First Attempt
Thanks for your input Eugene and Allen. I went looking for my first item to smoke and ended up with a duck breast. Funny story--I was at the local high-end grocery store and when I asked the buther if I could smoke a duck breast he said, "sure you can, but you'll have trouble getting the papers around it!" I guess it's a northern California thing.
Anyway, it was a very simple thing to do, just put a couple of teaspoonsful of chips (they are ground up very small, not like the big chips used in your typical outdoor smoker) in the very bottom, place the drip pan in there, then the rack with duck breast over that and put the lid on and cook for 45 minutes or so. It's a weird set-up but it does work. My partner made a couple of spinach salads with heirloom tomato and sliced up 1/2 the breast for each one and it was a very elegant meal.
The smoker is made of hand-poured aluminum, very heavy gauge and can be used on a campfire as well as on a stove. The lid is heavy enough that very little smoke escapes. I think if there's smoke, you've got the burner going a little too high. We did smell smoke in the house and for the last 10 minutes of cooking time I flicked on the exhaust fan. What I didn't like, and this may be due to the choice of duck as opposed to something less fatty, is that some grease escaped and dripped down the sides of the pot. It's still soaking to try and get that removed. The insides are entirely non-stick and cleaned up easily, but I don't want the exterior to be an unsightly mess so am hoping I can get the whole thing cleaned up later today. This thing is so thick and heavy that it takes forever to cool down after use. I am anxious to try more things as it's an easy way to impart an interesting flavor to meat, poultry or fish.
We still haven't figured out storage yet. It's a large item that may not see regular use as a smoker after the novelty wears off but is an excellent 8-quart pot for other things like a big batch of chili or whatever.
Ralph
