Cookouts are a fun and exciting way to cook food and are among the best ways to socialize with friends and family. You are probably among the largest division of people who believe that cookouts are the best way to enjoy smoked food that renders a delightful taste and flavor to your meal. You are right because the right cookout should change the way a meal would taste. It is, however, something that can not be enjoyable if the correct procedures and tips are not followed while smoking food in a cookout. Badly prepared meals not only make the meals less appetizing but can bring the energy of the entire cookout down.
It would be best if you did not worry much because you know how to smoke food and take your cookout experiences to the next level. We will show you how you can exactly make that happen in this article. It is a relatively easy task to undertake, as you may presume it to be, and you will understand why everyone can become a cookout rockstar.
You are likely to smoke meat, and thus the article will focus on smoking meat and not any other meal.
1. Getting and preparing the meat
Meat preparation is the most vital part of the process, especially now that you have chosen smoking meat. Identifying the type and nature of meat you want to smoke will be the first step you make. If you are going for white meat, then poultry, fish, pork, beef, and goat will be your options.
The ribs are always the best part of any meat for smoking. Ribs are not only easier to infuse with flavors but also easier to cook. Consider adding some salt and pepper when you get the ribs ready to smoke. You can choose to rub your meat a day before the cookout day to mix the spices better. Remember, different seasoning is required for the different types of meat. Therefore, choose the spices that go well with your choice of meat.
2. Picking of wood to use
It would be best if you considered the options you have as woods for the cookout. It is an essential element that you can not afford to overlook. At Bradley Smoker we have Bradley Bisquettes made from wood, ensuring that you are smoking your food with the original pure taste of dried wood. Besides, the Bisquettes come in different flavors to give you the desired tastes.
Go for hardwoods and choose from oak, alder, hickory, and maple among other hardwood flavors for your Bisquettes. Here is the link to all of our flavor profiles, so you can expertly choose which flavor of bisquette to use on your next cookout!
3. Remove the rib’s membrane
The membrane is the paper-thin skin cover that is on the bone of the ribs. Ensure you remove them to make the food easier to eat. This is because the membrane becomes extremely rubbery, making chewing a hard task after smoking.
Additionally, do not add salt to your rub. Allow the meat cut. You have to dictate the way you are going to handle the rub. Instead, ensure you add salt on the initial preparation stages and not on the rub itself, preferably a day before the cookout.
Restrain yourself from flipping the meat because by doing so, you are opening the smoker and changing the airflow, which in turn alters the smoker’s temperatures.
4. Use a thermometer for cooking
Most meat smoking recipes on various blogs always have a bite of the meat to check when the food is ready. It, however, should not be this way. Instead, use a cooking thermometer, especially when smoking pork and poultry. Let the temperatures guide you to learn when the meat is ready.
Check out our digital thermometer to greatly reduce the stress of knowing when your meat is ready in our smokers!
Studies have revealed that smoking for long does not signify that the food is ready. It is not ready if it has not reached a certain temperature recommended for that particular type of meat. One of the reasons we are emphasizing the type of wood you use is because it influences the time and results of the smoking process.
Other factors that influence your cooking time and results include the size of the meat you are smoking, the type and nature of grip you are using, surrounding temperatures, and the food smoker you are using.
5. Maintain moisture on the meat
Meat sometimes dries, especially when left for long on the smoker. It is common when you are smoking ribs, shoulders, or briskets because they take a lot of time to be ready. We recommend that you embrace the use of aluminum foil to help you keep the meat moist while maintaining the recommended temperatures. You can also add some rum or juice flavor to the foil. This is to enhance the flavor of the meat.
It would help if you did not have to go through the elaborate process of searching for the best food smoker in the market. Visit our website to get the best and most reliable Bradley Smoker for superior cookout experiences. For more great Bradley tips and tricks along with how to get the most of your Bradley Smoker, check out the awesome articles on our Bradley Smoker Food Smoking Blog.
