The other night, I made a smoked chicken in my Camerons Stovetop Smoker. It was yummie, and it made the whole kitchen smell just like our favorite restaurant, Fore Street. They have a wood-burning oven there, and they always use apple wood, as did I for this chicken.
This smoker consists of four parts – a pan with fold-in handles, a rack, a drip tray, and a slide-on lid. To use it, you put the wood chips in the pan, put the drip pan over, then the rack, then the food, and then the lid. The lid closes tightly enough so tht it will NOT smoke up your kitchen. So you will not need to use fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, or any other special equipment to dissipate the smoke.
I bought this smoker several years ago because I wanted to make smoked kielbasa. The commercial brands, such as Hillshire Farms, are tasty, but they contain chemicals and stuff that Mike is allergic to. The only way to know for sure what is in sausage is to make it myself. But until I discovered the Camerons smoker, I thought I was limited to fresh sausage, as I had no way to set up a smoker outside.
But, you may ask, how do you fit a whole chicken into this thing? It obviously won’t fit under that slide-on lid. Easy. Remove the lid and use heavy duty aluminum foil instead, wrapping it tightly around the edges so no smoke escapes.
If you want to buy one of these smokers, I recommend you buy it from Amazon, as the price there is much lower than the $50 rretail price. I also suggest that you also pick up a copy of the definitive book on stovetop smoking, Smokin’ by Christopher Styler. Pick up some wood chips, too, while you are at it. They are hard to find at kitchen stores, and you can only use the special wood chips that were designed for the indoor smoker. Never use wood chips that are meant for an outdoor grill or smoker, as these contain resin that could be dangerous if burned indoors. The Camerons wood chips have the resin removed, plus they are ground up smaller, to make them safe for indoor use.
The smoker comes with four small containers of wood chips which are enough to get you started. If you’re not sure what you like, you could just try those, and then go back to Amazon and order more later, once you know what you like and don’t like.
The book gives a lot more detailed instructions than the booklet that comes with the smoker. Basically, it contains master recipes for smoking meats, fish, poultry, veggies, and even cheeses. It tells you how long to smoke, suggested woods to use, and how much of said woods. And then it goes on to give recipes for what to do with all of this smoked stuff. Of course, these are all delicious served as is.
I used a six pound chicken here. I seasoned it inside and out with salt and pepper, and then stuffed the cavity with garlic, rosemary sprigs, and a couple of lemon wedges. I used apple wood chips here, a couple of tablespoons, under the drip pan. The chicken went on the rack, over the drip pan, and was tented with heavy duty foil, crimped and sealed all around the edges of the pan. It was then placde on the burner over medium heat, and I smoked it for about half an hour.
This is enough time to impart the nice smoky flavor, but not enough to cook the chicken completely. Also, the skin doesn’t look too good, no color at all. So you must finish the cooking in the oven. Preheat it to 425º F while the chicken is still smoking on the stovetop. After the smoking is done, carefully remove the foil (use oven mitts, please, this thing gets HOT). Then put the smoker in the oven, and roast for 30-60 minutes…the six pound chicken required about an hour of oven time. The skin came out nice and crispy…my favorite part!
A word about those pop-up timers that most chickens come with…they are nearly useless. If you don’t have a thermometer, the best way to test for doneness is to jiggle the drumstick, if it feels loose, it’s done. You can also poke it with a fork, if the juices run clear, with no pink or read, it’s done. My chicken was done before the timer popped up, it didn’t pop up until it had rested outside of the oven for about five minutes. The chicken was perfectly cooked.
Leave that timer in, though, as it cooks. Taking it out leaves a big gaping hole that will cause the juices to escape.
I hope you will consider trying indoor smoking at your house!
