pork, fish, or chicken, there are some things that can enhance the flavors. One way is to marinate the meat overnight in whatever one chooses. When it is taken out to the barbecue grill, the aroma is mouth watering.

Also, one can use spices while the meat is cooking. There are many spices available to the customer. Some even mix spices together designed for each type of meat.

Something else that will aid the cooking is to watch out for flare ups. They can very quickly ruin a nice cut of meat. Every barbecue grill has a lid. When cooking meat that drips often, keeping the lid closed while cooking will stop the flare up. One still has to keep an eye out for trouble, but with the barbecue grill lid down, flare ups are minimized. Finally, knowing the amount of time it takes to cook a specific type and size of meat, the individual can then cook the meat to whatever one likes.

All meat will taste bad if overcooked so have a rough idea of the time it takes to cook whatever meat one is having, and keep a knife handy to check the current condition of the meat.

Try it out yourself. Having a great barbecue with the whole family.