Liquid Smoke Part II

[Mr. Bones]

This here post is bout Liquid Smoke.

In all my years on this Earth, I don't recollect ever seein any one ingredient that seems to stir so much discourse, discussion, debate, divisiveness, delight, or denigration...

Love it, Hate it, it's been round quite a long time; commercially successful, since bout 1895, from what I've read...But, th 50's-60's was, decidedly, th "First Golden Age of Outdoor Cookin", fer most of us, here in th US of A...our first tastes of BBQ. (An Liquid Smoke!)

Growin up, it was sometimes available, as a condiment option; there were various reasons fer it to appear on th dinin table...(Very Rarely was it ever used in th cookin of a meal, but only offered on th side. Not everybody fancied it.)

Usually, it was durin th winter, an we were all cravin some outdoorsy-flavoured food, to help us make it through...once ya git em addicted to BBQ, it's purty dang hard to convince a whole passel of younguns to "Jus wait til it's warm, again, Honey..."

Sometimes, it was when we couldn't source, or mebbe even afford some meat that was smoked/cured, but we jus craved that flavour...beggars cain't always be choosers...most often times this consisted of a lil splash in one's bowl of ham n beans, or baked beans, sometimes a drip, or two on each side of a burger, pork steak, or Salisbury Steak...

With 11 kids, 2 parents, sometimes 4 grandparents, other family, neighbours, company, etc., every meal was a challenge to even find a way to make what ya had stretch far enough, much less to provide an interestin, wholesome, nutritious, fillin, satisfyin, gratifyin, an varied meal.

My Ma, an Gmas were obviously Culinary Geniuses, as well as bein Magic!

I'd jus love to hear bout yer experiences, opinions, etc., (both positive, an negative,) regardin Liquid Smoke...

It is my firm belief that, Here, we can have a calm, cool, rational, informative discussion about this ingredient...

Let er rip, play nice with each other, yall...

[Mr. Bones]

Jus to git th ball a rollin, here's some reference readin to consider; more is always welcome from yall!

Information is a great thing to have, even better when shared, like Great Food!

Liquid Smoke Market ananlysis https://www.futuremarketinsights.com...d-smoke-market

Eater article on Liquid Smoke https://www.eater.com/2016/6/15/1194...oke-what-is-it

The Spruce Eats article on Liquid Smoke https://www.thespruceeats.com/liquid...verview-335486

Cook's Info Article https://www.cooksinfo.com/liquid-smoke

MeatScience The Meat We Eat Article http://www.meatscience.org/TheMeatWe...1/liquid-smoke

National Library of Medicine / National Institute of Health Article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951573/

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Article https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf60171a045

Wiley Online Library, Food Science & Nutrition Article https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...10.1002/fsn3.9

[FireMan]

Is this a poll?

[Mr. Bones]

Nossir, Brother, FireMan just a followup to my poll.
I figgered mebbe there was some, wanted to discuss it...if not, well, then so be it, fair enough.

Th Floor is yall's:

[FireMan]

I guess I should hav put an emoji next ta what I axed. Cuz I sorta knew it twarn’t a poll. Then agin, if it looks like a poll, walks like a poll & talks like a poll, then it must be a duck! 😎

[Mr. Bones]

LOL, my Brother!
An yer emoji was seen by me, right off, since I saw th source, first!

[Troutman]

I’ll be honest, I’ve never used it. I’ve had food where it was added and I got the sense of smokiness but it seemed artificial. Guess what I’m saying is I’m kind of neutral on the subject.

[BBQ_Steve-O]

I've been known to enjoy a sip or three of Kentucky straight, barrel-aged liquid smoke. Does that count?

[Mr. Bones]

Sir, Yes Sir! In this lowly cook's considered opinion, it does, indeed, Sir!

[John Henry]

Sir: With this kind of research, I think you should be "DR. BONES" instead of merely Mr. Bones. Great reading for our consideration, thank you. You da' Man!

[Mr. Bones]

I kinda like th lack of pressure of remainin 'mere', lol, amigo!
Many Thanks fer yer kind words, Sir!

Much appreciated, an it echoes what others here have inferred, or jus plain said...

I have, historically / honorifically been referred to by this title, but fer different reasons than we are discussin, here.

[CaptainMike]

Once I finally pry myself off of the ceiling I'll give you a proper response. What that really means is I'm cooking dinner right now, while keeping up with my friends on AR on my tablet. To be continued. ...

[Mr. Bones]

I highly anticipate yer input, an even more highly respect/admire yer patience in waitin to express it here, instead of Part I, Brother!
Have a great Supper!

[Fire Art]

As a kid we ate a lot and l meen everyday elk meat my dad put it in all his stews and he make air dried jerky salt pepper and Liquid smoke which is still my favorite 2 way to eat elk

[RichieB]

I have a bottle somewhere in the fridge Most likely expired if that happens with L.S. Used it a couple of times in recipes that called for it. Would not use it on a regular basis just to add smoke.

[Randy-Phx]

Today I was perusing jerky recipes, specifically that contained chili's. Many of the jerky recipes I read thru contained liquid smoke. I don't think I've ever used it, but if I look hard enough, I may find a bottle my wife bought for a 1 off recipe.

[Mosca]

My mom used it in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when the family switched to a gas grill from a charcoal grill. I don’t really have a problem with it, but it is for making winter food taste like summer food; summer food doesn’t need it.

[RonB]

I've never tasted it as far as I know. In fact, I don't think I have ever even seen it. So I guess that you can count me as a non-user.

[SmokeyGator]

I said I dislike using it. And that statement is accurate, in that I would RATHER just use the smoker. Given a choice, I’m going to choose wood fired. I can put any sauce or stew in the smoker too. Last time I did chili I put the cast iron pot in the smoker for some simmering time.

But sometimes there is a conspiracy that prevents use of the smoker. I have done pulled pork in a pressure cooker and a slow cooker. Both methods are faster, but aren’t going to give any smoke flavor without additives.

So it has its place. I have some in the fridge now in fact. It isn’t used that much, but there are times when it makes things easier. Sure, I’d rather fire up the Primo, but let’s be honest here. It takes a certain amount of time to start the fire and let the fire get hot enough to start making the right kind of smoke. Then the stuff has to go in. And then the cooker is hot, and takes hours to cool. Or I can put a few drops of liquid smoke into some sauce or whatever I’m cooking inside.

[RichieB]

Yes, it has it's place. Not on a regular basis as a means to smoke something. Now I do recall, here in Massachusetts in February I've used it in the slow cooker for some low and slow cut.

[CaptainMike]

Dad was a logger and heavy equipment operator so pretty much had most winters off. He became quite a good cook in his off time and loved to experiment and try new foods and techniques. Baking bread was his specialty and I have yet to taste a better pumpernickel than his.

When I was about 12 or 13 years old (yes, one of the worst times growing up for boys) Dad discovered Wright's Liquid Smoke. Don't get me wrong, Dad was a pretty good pitmaster and would incorporate smoke into most of his outdoor cooks. I got my passion for grilling from him and for that I am eternally grateful.

However, he acted as if he had found the Holy Grail when he discovered LS. In his love for experimentation he tried that stuff in nearly everything he made (except for the pumpernickel, thank God). Can you imagine LS in mashed potatoes, not in the gravy, which was pretty good, but mixed into the potatoes. Or on green beans or steamed carrots or mixed into white rice? He even tried that stuff in Cream of Wheat, bleh!

The whole family started to rebel, so what did he do? Like any good experimenter he started hiding the stuff in food like a blind taste test. Riiight, hiding liquid smoke in a dish is about as subtle as a jackhammer. It got to the point where we could smell that stuff when we walked into the room! We would even sniff-test our Cheerios before we would eat them! I still shudder at the thought of some of those "experiments".

But, like many studies, his results were a mixed bag of successes and failures (mostly failures) and he finally narrowed down the uses for LS to a few things. Most notably was his BBQ sauce concoction he dubbed "Rodeo Sauce". He came up with this over 40 years ago and I still make it today. I usually substitute our own smoked jalapeno powder for LS, but occasionally nostalgia will creep in and I'll go ahead with a few drops of Wright's Liquid Smoke. And think about my Dad.

​

Notice the dust on the bottle



​

[Mr. Bones]

Run across this again, today; reckon ya got me thinkin bout both our Dads, Cap'n...
Have a Happy, Brother!

[CaptainMike]

Thanks for the refresh my friend. Enjoyed the re-read with my sweet kitty sitting in my lap. I guess I'm his Daddy so the the circle comes all the way around again. Happy Father's Day Mr. Bones

[Mr. Bones]

Right back atcha, Cappy (Sez I , with kitty in lap ! )