TOP 5 FOODS TO COOK IN

A SMOKERBobby Caples

TOP 5 FOODS TO COOK IN

A SMOKER• For all you Yankees out there who think that

barbecue is something that happens with

burgers and hotdogs: stop it. That's just

nonsense. Barbecue is the art of marrying

smoke and meat in a long, slow ceremony

attended by rub and sauce and officiated by a

patient priest of the fire god. Hamburgers are

good too, but nothing like lip-smacking, drool-

inducing, succulent, savory, sweet barbecue.

TURKEY• Another meat that benefits

from brining is turkey. Sure,

you can pop the Thanksgiving

bird into the oven for hours

and end up with a dry, but

pretty fowl. However, if you

brine and then smoke it, the

turkey will be juicy, flavorful

and delicious. You might

almost be tempted to agree

with Ben Franklin and

nominate it as the national

bird, but then you'd want to

eat more and you'd feel bad

about eating the national bird.

BACON• Sure, this is a pig-heavy list, but the

porcine species lends itself so well to

smoking. Plus, bacon is delicious. You'll

be a shoo-in for any zombie apocalypse

team when you tell them you know how

to make bacon. The pork belly, oddly

enough, is actually the belly of the pig.

In addition to being traded on the

futures market, they also make bacon.

Instead of a hot smoking that cooks the

meat like ribs or brisket, bacon is cured

with a cold smoke, similar to fish or

ham. One of the best things about

curing your own bacon is that you can

make the recipe exactly how you want

it. If you're diabetic, you can nix the

sugar in the brine. If you don't like

nitrates—they keep bacon pink—leave

them out. Plus, bacon is delicious.

BOSTON BUTT

• It's not from the back end of the pig and

Boston doesn't really produce them

anymore, but the Boston butt is a great

food to smoke. The name comes from

the way that Bostonians would cut the

front shoulder of a pig and package it

into a barrel known as a butt. It's a

tough, hard-working muscle that needs

time to cook well. Smoke provides that

time, but it's usually not enough on its

own. A good brine will impart flavor and

sass to a Boston butt as it smokes.

Once the cooking is done, pull, pull and

pull some more—this is where pulled

pork sandwich comes from, and it is

delicious. Boston butt is a great way to

feed a crowd for little money.

BRISKET• While Texans are just plumb wrong

about eating beef ribs, their brisket is

a key reason to not mess with them.

The same tough cut of meat is used

for corned beef and pastrami. All the

methods of preparation seek to

tenderize the cow's pectoral muscle

into something not just edible but

delicious. Briskets are flat, wide

pieces that take care and patience to

cook right. The rub is designed to

produce a crunchy bark-like crust on

the outside and keep the meat tender

and juicy on the inside. The lazy

person can use the "Texas Crutch,"

which is smoking the brisket for a

couple of hours and then wrapping it

in foil to braise until it's done.

RIBS• There is no finer use for a

smoker than making up some

ribs. Depending on where you're

from, the ribs might be pork—or

beef, if you're wrong—and they

might be baby back or spare

and you might use a dry rub or

a sauce. Whatever you do, the

ribs need to be tender, moist

and flavorful. Memphis-style ribs

use a dry rub that's more spicy

than sweet. The ribs are baby

back—also known as loin

back—and slowly smoked over

a hardwood fire.