Summer Smoke Out - City style

If you are like me or most of the people living in the city, you have limited space.  Maybe a 3x4 patio with enough room for a 2 top and a plant. Maybe not even that. Well deactivate your smoke alarm because Im going to tell you how you can smoke at home. Even if your in a studio in the loin.

First of all open ALL of your windows or do this outside. For materials you will need: 2 metal or aluminum pans with sides at least 3 in. high, wood chips,  a rack that will fit in your pan, lots of saran wrap, a cast iron or steel pan, a lightly damp towel, meat and fire.

Season your meat and let sit 6 hours to a day. For this method of smoking your meat should be in smaller size pieces so that the smoke can penetrate in a small amount of time.

Step 1 - Put the wood chips in your cast iron or steel pan and set on fire. Once you start to get a lot of smoke coming off the chips throw the damp towel over them to put the fire out.

Step 2 - You must work fast from here so that you don't lose smoke! Dump the wood chips in one of the metal pans and set the rack over them. Place your meat on the rack and invert the other metal pan over the top of the meat to act as a lid. Wrap the crap out of the whole thing with plastic wrap making sure all edges are sealed so that no smoke escapes. Let sit about 45 minutes.

Step 3 - Remove the meat from your "smoker" and finish in a low oven (250-300 degrees) until meat is tender. Cooking time depends on how big of chunks meat is cut into.  I would cover the meat for most of the time and uncover it for the last 30 minutes or so of cooking to develop a crust. You could baste with BBQ sauce during that time too. Or you can throw it on the grill for the last 30 minutes and get your crust that way.

See, you don't need to have a big backyard to make summer BBQ. Smoke it up! Just don't piss off your landlord!

Got Wood?

How do you get smoke? You use wood. What, why, how and where? Read on.........................

There are a few ways to go when selecting wood used for smoking. Lump charcoal, wood chunks and wood chips.

Lump charcoal is made out of natural wood.  Its a 2 in 1 because you have the charcoal which is your fuel source and its made out of wood which is your flavor source. However, you will get less smoky flavor using only lump charcoal so I recommend throwing some chunks in there as well. Don't use a lot of charcoal. You want low and slow when cooking BBQ. The more charcoal you have the more heat you have.

Wood chunks are mostly used with grills, or smokers that use a wood pan or drawer. They are large pieces of hard wood that allow for a slow burn and long smoking time. Remember that the wood chunks are used for flavor and smoke not for fuel so you do still need charcoal when you are using it. When you are using the charcoal/wood chunks method do not use lighter fluid to start your fire, it imparts a chemical flavor in your food.

Wood chips are used mostly for electric and gas smokers. They burn quicker than chunks so often times you need to keep replenishing the chips while you are cooking. Make sure you soak them first in hot water (if you don't they will become a heat source not creating smoke) for 15-30 minutes. Let them drip dry first before adding them to the smoker.

There are many different flavors of wood. Here are most of them:

Mesquite and Hickory - Both strong and distinct. Use with pork and beef.

Oak - Great for BBQ pits because of its good temperature control. However, it does impart a strong flavor so use on meats that can stand up to it like beef and pork.

Alder, Almond, Walnut and Pecan - Mild in flavor. Good for fish and poultry since its not to overpowering.

Apple - Awesome for bacon because of its sweet smoke.

Maple - Smooth and mild. Use on seafood, poultry or pork.

Cherry or Fig - Nice fruity flavor. Great with duck or pork.

You can also blend woods to make your own combination.

Below I have posted a link to a company here in San Francisco that sells lump charcoal, wood chunks, wood chips and more. The have a great variety of flavors and are very friendly.

Lazzari Fuel Co.

The Man's Got Passion

There is one man in San Francisco who is doing authentic BBQ right now, and doing it well. That's Spencer O'meara. Every wednesday night at Paragon Restaurant you can sample O'meara's BBQ in 4 different dishes. He offers a choice of ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork all fresh out of the smoker. With your choice of meat you get a traditional variety of sides including baked beans, collard greens and white bread. Here is a break down of this fantastic menu:

Ribs - Specifically baby back. They are first dusted with a BBQ rub, smoked 6 hours and finished with a St. Louis style BBQ sauce. They are fall off the bone finger licking awesome.

Chicken - Here you get a half chicken, bone in which has been brined over night, seasoned with BBQ rub and then smoked for 2 hours. It is finished with St. Louis BBQ. It is super moist and flavorful. Forget the knife and fork, just pick it up and go at it!

Brisket - Beef brisket is seasoned first with a 4 peppercorn rub, smoked 16 hours and finished with a Tennessee style BBQ sauce. Brisket is a tough cut of meat that requires a very long cooking time. O'meara has perfected the cooking process for brisket and the result is meat that melts in your mouth like butter with a nice crusty bark on the outside.

Pulled pork - Pork butt (A.K.A. pork shoulder) is seasoned with BBQ rub and smoked for 12 hours. It is then "pulled", which means he gently shreds the meat apart with his hands. It is then mixed with Carolina style BBQ sauce and is slapped on a soft hamburger bun with a pile of nice vinegary coleslaw on top. This sandwich is the bomb.

Collard greens - These greens are simmered until tender with ham hocks, chicken stock and vinegar. The vinegar lends a nice tangy flavor to the earthiness of the greens and the richness of the ham.

Baked beens - Cannellini beans are cooked slowly with house made bacon, molasses and beer. They have a beautiful rich sweet flavor and velvety mouthfeel.

White bread - Baked fresh that day from Panorama bakery in San Francisco.

O'meara makes all of his own dry rubs and BBQ sauces that he uses on his menu. He smokes all of his meats with hickory and mesquite wood chips. Paragon Restaurant is located at 701 2nd st. (cross street is Townsend st.) one block up from AT&T park.

Rub Me The Right Way

Lets talk about the importance of spice rubs in BBQ. Usually called dry rubs in most BBQ circuits. Dry rubs add flavor to your meat and flavor to the bark. Bark is the highly seasoned, delicious crust that develops on the outside of your meat during the cooking process, mostly thanks to the dry rub. Bark is not only tasty to eat but it also helps keep moisture inside the meat allowing it not to dry out.

Dry rubs usually consist of 4 categories of ingredients. Salt, pepper, sugar and flavorings. Salts can be fine grind, kosher or flavored. Pepper can mean black, white, cayenne or chile powder. Sugars can be white or brown.  Flavorings can be many things, some examples are: garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, coriander and cumin. Its up to you to decide how much of each ingredient you want to use, which depends on the type of flavor you are looking for. To turn your dry rub into a marinade simply add a liquid to it such as worcestershire sauce, wine or water.

How to use it. Lightly pat your dry rub all over your meat and let it sit refrigerated at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Even though it is called a rub you want to make sure you just pat it into the meat and do not rub it into the meat. The reason is that during the cooking process the rub will clog the meat's pores and not allow smoke to penetrate the meat. It will also not allow the meat to "sweat" which allows the meat to absorb the dry rub developing flavor and bark. If your meat has no bark it will be soft instead of crusty and will not be as moist inside and flavorful.

Now that you know how to get your rub on you are one step closer to becoming a pit master!