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Smoking meat before or after sous vied cooking?

oliver_bell_82391

Why do you smoke the ribs before the sous vide step, would it be possible to smoke them after? Also Why is it important to chill the brine quickly after heating to dissolve the the salt and sugar, is this just to keep the hot brine from cooking the meat or is there some other reason? What is the purpose of the sugar in the brine?

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scott_mcgill_67437

Smoking gun is really cool. Maybe some recipes or techniques on how to use it better would be great.

Chris_Young_80640

@MWDietzel – We've done a lot of work with liquid smoke. In fact the discussion would be worthy of it's own class, but my simple recommendation is to use the liquid smoke to achieve a smokey flavor through a brine or a marinade. For liquid smokes you intend to add to a brine or marinade, look for a liquid smoke that does not have added vinegar or another acid among the ingredients.

Using liquid smoke to achieve an authentic flavor and appearance of hot smoked food is possible, but very challenging with what you can purchase in a store.

MWDietzel_66504

Is there any guidance (yes/no, or how to) use 'liguid smoke' in lieu of using a smoker?

Mason_Perry_34060

Just curious what setup do you guys use for smoking? I would guess electric as it is the most easily controlled?

Chris_Young_80640

Great question!

We love smoking food here at ChefSteps and we've spent a lot of time doing research on what happens to food when you smoke it. Many people are surprised to learn that smoke doesn't add flavor to food in the same way as, say, including spices or herbs in a recipe. With smoke you are running a very complex chemical reaction that creates new flavors over time. Gases in the smoke (the invisible part of the smoke) react with proteins, oils, and natural sugars in the food. How the smoke was created, the temperature of the smoke in the smoker, and the food itself play a big roll in how the flavor will turn out.

This is why there are some big differences in how smoked food will taste depending on whether you sous vide cook before, or after smoking the food.

Smoking meats or seafood before a long sous vide cooking step has the advantage that the proteins in the flesh are intact and more readily react with the smoke. To get a good result, the food's surface needs to dry out slightly and become tacky—it must be neither too wet nor too dry for the smoke to react readily with the food and generate smoky flavors and attractive smoked appearance.

A long cooking step after smoking will allow these new created smoked aromas, tastes, and colorful pigments to continue to react.The smoke flavor will mellow, the appearance of the surface will darken, and the pellicle (the rind) will toughen a bit. This can be a really good thing if done well. When done poorly, however, the smoke flavor can become muddy and meats or seafood in particular can become overly tough and leathery.

Smoking after a long sous vide cooking step will impart the food with a bolder smoked flavor. It does, however, add the risk of overcooking the already cooked meats or seafood in your smoker (it's hard to control the temperature well in nearly all smokers). This approach also adds a second vacuum packaging step if you're not going to serve the smoked food right away.

Smoking and then sous vide cooking can have another drawback: If the smoked meat or seafood is going to be served cold, or needs to look appealing in a vacuum package, then cooking after smoking is not something I would recommend. During the cooking step, juices will accumulate in the bag. When the food is cooled in the bag these juices will gel and cling to the meat. If you reheat this package later and then serve the food, there is not problem because the juices will melt and drain away when you open the bag. But served cold, the gelled cooking juices look unappealing to most people. By sous vide cooking, then smoking, and then packing you avoid juices accumulating in the bag and clinging to the food.

But if you really like smoking foods, we highly recommend trying it both ways.

Chris