10 Smoker Recipes to Make Even When Summer’s Over
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Not all smoker recipes require a giant hunk of meat or endless hours stoking the fire. If you’ve recently acquired a smoker and you’re not sure what to cook in it, consider this list a beginners-friendly starting point for your cookout menus. Try your hand at smoked sweet potatoes drizzled with spiced butter and then whip up some whiskey-glazed chicken drumsticks. Ready for a full cookout menu? Invite some friends over for smoked shrimp followed by smoked coconut cake. By Thanksgiving, a juicy smoked turkey breast or a gorgeous molasses-lacquered smoked duck will be no big deal.
Photo by Jack Sorokin1/10Smoked Sweet Potatoes
Beginner smoker recipes will help you get a handle on lighting your fire and maintaining a steady temperature—and you'll get something delicious in the end, too. This recipe from Food x Fire shows how throwing sweet potatoes on the Traeger (or whatever smoker you've got) results in lightly sweet, beautifully smoky flavors that are even better with a drizzle of spiced butter.
Alex Martinez2/10Smoked Whiskey Wings
This smoked wings recipe includes instructions for smoking on a bullet-style smoker, a ceramic kamado grill like the Big Green Egg, or a standard kettle charcoal grill.
Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee3/10Smoked Turkey Breast
This is how Matt Horn of Horn Barbecue in Oakland makes smoked turkey breast—and it's how you're going to want to make it, too. Stick with the half-breast for sandwiches or simply enjoying with slaw; double the recipe if you're looking for a Thanksgiving feast.
Photo by David Loftus4/10Smoked Shrimp With Chile-Lime Dipping Sauce
Epi contributor Leela Punyaratabandhu uses a sweet, mild wood like cherry or apple for these smoked jumbo shrimp, which appear in her excellent book, Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill. Serve with a spicy dipping sauce made with chiles, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and lots of fresh cilantro.
Photo by Jack Sorokin5/10Maple Whiskey Chicken Lollipops
These pared-down chicken drumsticks from Derek Wolf's Flavor by Fire are served with a luscious, slightly spicy maple and bourbon glaze.
