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Artist’s Kitchen: Smoke it if you’ve got it

Donald Clegg The Spokesman-Review

I‘ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you haven’t started smoking, it’s time to get with the program.

Smoking tastes good and it is good for you. It is an acquired taste that takes almost no time to learn to love. As we all know, it is addictive. Oh, well. That’s a small price to pay for such a tasty habit.

You can look forward to an incredible world of flavor, smoky goodness that tastes like you just had chef Bobby Flay over, not the Marlboro man. I’m talking real barbecue, of course, the low-slow-real-deal cooking method for which there’s no good substitute.

Grilling is fine and dandy, and I do a ton of it, but if I’m looking at a rack of ribs, a whole chicken, or even a can of Spam, I’ll be giving my little Weber grill a break and getting out my smoker.

The cheapest and easiest way to get started is with one of the vertical “bullet” water smokers, so named for, well, their shape. I have about the cheapest of the cheap, a Char-Broil electric smoker, which has given me good service for nearly 10 years now. I’m starting to lust after a cold smoker, which will allow me to branch into sausages, true smoked fish, etc., but I’ve never put $60 to better service, never mind the money I’ve saved doing my own ‘cue, rather than giving it all to Chicken-n-More. Not that they don’t deserve their share.

The basics of barbecue are pretty much the same, whether you’ve got a few thousand bucks invested, or my penurious set-up. The food – very often some part of a pig – though you can smoke all kinds of things, is cooked at low temperatures in a moist, sealed environment, with the addition of some type of wood for that great smoky flavor.

Once you put your ribs and whatnot in, the easiest way to go is to do nothing, though you can add additional chips, the occasional sauce mop, or whatever floats your boat. Mostly, though, the real ordeal is not to lift the lid to check on what’s inside, because it smells sooo great.

I keep a little spiral notebook to record outdoor temperature, what’s going in by quantity, weight, time in, time out, rub used, etc. It’s invaluable, and each time I barbecue, I add a little to my know-how. Over the course of five hours, I recently smoked a 5-pound chicken, 2-pound rack of ribs, some pepperoni, cheddar cheese, and the real capper, a smoked Spam. All so good, for so little work. Light up.

Spicy Smoked Chicken and Baby Back Ribs (With a Side of Spam)

1 2-pound rack of baby back ribs

1 (4- to 5-pound) whole chicken

1 (12-ounce) can of Spam

Spice rub (recipe follows)

One half hour before cooking, soak wood chips, and preheat smoker. Wash and dry a whole 4 to 5 pound chicken, setting giblets aside in a small ovenproof dish, and liberally season chicken with the rub mixture, working it well into the skin. Sprinkle the cavity and giblets, too. Do the same for the ribs, using as much rub as needed to thoroughly coat them.

Add drained wood chips to smoker and arrange the ribs on the bottom rack. Place the chicken, breast up, on the top, along with the dish of giblets and your 12-ounce Spam brick. (Add fresh chips every couple of hours, if you like, although this will increase cooking time.) After two hours, check giblets, and remove (cook’s snack) if done. Take out the Spam, too, if you like, although another hour won’t hurt.

Remove chicken when juices run clear, or thermometer registers 180 degrees, after approximately five hours total time in the smoker. Take out the ribs, as well, if tender enough for your liking, otherwise let them cook another hour or so.

Yield: Varies

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Peppery Spice Rub

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

2 tablespoons hot Spanish paprika

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

3 tablespoons dried oregano, crushed between palms

2 teaspoons sugar

Just mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Makes about a half cup, depending on how casual you are with measuring, more than enough for the chicken, ribs – and, if you like – Spam.

Variation: After seasoning ribs, add a teaspoon of dried sage to remaining rub, before putting it on the chicken.

Yield: 1/2 cup