Looking to add a little more fire to your everyday meals? The possibilities are endless. But here are just a few tips and recipes to get you started on your path to smokier flavors.
Got eight-plus hours on your hands? Then go forth and smoke that meat! And if you don’t… there are other ways to achieve peak smokiness. Lucky for you, your favorite supermarket has plenty of smoked choices to pick from, no commitment or time-spent-outside required. And just like that, you got seven hours of your life back.
Here are a few tips for keeping at-home meals smoky, with easy grocery-store finds you can rotate in and out. For example:
- Look for packaged smoked varieties of chicken, beef, pork, and turkey products in the meat department.
- Pick out shelf-stable items with a smoky flavor like Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes or Smoked Hickory Beans.
- Choose smoked Gouda, smoked salmon, and smoked turkey in the specialty foods section.
Looking for recipes that have that smoky kick of flavor? We have a few of those, too. Give these tried-and-true Bourbon BBQ Chicken Wings a go, try this BBT Bisque and let smoky bacon steal the show, or change pasta night forever with this Turkey Smoked Sausage Pasta Skillet.
OK, but what if you really do have eight hours to spare? We salute you! Grab a patio chair and run your own smoker. Maybe you’ll even become the next barbecue-ruling, spatula-juggling TV star. We’ll leave you with a few tips.
- Budget the right amount of time—smoking is a slow process.
- Remember “low and slow,” which means at temperatures of 180° to 220° F.
- Smoked food never technically touches a flame; the smoky flavor of meat comes from the wood you use. Popular woods for smoking include cherry, apple, hickory, mesquite, oak, and pecan.
- Change the flavor of your meat by using concentrated seasonings, like Wright's® Liquid Smoke, which you can use to baste your meat or mix into your favorite sauce.
Happy smoking!
