Ssssssmokin'!

Barbecue season may be on hold, especially given the recent layer of snow in Springfield, but we're braving the weather to explore new ways to impress your friends with your culinary skills-minus the charcoal, barbecue sauce, tongs and cheesy chef's hat. (Okay, you can keep the chef hat if you want to...)

What's the secret? Smoke, baby. You can buy a meat smoker (anywhere from $200 to upwards of $500 at a variety of home stores ranging from big-box Lowe's to locally owned Maschino's) or even turn the most routine electric or gas grill into a smoker using a smoke box. The science behind smoked meat is in the amount of time the meat spends in the smoke. And when it comes to what you are burning to create the smoke, there are all types of flavored woodchips to choose from. Your best bets for supplies are Westlake Hardware on South Campbell Avenue or Outdoor Home on East Chestnut Expressway. Not only do they have the supplies, they have staff that can help you get all the items you'll need.

Steve Kirks, a local food blogger and smoked-meat connoisseur, says the only things a person really needs when smoking meat are 1. a grill of some kind that can hold a box that will burn wood chips, or an actual smoker, like a Weber Bullet (Kirks loves his) and 2. a temperature gauge.

He suggests picking up large cuts of meat from a market like Harter House and asking the butcher for specific cuts that are best when smoked, like tenderloin, beef brisket, pork loin or chicken thigh quarters. (Because of the length of time your meat will spend in the smoker, you can get cheaper cuts of meat, Steve said. We like cheap!)

You can cook anything in a smoker-from pork shoulder to a slab of ribs to salmon to holiday turkeys. When it's time to prepare the meat for cooking, Matt Kerner, another local food blogger, offers a recipe for his favorite rub to prepare the meat (see sidebar at left). However, he says his real secrets come from Internet searches.

Kerner says he believes the best beverage pairing for any kind of smoked meat is your favorite beer, and side dishes can be left to the chef's imagination as well. The smoker, however is "where the magic happens" and should be the life of the party.

Matt Kerner's Meat Rub Recipe

Mix brown sugar, white sugar, paprika, ancho chile, chipotle chile, cumin seed, fennel seed, black peppercorns, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder and ground cayenne, with amounts of each adjusted to your own taste.