Green/Root Vegetables that Smoke Well

[jgaepi]

Does anyone have a list of the green or root vegetables that take smoke well? I haven't had much luck smoking whole or cut vegetables over the years. Thanks. ElGuapoCarlos

[CaptainMike]

Potatoes do alright.

[ssandy_561]

I love smoked cauliflower. You can buy a green version of that now.

Also cubed up sweet potatoes or yams put in a foil pan with a butter/brown sugar/honey mixture added taste really good after some smoke.

[smokin fool]

10-4 I do sweet potatoes all the time. Never tried honey though, next time.
Acorn and butternut squash also come out real good.

[MBMorgan]

Like cauliflower, cabbage does well. I've been told that artichokes work, too.

[Attjack]

Stuffed cabbage is great. I did a cauliflower recently. I'm smoking some jackfruit soon. I smoke-roast carrots, broccoli, and brussel sprouts on a regular basis.

[Mudkat]

Holy molly!

[TBoneJack]

Asparagus is my favorite smoked vegetable. Last week, I cooked and ate 2 whole bunches by myself.

[klflowers]

Brussel sprouts are great. Add a little bacon, a little maple syrup, salt and pepper.

[JeffJ]

I find that I have to blanch them first - I steam them in the microwave for 2 minutes before grilling/smoking them. Bacon is excellent, as are almonds and I like a little basalmic vinegar with a little olive oil.

[klflowers]

JeffJ, I'll have to try blanching. We are big fans of brussel sprouts. Unfortunately our 3 year old over the stove state of the art microwave died (out of warranty of course), so we will have to blanch the old fashioned way.

[JeffJ]

That works too. Boil them for 2 minutes and then submerge them in an ice water bath. Drain, pat dry and you are ready to rock.

[tamidw]

After searching and not finding exactly what I want, this is the closest!

i have a head of cabbage that I would like to smoke. What temps and times has this been done by any of you that have and had it turn out great? It’s a decent size head of cabbage that was given to me.

[Murdy]

This is a good recipe; I've done it a couple of times:

https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/barbecued-cabbage/

[smokin fool]

I tried carrots one time, kind of a flop. Ended up being like a chewing on a stove bolt.
Keep it to potatoes, sweet taters and asparagus for now.

[IowaGirl]

Carrots, cabbage, taters (sweet or regular), green beans, and other firm veggies that normally take some time to cook -- I blanch them first until they're still crunchy but borderline tender. If I'm ready to finish cooking when they're done steaming, I will take them direct from the steamer to the grill. If not, I cool them in an ice-water bath and hold for later.

When I've tried to cook these veggies entirely on the grill or smoker without some kind of steaming step, they either dry out by the time they're tender -- and they take forever to cook -- or don't get cooked well enough at the center.

My favorite way to cook cabbage is to cut a head into 6 or 8 wedges depending on the size of the head, leaving the core intact. Steam until a knife tip can penetrate through the center with slight resistance (in other words -- getting tender but still firm, not soft).

I usually steam cabbage and other veggies on the kitchen stove, but the wedges could be put in a covered pan with a little liquid and steamed on the grill or in the smoker.

After steaming, drizzle the cut faces with olive oil or butter, letting some of the fat soak into the wedge. Put wedges directly on the flat surface of my Grill Grates and cook on moderate direct heat with or without smoke. Grill until lightly browned and fully tender, gently turning from time to time, about 15-20 minutes. Season and serve.

I haven't done this, but if I were to cook a whole cabbage entirely in the smoker or grill, I'd probably core it and put it core side down in a shallow pan. Add a little water to the pan to create a little steam around the head. Roast on indirect heat for maybe 2 - 2 1/2 hours at 300-ish or 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350-ish until it is knife tender. The outer leaves will probably dry out, so remove those leaves, cut the head into wedges, season, and serve.

[painter]

I once smoked beets which were used to make borscht. Very tasty. Need to do that again...

[mountainsmoker]

I do anything I can do indoors, outdoors. I may have to blanch it, I may not. I have a mesh basket for smaller things like beans. I use herbs and oil for flavor. For Labor Day I did I did a cauliflower head with a spice rub over a pan of water, pre-blanched and pre-blanched potatoes and carrots in my basket with oil and Italian herb mix salt, pepper and garlic.

The real key is determining if you need to pre-blanch and then how long to smoke on your smoker. For me it took a while of trial and error learning. Now there are cook books out to tell you how to do it. I am currently on vacation in our cabin on the Mississippi and have Weber's Greatest Hits and they say blanch carrots 4-6 minutes and cool in ice water.