The practice of food smoking has been around for thousands of years, originating from our ancestors' realization that smoking could prolong the preservation of their precious hunted meat.
The terminology of “dirty smoke”, "blue smoke," “clean smoke” and "white smoke" has emerged relatively recently, primarily from the competitive BBQ circuit in the United States over the past 10-15 years.
Professional pitmasters and barbecue enthusiasts started to use the term "blue smoke" to refer to the smoke that is produced by burning wood logs, chunks or charcoal at high temperatures. The resulting smoke tended to be less visible and exhibit a bluish hue. This is because, at a high heat, particles within the smoke are instantly vaporized making the smoke less visible.
Smokai Smoke Generators like so many other smoking methods on the market, including many high-end commercial smoke generators, use commercially produced, kiln dried hardwood chip or 100% hardwood pellets (compressed hardwood sawdust) to produce fresh, wood-fired smoke (NOT charcoal, wood logs or wood chunks as explained above).
The smoke that is produced by Smokai Smoke Generators is perfect for "cold smoking" (where the ambient air temperature is below 30 deg.C) or applying a controllable volume (light, medium to heavy) of fresh, wood fired smoke when hot smoking. This is particularly useful when cold smoking, or hot smoking when variable smoke volumes are combined with the ramping and then holding the temperature at different levels of low-medium heat over longer periods, a method often used by professionals and referred to in the very best hot smoking recipes.
It is also important to note that the appearance of smoke doesn't necessarily indicate its quality or flavor impact on the food being smoked. Different types of smoking methods and heat levels are suitable for different types of food and the desired flavor profile.
For example, specific cuts of red meat may benefit from high heat and minimal visible smoke, whereas applying these conditions to fish, pork or poultry can result in overcooking and an unpleasant flavor.
In essence, there are various methods that can be used for hot smoking. Ultimately; determining the optimal hot smoking technique, wood type, wood flavor, heat level, and cooking time relies on the equipment available, type of food being smoked, personal preferences and budgetary considerations.
Smokai has thousands of customers around the world, including professional small goods companies, chefs and a recently retired World BBQ Champion, all who understand these contributing factors and demand the best results.
