- 1). Choose the fruitwood you would like to use. Fruitwood is known to be mild, but different woods go better with some meat than with others, so be sure to match your meat with a complementary wood. Some common matches include apple wood and poultry and ham, or cherry wood and poultry, fish and ham.
- 2). Spice and season your meat. Smoke from the fruitwood should impart a smokey flavor to the meat, but will not provide the basic seasoning of salt and pepper, so apply both before beginning the cooking process. You can also brine or season meat with the herbs and spices of your choosing.
- 3). Start the fire. Gather the driest, most seasoned fruitwood kindling you have, and stack it in a teepee form on top of a crumpled piece of paper inside the smoker firebox. Light the paper on fire, and slowly add larger pieces of kindling to the fire until the embers are strong enough to sustain the needed cooking temperature.
- 4). Adjust your smoker's air intake and stack to regulate temperature and smoke volume to your specifications and the needs of the meat. Cuts like beef brisket, beef ribs and pork butt should be cooked at 225 degrees Fahrenheit;cooking times will vary. Whole chicken and turkey legs require 250 degrees Fahrenheit and cooking times of up to 4 hours.
- 5). Remove the meat when it has reached the desired core temperature, and serve. Finishing temps vary from 145 degrees Fahrenheit for salmon to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for pork butt.
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