Smoke Pot Paste

[MadMedik]

I am going to make Beef Ribs tomorrow and use the smoke pot. Last time i used pot, i used foil only and it leaked severely.

Today i am expiramenting with the flour paste to use on the lid, so no foil this time.

I used 3/4 cup wheat flour

1/3 cup water.

Blended a few minutes with spoon, then pick up and knead it into a ball. Cut in half, then rolled in to 2 long flour paste ropes/snakes.

See pictures below

I applied the snakes to the lid, in to the groove of the outer edge of lid. I then placed the lid on to the bowl, pressed lightly. In few places i added some excess paste/dough to areas that did not look as thick from the outside.

See results:

Questions: i did this just now, but not cook until tomorrow. Should i leave as is....and put in fire tomorrow....the flour paste should be very dried out by then..24 hours from now. Or say my experiment worked, disassemble now, and redo it tomorrow just before adding to hot coals. By the way, i added the wood chunks today in case i leave as is.....

Will 24 hour dried paste still keep seal? Put on fresh so it will "bake in to place" tomorrow during the cook?

Any thoughts on technique or approach here?

I had anticipated having a much wetter , sticky paste, but after reading on internet, they suggest this receipt, which is moist, but manageable dough, not stick to my fingers hardly at all.

See pics,

MadMedik

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tony b]

I've always done "just in time," but when I take the smoker pot back out after cooldown, the lid is on quite solid and takes a nice whack on the side to knock it loose. So, as long as you don't jostle it around too much, you might be OK with the day before paste. Let us know how it works out if you stick with it as is. 

[MacKenzie]

I've only done mine just before using  but one thing I'd like to mention and it is this, the flour crust in the outside is very likely to burn and I found I did not like the smell of this and wondered about it getting absorbed by me food so since that cook I've always cleaned up the outside  and made sure not to have a lot on the outside edge. We'll be waiting to see how you make out and hear your thoughts.  

If you are worried about it drying out too much you could always put it in plastic overnight.

Edited November 5, 2016 by MacKenzie

[ckreef]

Yup MacKenzie is spot on. Remove the excess then store in a baggie or wrapped in saran wrap. Should be good to go the next day. 

[MadMedik]

Okay.  had not thought about excess flour burning.  I think will remove the lid and toss the current batch of flour paste and makes some more in the morning,  just prior to the cook.  Today was more of testing the dough and consistency  and whether it would appear to  stay on.  I am happy with the test thus far.   I  will redo tomorrow.  thanks for  feedback

MadMedik

[Aussie Ora]

Or you could just apply some water with a pastry brush to keep it moist my do has a nice lip so 3 sheets of foil seals it perfectly

Outback Kamado Bar and Grill

[MadMedik]

so I did the cook. I left the dough/flour paste I had put on the day before.  I did not remove it and  "refresh" it the day of the cook. I should have  redone the dough/paste.

I removed the excess dough sticking out...but within 15 minutes of the cook....smoke was pouring out like crazy...It  smoked heavy for most of the cook.  My total time cooking  the ribs was  about  3 1/2 hours....I put  4 medium chunks of wood in the pot....and boy did it smoke.

Like I said on my first post about the smoke pot a few weeks ago,   I am under the impression there should be a small amount of  'bluish' smoke coming out throughout the cook....not  a lot of smoke.  I had   'a lot of smoke' the whole time.

so next time,  I will do the dough just before the cook.  If it smokes  like crazy,  I guess I won't  worry about it too much.   I am still very pleased with the smoke presentation and the length/duration of the smoke.   Had  I dropped  the  chunks into the coals ,  as in the past,  they would burn off quickly,  not have as much smoke, or as  occurred before....sometimes the wood chunks I put in coals did not burn at all due to the way the burn pattern occurred...which is generally not controllable.

I am pleased with smoke pot.  It does give lots of smoke for a  long time

 

MadMedik

 

 

[tony b]

Thanks for the update. Good to know that "just in time," is the right choice. 

[ckreef]

I'm thinking your lid was leaking so smoke was going straight out and up. Once the lid is properly sealed the smoke should go down into the fire where the volatiles gets burned off so all you have left is thin blue smoke. 

[Syzygies]

I mix paste just before use, in a ziplock sandwich bag. Start with some white flour, dribble in tap water till the texture massages to a wet paste, stiffer than toothpaste. Then I nick a corner, to squeeze a bead around the lid rim.

I pretty much forget to do any routine at least once, and notice if it didn't matter. I find that the paste matters, as others observe. If I don't seal on the lid, I sometimes get convection through the pot.

I have daydreamed about stabilizing the paste with some food safe preservative, and loading up a "u fill it" toothpaste tube, so paste is always ready. One would think these tubes would be easiest to find at outdoor stores, but I usually see them in artist supply stores. Artists like to mix up their own paints, for example.

[tony b]

My routine exactly, Syz! I use cheapo sandwich bags and just twist the top shut. I shoot for a consistency similar to pate a choux. 

[Aussie Ora]

Don't worry Mad Medik you taught us all a lesson dried out flour paste seals nothing lol. Seriously once you get the seal the smell will be beautiful you will see no white smoke at all. But I do Rember stuffing up I thought I had sealed my do. good at the start perfect thin smoke but during the course of the cook the lump had burnt and shifted causing the do to tilt which must of broken the seal because white smoke was pouting out lol

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

[MadMedik]

I mix paste just before use, in a ziplock sandwich bag. Start with some white flour, dribble in tap water till the texture massages to a wet paste, stiffer than toothpaste. Then I nick a corner, to squeeze a bead around the lid rim.

Syzgies....do you have a recipe? I used 3/4 cup flour and 1/3 cup water using wheat flour.

Once mixed up, it rolled into long snakes quite easily with very little sticking to hands? Almost like making gnocchi.

Is that too dry! Perhaps a half cup flour? To put my batch in plastic bag would make no difference. It would be perhaps too dry to effectively squeeze out.

On the other hand I would think you don't want it too wet where it won't really stay in place.

Any recipes for paste concoctions??

Thanks

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tony b]

I typically go by sight and feel. I generally start with about 1/2 cup AP flour in the bag and just drizzle water in until I get it where I think it's right. My big lesson was to thoroughly mix it, even past the point where you think it's ready. Since you're not making bread, you don't worry about overworking the dough. I've had several mishaps where a splut (a highly technical term - LOL) of dry flour that was hiding in the middle will squirt out of the bag . Not good.