The secret of butter in Food Smoking
Food smoking is an age-old method of cooking and preserving food. It is still popular today for its unique taste and convenient method. There are different methods of smoking food that pitmasters follow now for enhanced taste and texture of food.
One such ancient method is the dhungar style of smoking food. It involves the use of clarified butter or ghee. This method originates in South Asia and provides a buttery, smoky flavor as a finishing touch.
The goal here is to infuse a specific buttery smoked aroma. This can be done in just a few minutes.
Benefits of dhungar method of food smoking
There are not one but multiple reasons why the dhungar method of food smoking is becoming increasingly popular among smoked food lovers and pitmasters. Here are a few of the most important.
Unique aroma: Dhungar style of food smoking imparts a unique aroma to the food besides the flavor. It comes out of the smoked butter that is instantly absorbed by the food. You can experiment with the amount of ghee or clarified butter to get the right amount of aroma and buttery taste you are looking for.
Suitable for all food: Dhungar method is suitable for smoking all types of food and not just meat. You can smoke fish, poultry, and even vegetables following this method.
Less messy: As the dhungar method uses a small metal pot or container for the whole process, less clean-up is required after food smoking. It is less messy as compared to the traditional way of food smoking using loads of charcoal or firewood.
Dhungar method in a food smoker
To try the dhungar method in a dedicated food smoker you need to apply a twist to the smoking recipe. Here is how you can try the dhungar method in a food smoker.
- Place the marinated food in the rack inside the food smoker.
- Switch on the food smoker and let it cook till medium doneness. For example, ribs need to smoke for a total of at least 5 hours and the smoker should be between 225 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit or 107 to 110 degrees Celsius.
- Open the door and brush some butter or clarified butter on the meat. Use a tong to toss the pieces and let them smoke from the other side.
- Again brush some butter or clarified butter on the already charred side and close the door.
- Let it smoke till completely done. Ribs need to reach a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit or 82 degrees Celsius.
Wrap up
Dhungar is an ancient method of using butter along with smoke to create a uniquely mouthwatering flavor. It’s no wonder this method from South Asia has been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years!
We love that this method is incredibly versatile and enhances the flavor of fish, poultry, and even vegetables with a buttery aroma. The added fat also enhances the smoke flavor from Bradley Bisquettes which opens a whole world of flavor options for you to try from hickory to cherry wood smoke.
This is a great way to take these hard-to-smoke foods from good to off-the-charts delicious.
In this article, we showed you how to use butter in food smoking. We hope our easy Bradley tips & tricks have helped you with the basics of the dhungar method of smoking. For more great ideas on how to get the most of your Bradley Smoker, check out the awesome articles on our Bradley Smoker Food Smoking Blog for more tips & tricks.
