Pizza Chronicles: Wood burning pizza in a Weber? You bet.

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

All great opinions and theories. Thanks.
I have some people coming on Saturday and I will try the dry wood option.

22

I’m smoking with a old cast iron skillet.

I use dry chips placed in the skillet , I have found that, for me , chunks catch fire.

Good luck

PB

23

My personal experience is different; I don’t see any downside to to soaking the wood. And there is an upside when smoking meat, if a vivid red “smoke ring” is important to you.

What causes a smoke ring? A chemical reaction between nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the smoke and water in the meat forms nitrous acid. As nitrous acid diffuses into the meat, it reacts with myoglobin to create the classic pink color of ‘cured’ meat - just as sodium nitrite would do. But as the Chief Dan George character observed in Little Big Man: “Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it doesn’t.”

You increase the odds of the magic working by using very wet wood for smoke (as that increases the amount of NO2 in the smoke), and by starting with cold meat, straight from the refrigerator to the smoker (which increases the time it takes for the meat to get up to 140 F, at which point the nitrous acid-myoglobin reaction pretty much stops).

A surefire method of creating a ‘smoke ring’ is to apply a curing salt (Morton’s Tender Quick or similar) before smoking. That kind of ‘cheating’ has become sufficiently prevalent that the presence or absence of a smoke ring is no longer a judging criterion in most BBQ competitions.

24

[shock.gif]

25

The upside is better chance of a pretty smoke ring, if that’s important to you.
What’s the downside?
What, in your opinion, should be the temperature of meat when it goes on the smoker? Why?

TIA.

26

Downside is uneven cooking, plain and simple. Meat should not be a refrigerator temp but as close to room temp as possible, anything over 50 is ok by me. If you throw a hunk of meat on the smoker at say 35 degrees internal, it takes that much longer for the internal temp to reach your desired target. More time in the smoker than what is necessary and by result the outer part of the meat is cooked longer.

Ive heard of people using cold meat to give it more time to develop a better bark but I think most of that can be achieved with smoke control.

27

Uneven cooking at 225 for a full sized packer brisket or bone-in pork shoulder? I do not think the idea of outer part being cooked longer holds any water. I would wager that if you surveyed 100 competitors at the top level on the BBQ circuit, the vast majority does not allow their product to come to room temperature before hitting the smoker.

28

All I can say is that hasn’t been my experience with pork shoulder, pork ribs, brisket, or turkey - the things I smoke most often. I have done it both ways, and never discerned a difference. To me, it all seems to even out over hours of slow cooking.

29

I am going to stay out of this mostly, but the creosote and taste comments are pretty dead on. I dont know what method most of you guys are doing, but in general (and I dont mean this is a hard and fast rule) chunks interspersed in your lump will provide the best smoke. Also waiting until the smoke turns a thin pale blue vs heavy white is what you want to try for. You want your chunks to “catch fire” and burn clean and release quality smoke

30

Gents, remember, we’re speaking pizza here. 6-7 minutes and done.

31

As is the tendency of all threads, this one has drifted. I fear the pizza ship has sailed, but perhaps it will return on the incoming tide.

32

Creosote, for me, is a very undesirable element…that can ruin most foods that are smoked. And, moist wood is the best way to create lots of creosote.

33

From the linked article: “Have you ever gotten numb lips or a numb tongue when eating food that was cooked in a barbecue smoker? That comes from creosote…” My answer: No.

And the article doesn’t say that “moist wood is the best way to create lots of creosote.” It does caution against wet unseasoned wood. But who uses unseasoned wood for smoking, whether they soak it or not?

34

I think I have tasted creosote, ie, tarry stuff on things smoked with wet wood…and seen the gunk that can result on the food. I am not vouching that it’s creosote, per se, as I’ve never tasted creosote.

This article says it is wet OR unseasoned wood that creates creosote. http://www.hearth.com/what/guidelines.html

numb

35

So I did 2 pies, one with wet wood and one with dry. I prefer the taste to the wet wood over the dry.
It was more ‘subdued’ and less in your face. Eating the slice cold (a big test for me) the difference was abvious. The dry wood was harsher.

36

I guess the creosote numbed you tongue. [wink.gif]

37

I always prefer a wet toothpick to a dry one…more character, as long as I wetted it.

The idea of smoking a pizza doesn’t really appeal to me, anyway…

Last weekend I made some pies with a locally smoked preservative-free kielbasa (no, I don’t know whether the smoking wood was dry or not; this place smokes stuff and supplies d’Artagnan, and sells the rest of what it smokes at its stand in the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia.) Everyone hated the smoked element of the pie. I couldn’t argue; to me it didn’t go with it, either.

This weekend I am getting some lamb tongue’s to smoke (and to pickle). If I use wet wood will it numb my tongue, Bob? I’ve never had numb tongue, but can’t imagine it’s good.

38

See post #33.

39

Big difference: not looking for smoked pizza. Looking for pizza that taste like it was cooked in a wood burning oven.
To that I have succeeded.

40

I understand the distinction…I think.