Cooking regime

Cooking with smoke

Smoke is a suspension of tiny particles and a large number of aromatic compounds, and when it meets a cool moist surface those compounds stick. That is the whole mechanism: smoke flavour is deposited, not cooked in.

Deposition, not absorption

Smoke carries phenolic compounds, carbonyls and acids produced as wood breaks down at temperature. When smoke meets a surface that is cooler than it and slightly damp, those compounds condense onto it and stay.

This has two consequences that explain most of smoking practice. A dry surface takes on less smoke than a slightly tacky one, which is why smokers talk about a pellicle — the tacky skin that forms when food air-dries in a fridge before smoking. And smoke deposits fastest early, while the food is coolest, which is why the first hour matters most.

It also means smoke sits at the surface and works inwards slowly. A thin fillet takes smoke through; a thick joint has a smoky exterior and a less smoky middle, which is usually what is wanted.

Hot and cold smoking

Hot smoking

Smoke and enough heat to cook. The food comes out cooked and smoky. Smoked mackerel, pulled pork, smoked chicken.

Cold smoking

Smoke at a low temperature that does not cook. The food is flavoured and still raw. Smoked salmon, smoked cheese, cold-smoked bacon.

Cold smoking is the one with the safety questions

It usually depends on curing or salting first and on temperature control throughout. Whether a food is safely cooked is a matter for a food safety authority rather than for a description of how the heat arrives. In the UK the Food Standards Agency sets that guidance and it is the one to follow.

Smoke roasting

Barbecue in the American sense — low heat, long time, heavy smoke.

Tea smoking

Rice, sugar and tea smouldered in a covered wok. Fast, indoors, and very effective.

Smoked ingredients

Smoked paprika, lapsang souchong, smoked salt, smoked oil. Smoke as a seasoning rather than a method.

Liquid smoke

Condensed smoke. Genuinely made from smoke, and a legitimate shortcut used sparingly.

What actually matters

• Thin blue smoke, not thick white. Thick white smoke is under-burnt and deposits acrid, bitter compounds. Clean-burning smoke that is almost invisible is what you want.
• Temperature control, which is most of the skill in smoking anything.
• A dry-then-tacky surface. Air-drying the food uncovered in the fridge first improves smoke uptake noticeably.
• Time, early. Most of the smoke flavour is taken up in the first hours while the food is cool.
• Wood matters less than people claim. The difference between oak, beech, apple and cherry is real and subtle; the difference between clean smoke and dirty smoke is enormous.
• Not resinous softwood. Pine and spruce give acrid, unpleasant results.
• Airflow. Smoke must move over the food and out, not sit stagnant.
• Restraint. Over-smoked food tastes of ashtray and cannot be rescued.

Smoking something indoors, which is the accessible version

1. Line a heavy wok or a deep pan with foil.
2. Put a couple of tablespoons each of rice, sugar and loose tea on the foil.
3. Set a rack above it, and the food on the rack.
4. Cover tightly with a lid or a foil dome. Ventilation matters, so do this near an open window or a working extractor.
5. Heat until the mixture begins to smoke, then turn it down to keep it smouldering rather than burning.
6. Smoke for a short time — ten to twenty minutes gives plenty of flavour for fish, chicken or cheese.
7. Finish the cooking conventionally if it needs it, since a short smoke will not cook it through.
8. Let it rest before eating. Smoke flavour is harsh immediately afterwards and mellows within a few hours.

Common questions