Liquid Smoke

I'm making some smoked Polish sausage this weekend. Last time, I tried hot-smoking it in the Weber, and it was ok. But I really want to have it smoky, but not cooked this time, and I can't do cold-smoking.

If I try using a little liquid smoke in the meat and just air-dry it - what's a reasonable amount to use per pound of meat for a recognizable, but subtle, flavor?

(I'm a little paranoid about this, as my father once made a recipe of jerky in a dehydrator, using an entire bottle of the stuff. The house was unlivable for a week and the stuff was inedible. It became one of those family legends.)

zero is always the right amount of liquid smoke

ReverseApacheMaster said:

zero is always the right amount of liquid smoke

Click to expand...

It's like a cheap parlor trick. Fools you for the first bite*, then you think "something's not right here..."

*Unless you can smell it first. Dead giveaway

OK, so no liquid smoke. What else do people do, if they can't cold-smoke? Anybody ever try grinding smoked uncured bacon in the mix? I need to add fat, anyway........

The smoked bacon would be good.. The blacker the better.. My Whole Foods has some in the case that is dry aged and smoked and it's fantastic.

You'd get a fair bit there.

smoke flavored maltodextrin can work but its expensive.
you can make a cold smoker super easy with a metal pie plate a solder iron and a cardboard box... you can also add the liquid smoke to the steaming liquid if you hot smoke again and put a pan of water in your diffuser. lots of cheap tricks when you can't have the real thing all the time.