Pompeii oven as a smoker

[RTflorida]

I have not seen this topic addressed lately.

Does anyone use their oven as a smoker?

I've begun experimenting a bit with my oven now that I know some of its tendencies (how long to heat up, how long it retains various temps).
Two weeks ago I decided to 'smoke' two slabs of baby back ribs after making pizza the day before. I had left the coals in the oven until the next day, they were still warm - dome was at 350, hearth around 300. left the door off for an hour or so bringing the temps down to 275 and 225. Put the ribs in, tossed a couple of handfuls of hickory chunks on the coals. Within 5 minutes the hickory began to smolder, closed the door nearly all the way and tried my luck.
4 1/2 hours later I had the best ribs I've ever eaten. Fall off the bone, smoked through and through, moist. Forgot to mention, I was concerned about them drying out, so I used an enameled broiler pan and put 1/2" of water in the bottom. every 1/2 hour I would peak in, and had to add more hickory a couple of times.
Feeling really lucky, for the last hour I also added 6 ears of corn, still in the husk with the silks removed. I've had grilled and 'campfire' corn on the cob - but this corn was incredible (if you like hickory). Never have I had 'smoked' corn. No burned or popped (or dried out kernals).
Thinking I was on to something, I decided to attempt this again today (after 6 pizzas yesterday). AGAIN, success.

I'm certainly not a tried and true smoker, but I have to say, once you have a feel for your oven, it can be used as an effective smoker. The smoldering hickory kept my hearth and dome within 200 - 250 degrees the whole time. I know, die hards will say 180 - 220 is ideal. Hey, I'll attempt that next time.

My point, I've seen many old posts about those planning to build a separate smoker along with their oven, or asking how to tie the two together. If your like me and what to do a lot of pizza, a little roasting, and a little smoking, your Pompeii oven will do an incredible job - without building anything more.

Anyone else been doing this?

RT

[Chris]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

Anyone else been doing this?

RT

Not yet, but I'll be trying it out soon! Thanks for the inspiration!

[billrd]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

Sounds good RT, did you soak the hickory chunks or put them in dry?.
Bill

[edschmidt]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

I have been expiramenting using my oven for smoking lately as well. Pull out some coals and seal them so they stop burning. The next morning I put them in a coffee can which I poked a bunch of holes in and light with a piece of newspaper. When they get good and hot (10min) I drop on applewood shavings which I poured some bacon grease on. I immediately get tons of smoke for 1 hr. or more from the first hadfull. The only thing I have been wondering lately is whether I should either suspend the meat, or build an elevated wire rack to get the meat closer to the cieling for optimal smoke infusion.

[RTflorida]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

Bill, dry works fine. There isn't enough oxygen for it to actually flame up.
On second thought, when I remove the door the hickory will start to burn withing about 20-30 seconds....snuffs out as soon as you put the door back on, and the smoke just rolls out the chimney. Controling the amount of smoke is my next step...I actually used some large chunks of wood, which smoked a lot. Will try smaller and less wood the next time and see what it does.

[RTflorida]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

ed,
your on to something. What about one of those campfire racks? They are elevated - meant to be place over a campfire. The ones I've seen are folding, so you could easily get it in and out of the oven.
Just a thought.

[telehort]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

I am not done with my oven yet, but I have been looking forward to trying smoking in it. I am part of a competiton BBQ team so I am glad to hear that someone else has tried this and that it works.

[jaclinto]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

I would like to do that

[david s]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

Have tried the wood chips in the tin technique- worked well. I did sausages and smoked them for about three hours- very smoky taste. Have also tried throwing in half a handful of hickory chips onto the coals just before putting in a roast chicken and vegs. ....... excellent! and easier

[edschmidt]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

My father in-law just gave me some alaskan salmon which I will try to cold smoke in my oven. After all these ovens retain heat, they must retain cold as well, so I am planning on piping in applewood smoke with the dome below 70deg. Ill let you know how it works.

[Acoma]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

RT, based on your success, you are doing it at the correct temp (275 for about 4.5 hours, or 225 for 5.5hrs). I would go further and suggest you apply a rub the day before, but be sure to remove the membrane in back. Put ribs in pan, elevated from the water (be sure to have water at all times. The last hour of smoking, get favorite sauce and rub every 20 minutes (4 times). You think what you have is great, try it this way. I have a serious smoker and smoke foods frequently, mine being different because it is solely for smoking.

[david s]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

When roasting meat or poultry now, I usually throw some hickory chips or another small piece of wood onto the coals just before putting the roast in. The sealing of the door prevents air getting in and produces a very nice smokey flavour, particularly in the meat juices which make superb gravy..hmmm I'm salivating just writing about it

[edschmidt]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

Sorry I havent updated, The alaskan salmon I got had so much freezer burn I could not try to cold smoke it. Insted I decided to try cold smoking bacon, chicken, and mazzarella. I left the door off the oven one particularly cold night. The next morning I placed the meat and mozzarella on a screen in the oven and did the coffee-can with holes thing (see earlier post). I let it smoke for 4 hours and when I opened the door and checked the temp it was 50 deg. the cheese was still solid. I then made a chicken bacon ranch pizza with everything that I previously smoked. I can tell you this, there is such a thing as too smokey. It was really an experiment to see how much smoke I could infuse. Any one of those smoked ingredients would have been perfect, but all together made me burp the taste of apple smoke for 2 days straight.

Try cold smoking, the nice thing is you can preserve the meat without drying.

[Inishta]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

It seems that folks from the US/Canada do a lot more in the way of smoking than us from the UK. I bought a Brinkmann smoker to bring with us when we moved to Turkey this year but have not gotten tound to using it yet.

Just a thought, would it not be possible to put a door in the chimney of the WFO, place some SS rods into the aperture and hang meat,sausage or fish in there for smoking. I realize this should only be done with particular types of wood. Thoughts anyone?

[RTflorida]

Re: Pompeii oven as a smoker

Ed, I'm giving cold smoking a try later this week; although I'm not using my WFO. I built one out of the above mentioned Brinkmann (locker style), a heavy duty CPU fan, 10' of flex duct, hot plate, and a steel storage tub (firebox) - Got the idea from the Food Network's Alton Brown (the Scrapiron chef episode where he makes his own bacon).
I had a tough time finding pork bellies, I ended up at a small latin meat market/takeout in Tampa. Anyway, the bellies went into the brine today and I should be smoking on Wed. Seems to me bacon should be the easiest, will progress to fish and cheese if I don't screw up the bacon. I will post again after the experiment.

RT