… really yummy smoked food, coming out of an Elmira Fireview wood-burning cookstove! Who’d have ever thought you could lightly smoke meats, fish, vegetables and desserts indoors in a wood-burning cooker??? Well you can indeed, and you won’t even smoke up the kitchen while doing so.
The same technology that creates air circulation and even temperatures in the Fireview’s oven also draws the smoke out of the stove and up the chimney. A gap in the gasket on the oven door allows room air to be drawn into the oven, creating air flow and mild turbulence that helps eliminate hot and cool spots. That air is then drawn out of the oven and up the flue through three small holes in the back of the oven.
“Smoking and southern barbecue have become extremely popular over the past few years,” says Brian Hendrick, Elmira Stove Works’ Vice-President of Marketing. “For those who are interested in cooking on a woodburning cookstove, or supplementing their traditional range with a wood cooker, this is a real bonus.”
The smoking process in the Fireview is fairly simple. Elmira will soon provide a smoker kit with each Fireview cookstove it sells. The kit contains a broiling pan, cover, roasting rack, tongs, thermometer, smoke puck or “bisquette” samples, a puck pan and instructions. Once the oven is at the desired temperature, you simply set the food to be smoked on the rack in the pan, fully ignite a smoke bisquette in the stove’s firebox, blow it out, set it in the puck pan, and close the oven door. The oven will fill with smoke, and the smoke flavour will slowly permeate the food.
lasts about ten to fifteen minutes. For a hint of smoke, you’ll want to use four or five bisquettes. For a heavier smoke, double up on the bisquettes in the pan, smoke for longer, use a heavier wood smoke such as hickory or mesquite, close off one or two holes in the back of the oven to hold in more smoke, or a combination of these techniques: the more smoke, the more flavor. With practice and experimentation, you can get some great results.
“You might not get a really heavy smoke flavor,” says Hendrick. “If you want heavy smoke through an eight-pound pork butt, you’ll probably need to go back to your outdoor smoker, but the Fireview can definitely achieve a nice light smoky ‘bark’ on smaller cuts of meat.”
So not only will the Fireview heat your home or cabin, cook your food, provide a pleasant fire to watch, and provide hot water for your home; it will also let you enjoy the tasty pleasures of smoking meats and other foods… indoors!
Some suggested recipes* to search online and try in your Fireview: smoked chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork, mahi-mahi, or beef brisket; smoked corn on the cob, smoke-roasted asparagus, baked beans, smoked apple pie, apple-smoked peaches with ice cream. Hungry yet?
* recipes may require adaptation for use in your cookstove – experiment and have fun!