Inspired by the ChefSteps Pacific Northwest Clambake, this weekend, finally attempted a project I've been plotting for months--a backyard East Coast clambake in my Weber Smoky Mountain Smoker.
The theory: instead of digging a pit (and ruining my backyard), I could line the base of my 22.5 inch Weber Smoky Mountain with rocks, build a massive fire and use the height of smoker to achieve greater separation between layers of ingredients to achieve perfectly cooked seafood and vegetables. With the presence of air vents, I could also achieve a layer of coals/embers that would (theoretically) continue to burn, even after it was smothered with sand/seaweed. Thus, I'd have a hotter/more efficient cook than cooking in a dug out pit in the sand.
The Plan: (1) line the bottom of the smoker with large rocks, (2) build a huge oak fire, (3) let it burn down to mostly embers/coal, (4) spread some playground sand on the embers (to slow the burn of the seaweed), (4) apply a thick later of seaweed, (5) layer in par-boiled potatoes, raw onions, corn on the cob and split lemons (about 5 lbs of potatoes and 15 ears of corn), (6) apply another thick layer of seaweed, (7) layer in lobsters (about 20), (8) apply another layer of seaweed, (9) insert middle cooking grate and layer 5 lbs each of littlenecks and mussels directly on the rack ( for ease of extraction), (10) let cook for 1.5- 2 hrs, and, finally (11) pray for success.
Footnotes to the Plan: I planned to use the otherwise useless "door" on the center ring of the smoker to easily extract the lobsters and sausage ( I never open in when I actually smoke meat and need to refuel, I just carefully remove the center ring with the top still on and the food inside). Once those were out, I planned to take the center ring off the smoker and pick out the vegetables on the bottom layer. I also inserted a probe thermometer roughly at the base of the sausage/lobster layer. Rockweed was purchased from the same seafood purveyor I obtained the seafood from in the Boston area.
The Result: The smell of the seaweed burning/smoking right off the bat was intoxicating and we quickly developed a ton of steam. the probe thermometer initially dropped to 63F and stayed in the 63F to 80F range for a good 20-30 minutes. Sometime around the 30 minute mark, the temperature at the probe level began to rise exponentially and we were at 185-200F at around 1 hour mark, with the thermometer in the top of the dome of the smoker reading around 150. Somewhat worryingly, some parts of the center ring of the smoker were cool to the touch, while others parts (aligned with the vents, I later figured out) were blazing hot to the touch 30 min or so in. This seemed to mostly even out around the 1 and a quarter hour mark.
At 1.5 hours in, we peeked inside and found that the mussels were mostly opened (but not 100% cooked) and the clams were just beginning to open. We decided to give it another 20 minutes and serve some New England clam chowder, to keep the restless natives at bay. After 20 minutes, the mussels were basically done, but somewhat unevenly so (those closer to the edge were done, while those in the center could probably have used another 15-20 minutes). The clams were also still a little under done. At this point we were out of time, so we decided to pull everything out.
As we uncovered the lobsters, I was disappointed to see that we were looking at lobsters that were probably 80% done (through rather uniformly 80% done). Interestingly most of the lobsters had claws that hadn't fully turned red yet and a few had blotches of green/brown on their tails/bodies. At this point, I went to my insurance policy and fired up the turkey fryer with a few inches of beer and water. The lobsters all went in (in 2 batches) and steamed for 2-3 min. The undercooked clams/mussels also went in for a quick dip. Meanwhile, we pulled the sausage and the vegetables. The sausages were mostly done, but had a pale boiled appearance (not surprisingly) so we set them aside to throw directly on the still glowing coals. The vegetables were completely done, save for a couple of scorched potatoes (that were still delicious).
The Reviews: It's hard to overstate how deliciously smokey everything came out. The lobster, in particular, surprised me with how much smoke the meat itself took on. I had assumed it would take on very little due to the shells, but the smoke flavor very much penetrated into the meat itself. The corn (cooked in its husk) was also a showstopper.
Post Mortem: The smoker technique works although, in the end, I think the air vents continuing to fuel the fire were more of a hindrance than a help. If I had it to do over again, I would insist upon a much more even layer of rocks and embers that were far more burned down. I would also reduce the separation between layers of food--we easily had 4-5 inches of space between the vegetables and the sausage/lobster layer (and 4-5 inches between that and the clam layer) and this proved to be too much. The seafood actually needs to be closer to the fire. Had we set up this way, I think we would have easily reduced our cook time and had more uniformly finished seafood.
Some pictures below of how it all went. Unfortunately I couldn't get many of the final presentation due to the service scramble!
