Levin - SMOKEHOUSE HANDBOOK: techniques, recipes, and complete how-to for smoking meat, fish, and ... vegetables

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Carleen Madigan

Art direction and book design by Jeff Stiefel and Ash Austin

Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith

Indexed by Nancy D. Wood

Cover and interior photography by Keller + Keller Photography

Additional photography by Adam Morse/Unsplash,

Illustrations by Michael Gellatly

Text 2019 by Jake Levin

Ebook production by Kristy L. MacWilliams

Ebook version 1.0

April 30, 2019

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Levin, Jake, author.

Title: Smokehouse handbook : comprehensive techniques & specialty recipes for smoking meat, fish & vegetables / by Jake Levin.

Description: North Adams, MA : Storey Publishing, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2019003122 (print) | LCCN 2019003989 (ebook) | ISBN 9781635860122 (ebook) | ISBN 9781635860115 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Smoked foods. | Cooking (Smoked foods) | Cooking (Meat) | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX835 (ebook) | LCC TX835 .L48 2019 (print) | DDC 641.6/16dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc .gov/2019003122

Dedicated to my two brothers, Will and Sam, and my wife, Silka.

To Will, for your willingness to try whatever I cook and for your craftsmanship and creativity as a builder. Without you there would be no smokehouse and no book.

To sam, for being my biggest fan as a food writer and for your insightful edits and suggestions for this book.

To silka, for always being there to support me and for pretending to not mind that I am usually covered in animal fat and soot and always smell like smoke.

This book starts and ends in my backyard, with my wife, my two brothers, and me sitting around a fire, cooking dinner. In between, we will travel around the globe; touch on the history of Homo sapiens; talk about chemistry, biology, and physics; describe simple building techniques; and breathe in a lot of smoke. But, in the end, this book is about being in your backyard with your loved ones, eating delicious food youve smoked in a smoker you built.

I cant say exactly how I came to be so interested in smoking meats. Ever since I was a child, I have always loved meat especially smoked and cured meats. The father of my best friend from childhood was Hungarian, and whenever there was an important holiday or gathering at their house, there would always be links of dark red, smoky, dry-cured sausages served. I couldnt resist those coin-sized medallions made of pork, paprika, and garlic, glistening with studs of white fat. Every movement I made through my friends house involved a pass by the platter of sausage so I could surreptitiously pocket another small fistful of this delicacy. I will never forget the flavor and aroma of those sausages.

It wasnt until I was in my early twenties and living in Brooklyn that I first started to experiment with smoking meat myself. I was becoming increasingly bold in my at-home culinary experiments; in hindsight, this was when I began to realize I wanted to pursue a career in food. One day I decided to buy a stove-top smoker so I could start to try smoking myself. You can imagine how thrilled my roommates were when they came home to find our railroad apartment filled with cherry smoke and a partially raw whole chicken for dinner. But I didnt let that stop me. I continued to play, and I grew more ambitious.

The next year my girlfriend (now wife) and I decided to throw a Christmakkah party (now an annual event), and I insisted on brining and smoking a Christmas ham in our apartment. My stove-top smoker was too small for a ham, so I decided to turn our oven into a smoker. I turned the oven to 250F (120C) and placed a baking dish of sawdust on the bottom of the oven, which I kept smoldering with the assistance of a small propane blowtorch. For weeks after, our whole apartment smelled of applewood smoke.

Luckily for my wife (and our neighbors), I decided I wanted to work with meat professionally, and we moved to the Berkshires, in rural western Massachusetts, where I had grown up. My wife no longer had to worry that we would be kicked out of our apartment, and our neighbors were no longer subjected to the odd aromas emanating from our tiny kitchen. Moving to the country and becoming a professional butcher were major developments in my relationship to smoking meat.

I insisted on brining and smoking a Christmas ham in our apartment. My stove-top smoker was too small for a ham, so I decided to turn our oven into a smoker.

In my training as a whole-animal butcher, I gained a deeper understanding of meat and the various processes applied to meat production. I now understand much more about muscle structure and development, the biochemical changes that occur when a cure is applied to meat, the way fat behaves, and the effect different temperatures and levels of humidity can have on meat. Working in a butcher shop also meant I had access to equipment like a large electric smoker that I would never have in my home. My colleagues and I experimented a lot we made smoked corned tongues, face bacon, smoked mutton leg (a.k.a. shamb), all kinds of smoked sausages, smoked rillettes, and smoked salt.