Walnut and hickory smoking are popular methods for flavoring and curing meat. Hickory is a traditional smoking wood that can be blended with other woods, while walnut smoke adds a rich, slightly sweet flavor. Both hot and cold smoking techniques are used, and liquid smoke can also be used for added flavor.
Walnut smoke refers to smoking food over walnut logs or chips that create an aromatic and flavorful smoke to infuse the food. Hickory smoked foods are especially popular in the American South, where hickory is a fairly common wood. Both hot and cold smoking techniques are appropriate for hickory smoking, and hickory can be blended with other woods to create a unique flavor. Hickory is also one of the main traditional smoking woods and it is generally very easy to find logs and chips for hickory smoking purposes.
When foods are walnut-smoked, they tend to have a rich, slightly sweet flavor from the walnut wood. The hams are often walnut-smoked, as the flavor pairs well with the pork and sugar frequently used in curing the ham. A common offering in many Southern places is a walnut smoked ham with a honey or maple glaze. Hickory can be mixed with woods such as apple, walnut, oak, ash, cherry, and maple, among others.
Smoking is an age-old technique used to cure and flavor meat. In hot smoke, the meat is kept in a hot chamber directly above a small fire or charcoal pit. The fire is stoked with aromatic woods which can be soaked so that more smoke is generated, instead of burning cleanly. The heat helps cure the meat by cooking it, while the smoke produces a distinct flavor. As the meat cooks, it absorbs all the flavors and smells of the environment, which is why the cooks carefully select the woods for smoking.
Another smoking technique, cold smoking, involves flavoring the salted meat in a low-temperature process that can take days. The goal is to infuse flavor into the meat, but not necessarily to cure it, as the temperatures are too low for proper curing. To smoke cold foods, cooks generate smoke in another chamber and then blow it over the meat, so the temperature in the smoker doesn’t rise too much. Walnut smoke is often used to flavor cold smoked bacon.
Many people like to integrate smoke into their barbecue to create more flavorful finished meats. Walnut chips can be spread over a barbecue fire to generate smoke, or walnut logs can be scorched at the start when coals are being produced for a barbecue. Some cooks prefer to cheat with the addition of liquid smoke, a flavored concentrate that can be used to add a smoky sensation to barbecued foods. Walnut smoke during a barbecue will also make the ambient air smell pleasant, which is an added bonus in the opinion of some cooks.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
