There is archeological evidence that early humans cooked animal long bones in fires then crushed them open to dine on high protein marrow. During that same era strips of animal flesh were hung high above fires to keep surplus meat (jerky) away from animals (likely domesticated wolves) and to slow microbial spoilage. Apparently hardwired into our psyches throughout eons of human evolution, a whiff of hardwood smoke mixed with the aroma of rendering animal fat will often cause our mouths to water. Could that phenomenon be why smoking is a more common type of nicotine addiction than chewing tobacco? Both types of tobacco usage as well as eating food are associated with Freudian oral gratification. And, maybe our meat smoking past even has something to do with why sophisticated commercial thermal processing units, backyard smoke generating containers, and everything in between are usually referred to as either a smokehouse or smoker. Modern meat smoking is used to impart appealing color, add a desirable aroma/flavor and to provide a measure of microbial inhibition on the surface of meat products.
The primary factors involved in a well controlled meat cook are: temperature, humidity level, desired product color development and uniform cooking both throughout the cooking unit and within individual pieces of meat. Many commercial smokehouses are automated with computer controls plus have old-fashioned dry and wet-bulb window thermometers. Smokehouse door window thermometers are to check the calibration of computer screen readings. Dry and wet bulb thermometer readings are applied to a chart to determine relative humidity. Smoke density and product color development are also judged through the door windows. In small time meat processing, concentrated liquid smoke is often considered negatively as being an artificial food additive. Concentrated liquid smoke production actually starts by drawing hardwood smoke, generated by hardwood charcoal production, through water. Liquid smoke might be considered a healthy choice because potentially harmful tars and hydrocarbons are largely filtered from un-concentrated liquid smoke water as solids. Concentrated liquid smoke can be mixed directly into ground products, but one has to be careful because a little bit goes a long way and too much makes meat items bitter. Atomized liquid smoke has been used for many years in automatic smokehouses. Air-quality officials likely prefer the use of atomized liquid smoke in the meat establishments they oversee. In everything except smokehouses too small to have cold-spots, powerful fan-driven air circulation is key to achieving uniform smoke distribution and cooking. Understandably, big-time meat processors cannot afford to leave anything to chance during their quality controlled smoke-cooks. But, when it comes to small-time smoke-cooking units most fall short in the humidity control function needed to have optimal success with tough meat cuts. Current efforts to keep some humidity in backyard smokers either uses boil-off water, or tightly sealed units keep purged product moisture from rapidly venting out of the cooking chamber. Cast iron boil-off pans placed directly over the fire grate act as a heat-sink to better moderate heat spikes. The desired amount of smoke uptake on the surface of, and the tenderization of natural casing sausages requires a certain level of humidity. Product smoke pickup is minimal whenever cooking meat surfaces are either too damp or too dry; tacky is optimal. Cooking yields suffer unnecessarily in a dry cooking atmosphere. Open pit masters of old developed the spice rub & heavy smoking technique to case-harden (bark or crust) roast exteriors. That practice helps retain interior meat moisture during the long cook times required to gel the water-soluble collagen protein found in tough meat cuts. Mop sauces can be repeatedly applied to provide supplemental evaporative moisture, but that’s labor intensive and ingredient expensive. Further, every time a cooking unit is opened two critical elements of a well controlled cook (heat & humidity) are immediately and drastically altered.
The use of large fibrous casings greatly reduces spice costs, product exterior dehydration/shrinkage, and facilitates the existence of a constant cooking atmosphere because the need to open a cooker for product tending is eliminated. Fibrous casings are semi-permeable to both smoke and liquid; thereby helping prevent over-smoking and product surface case-hardening (dehydration). Enough cooking purge is held in casings to facilitate the gelling of collagen, but enough is still expelled through the casing wall to prevent meat from taking on washed-out water-cooked characteristics.
Components of a perfected tough cut cook cycle: marinating leaned-up cubed meat to well distribute non-meat ingredients throughout the batch, relatively low cooking temperature, some consistent humidity/moisture and uniform product dimension. Controlling these variables produces more predictable cook times. In the case of whole muscle cuts, inject soluble ingredients and rely on the meat’s internal cold-spot temperature for determining doneness level. I have had success smoke-cooking 2 rib pieces of spareribs in casings, one slab and one 2 rib section per fibrous casing. Sparerib sections were reheated and browned on a hot charcoal grill for serving.
Is smoking worth it? Hopefully, this post supplied some relevant information to assist in making an informed decision.