Recommended beginner guide?

[Flawed]

Hi all, I'm a long time reader first time poster - having now become confident with my sausage making with tips and equipment from this site I have caught the smoking bug and bought me a BS....

I am looking for your wisdom and experience in how to get the best out this machine and been reading the forums avidly. It arrived today!

What would you recommend I should try first in order to get a good introduction to smoking (both hot and cold)?

Should I start with a selection of different fish for cold smoking
Or would you recommend trying hot smoking chicken,pork etc...

I want to try everything but would rather start at the beginning in terms of ease of preparation and smoking, before moving on tp complex and time sensitive cures etc.

Many thanks all.

[Wohoki]

My favorite smokes are cold smoked chicken, here for my method:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=1531


or just a good fresh pork banger, cold smoked for five to ten hours and rested overnight in the fridge then cooked as normal. Lovely with buttery mashed spuds and onion gravy.

Get stuck in and smoke anything you fancy, it's addictive.

Try to get a copy of Keith Erlandson's "Home smoking and curing", ISBN 0-091-89029-2, it's a top little book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 52-9754366

[welsh wizard]

Hi Flawed.

I take it from your post you are the proud owner of a Bradley? If you are I dont think there is anyting better to start with than some cold smoked salmon. Just this one dish will show you the huge amount of difference there is between shop bought and your own. I am at work at the moment but I will send you a simple recipe for this fish with a 3 - 4 hour smoke time.

Another excellent thing is just to make some sausages and whilst you are smoking your salmon pop them in and give them about 30mins. The taste is excellent (once cooked).

Really all things are open to you and from my point of view home smoked bacon that you have cured yourself has to be the ultimate.

Cheers WW

[Flawed]

Wow! Thanks for the tips. As soon as it stops pissing it down I'm off smoking!!! The bradley is unwrapped and neess some christening!

Deffo gonna try both your recommendations for chicken and the smoked salmon...

now to search for that book

[Wohoki]

No worries.

[Flawed]

I must admit I find the "recipe booklet" that comes with the Bradley somewhat poor.

It has no tips or anything about cold smoking (no even telling you curing beforehand) and makes continual refernce to things unavailble in UK, France etc. It's too US centric. I mean what the hell is Sifto Quik Cure !!

It doesn't actually inspire you at all to do any smoking, it seems to suggest that oven cooking everything in the BS with little smoke is the way forward as opposed tocooking on a BBQ. They are all BBQ recipes really.

Oh and there are numerous spelling errors too!