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Smoking

Smoking is the process of preserving, cooking, or flavoring food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smoldering plant materials, most often wood. Meats and fish are the most common smoked foods, though cheeses, vegetables, and incredients used to make beverages such as Scotch whiskey are also smoked. Image File history File links Wikibooks-logo-en. ... Various preserved foods Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, texture and flavor. ... Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. ... Seasoning is the process of adding flavours, or enhancing natural flavour of any type of food. ... Smoke from a wildfire Smoke is a suspension in air (aerosol) of small particles resulting from incomplete combustion of a fuel. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Etymologically, Meat comes from the old english mete which referred to food in general. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling... Cheese is a solid food made from the curdled milk of cows, goats, sheep, or other mammals. ... Vegetables in a market Vegetable is a culinary term denoting any part of a plant that is commonly consumed by humans as food, but is not regarded as a culinary grain, fruit, nut, herb, or spice. ... The word drink is primarily a verb, meaning to ingest liquids, see Drinking. ... Scotch whisky, often called simply Scotch, is a distilled spirit made in Scotland. ...

In Europe, alderwood is the traditional smoking wood, but oak is more often used now, and beech to a lesser extent. In North America, hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, alder, maple, and fruit-tree woods such as apple, cherry and plum are commonly used for smoking. Other fuels besides wood can also be employed, sometimes with the addition of flavoring ingredients. Chinese tea-smoking uses a mixture of uncooked rice, sugar, and tea, heated at the base of a wok. Some North American ham and bacon makers smoke their products over burning corn cobs. Peat is burned to dry and smoke the barley malt used to make Scotch whiskey and some beers. World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... Species About 20-30 species, see text. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus, and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... Species Fagus crenata - Japanese Beech Fagus engleriana - Chinese Beech Fagus grandifolia - American Beech Fagus hayatae - Taiwan Beech Fagus japonica - Japanese Blue Beech Fagus longipetiolata - South Chinese Beech Fagus lucida - Shining Beech Fagus mexicana - Mexican Beech or Haya Fagus orientalis - Oriental Beech Fagus sylvatica - European Beech Beech (Fagus) is a genus... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... Species See text Hickory is a tree of the genera Carya and Annamocarya. ... Species Many; see text. ... Binomial name Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh. ... Species with pages written Acer campestre - Field Maple Acer grandidentatum - Bigtooth Maple Acer griseum - Paperbark Maple Acer macrophyllum - Bigleaf Maple Acer micranthum - Komine Maple Acer negundo - Manitoba Maple Acer nigrum - Black Maple Acer palmatum - Japanese Maple Acer pensylvanicum - Striped Maple Acer platanoides - Norway Maple Acer pseudoplatanus - Sycamore Maple Acer rubrum... Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ... Species Several, including: Prunus apetala Prunus avium Prunus campanulata Prunus canescens Prunus cerasus Prunus concinna Prunus conradinae Prunus dielsiana Prunus emarginata Prunus fruticosa Prunus incisa Prunus litigiosa Prunus mahaleb Prunus maximowiczii Prunus nipponica Prunus pensylvanica Prunus pilosiuscula Prunus rufa Prunus sargentii Prunus serrula Prunus serrulata Prunus speciosa Prunus subhirtella Prunus... Species See text A plum is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. ... Tea leaves in a teacup. ... Species Oryza glaberrima Oryza sativa Rice refers to two species (Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima) of grass, native to tropical and subtropical southeastern Asia and to Africa. ... Magnified view of refined sugar crystals. ... Tea leaves in a teacup. ... Cooking in a wok A wok on an electric stove The wok (Traditional Chinese: 鑊; Simplified Chinese: 镬; pinyin: ; Cantonese: wok6) is a versatile cooking utensil used especially in East Asia and Southeast Asia. ... TOUCH IT!!! Technically, ham is the thigh and buttock of any animal that is slaughtered for meat, but the term is usually restricted to a cut of pork, the haunch of a pig or boar. ... Bacon is any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides or back or belly of a pig, or Beef Cattle, cured and possibly smoked. ... Binomial name Zea mays L. Maize (Zea mays ssp. ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetable matter. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. ... Malted barley Malting is a process applied to cereal grains, in which the grains are made to germinate and then quickly dried before the plant develops. ... Scotch whisky, often called simply Scotch, is a distilled spirit made in Scotland. ... A mug of lager beer, showing the golden colour of the beer and the foamy head floating on top. ...

Historically, farms in the western world included a small building termed the smokehouse where meats could be smoked and stored. This was generally well-separated from other buildings both because of the fire danger and because of the smoke emanations. The buccan is a smoking device used by some American Indians. Buccan (noun) a device made and used by certain American Indian peoples. ... American Indian can refer to: Native Americans in the United States; Any of the indigenous peoples of the Americas; the First Nations of Canada; American Indians, as defined by the U.S. Census. ...

Hot smoking and cold smoking

"Hot smoking" is a several-hours-long process that can be used to fully cook meats or fish; barbecue is a form of hot smoking. Generally, hot-smoking involves holding the food directly above the fire, or in an enclosure that is heated by the fire. The cooking temperature in a hot-smoking environment is usually between 55 and 80°C (130–180°F) The temperatures reached in hot smoking can kill microbes throughout the food. Etymologically, Meat comes from the old english mete which referred to food in general. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

"Cold smoking" is an hours- or days-long process in which smoke is passed by food which is help in a separate area from the fire. Generally the food is held at room temperatures (15–25°C/60–80°F) as it is smoked. Since no cooking takes place, the interior texture of the food generally isn't affected; neither are any microbes living within the meat or fish. For this reason, cold-smoking has traditionally frequently been combined with salt-curing, in such foods as ham, bacon, and cold-smoked fish like lox (smoked salmon). Cure can be: successful treatment of disease preserve (meat, for example), as by salting, smoking, or aging (see curing) prepare, preserve, or finish (a substance) by a chemical or physical process The Cure refers to more than one thing: The Cure are an English rock band. ... TOUCH IT!!! Technically, ham is the thigh and buttock of any animal that is slaughtered for meat, but the term is usually restricted to a cut of pork, the haunch of a pig or boar. ... Bacon is any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides or back or belly of a pig, or Beef Cattle, cured and possibly smoked. ... Lox is salmon, typically a filet, that has been cured, and then often it is cold smoked. ... We dont have an article called Smoked Salmon Start this article Search for Smoked Salmon in. ...

Wood smoke

Hardwoods are made up mostly of three materials: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose and hemicellulose are the basic structural material of the wood cells; lignin acts as a kind of cell-bonding glue. Some softwoods — especially pines and firs — hold significant quantities of resin, which produces a harsh-tasting soot when burned. Because of this, these woods are generally not used for smoking. Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood The term hard on designates boner from angiosperm trees. ... Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a long-chain polymer polysaccharide carbohydrate, of beta-glucose. ... A hemicellulose can be any of several heteropolymers (matrix polysaccharides) present in almost all cell walls along with cellulose. ... Lignin is a chemical compound that is an integral part of the cell walls of some cells, e. ... Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and are sometimes called the building blocks of life. ... Despite being fairly hard, cedar is a softwood Wood from conifers are generally referred to as softwood; the term is also used as an adjective for the trees that produce softwood. ... Species About 115. ... FIR may stand for: finite impulse response (a property of some digital filters) far infrared, i. ... Insect trapped in resin. ...

Cellulose and hemicellulose are aggregate sugar molecules; when burnt, they effectively caramelize, producing sweet, flowery, and fruity aromas. Lignin, a highly complex arrangement of intelocked phenolic molecules, also produces a number of distinctive aromatic elements when burnt, including smoky, spicy, and pungent compounds like guaiacol, phenol, and syringol, and sweeter scents like the vanilla-scented vanillin and clove-like isoeugenol. Wood also contains small quantities of proteins, which contribute roasted flavors. Many of the odor compounds in wood smoke, especially the phenolic compounds, are unstable, disippatting after a few weeks or months. Magnified view of refined sugar crystals. ... Caramelization is the oxidation of sugar, a process used extensively in cooking for the resulting nutty flavor and brown color. ... In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group (-OH) attached to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. ... Chemical structure of guaiacol Guaiacol, or 2-methoxyphenol, is a natural organic compound with the molecular formula C7H8O2. ... Phenol, also known under the old name carbolic acid, is a colorless crystalline solid with a typical sweet tarry odor. ... For other uses, see vanilla (disambiguation). ... Vanillin, or 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, is an organic compound with the molecular formula C8H8O3. ... Binomial name Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill & Perry Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree (Syzygium aromaticum, sometimes included in the genus Eugenia) in the family Myrtaceae. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ...

A number of wood smoke compounds act as preservatives. Phenol and other phenolic compounds in wood smoke are both antioxidants, which slow rancidification of animal fats, and antimicrobials, which slow bacterial growth. Other antimicrobials in wood smoke include formaldehyde, acetic acid, and other organic acids, which give wood smoke a low pH — about 2.5. Some of these compounds are toxic to people as well, and may have health effects in the quantities found in cooking applications. The compounds best demonstrated to have long-term health consequences are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, many of which are known or suspected carcinogens. Hotter wood fires make more PAHs; hot-burning mesquite produces twice as much as cooler-burning hickory. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Rancidification is the decomposition of fats and other lipids by hydrolysis and/or oxidation. ... The chemical compound formaldehyde (also known as methanal), is a gas with a strong pungent smell. ... Flash point 43 Â°C R-phrases , S-phrases , , , US Permissible exposure limit (PEL) 10 ppm Supplementary data page Structure & properties n, εr, etc. ... The correct title of this article is pH. The initial letter is capitalized due to technical restrictions. ... Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemical compounds that consist of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry substituents. ... In pathology, a carcinogen is any substance or agent that promotes cancer. ... Species Many; see text. ... Species See text Hickory is a tree of the genera Carya and Annamocarya. ...

Since different species of tree have different ratios of components, various types of wood do impart a different flavor to food. Another important factor is the temperature at which the wood burns. High-temperature fires see the flavor molecules broken down further into unpleasant or flavorless compounds. The optimal conditions for smoke flavor are low, smoldering temperatures between 300 and 400 °C (570–750 °F). This is the temperature of the burning wood itself, not of the smoking environment, which sees much lower temperatures. Woods that are high in lignin content tend to burn hot; to keep them smoldering requires restricted oxygen supplies or a high moisture content. When smoking using wood chips or chunks, the combustion temperature is often lowered by soaking the pieces in water before being placing them on a fire. General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 15. ...

References

• [[|McGee, Harold, ]],  () ( 2004). ""  [ On Food and Cooking (Revised Edition)], , , , : Scribner. ISBN 0-684-80001-2.. pp 448-450, "Wood Smoke and Charred Wood"

External links

• National Center for Home Food Preservation - How Do I...Cure & Smoke

• Smoked Fish from A to Z