Smoke Flavoring

[SamuelWilson]

Trying to come up with a raw smoke flavoring additive. I can easily buy smoke flavor seasoning, but they are either from an animal source or they are heated. I would like to come up with my own source.

http://www.bgfoods.com/images/brand_pic_wrights_1.jpg

[SamuelWilson]

birch tar oil is a source, however, I need a raw source. It is traditionally obtained by slow destructive distillation.

[sport]

Samual
I hope that you are keeping a diary because I can see a book at the end of all this effort and inovation

[ambiguous]

In case anyone's interested . . .
I used to buy Colgin Liquid Smoke. It's vegan and gluten-free (it says so right on the label). I haven't used it in any raw recipes--yet.

However, I think that smoke flavoring is by definition not raw. But if adding a 1/2 teaspoon to several cups of food makes that food tastier for you, I think it's certainly worthwhile. Sweet lips and Rawkinlocks came up with gumbo recipe incorporating a nut sausage that uses smoke flavoring here: http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3141&highlight=smoke

[rawpriestess]

You know Rhio says that she uses some non raw condiments, like dijon mustard, and she says it's because it's only 1 tsp in an entire dressing recipe.


I can certainly understand this.

if one little teaspoon makes an entire dish taste way better, or helps the person stay raw, then why not.

I need to be very careful of what I eat, as I go straight to cooked if I eat a bottled salad dressing or anything like that.

but I have had an occasional olive or two and been fine.

I think that each person should do what works for them, and if it works, then great --- go for it.

but it it causes cooked cravings, then I say, stay away.

[Ginger]

Ditto RP I totally agree!

[juliebove]

I just saw Alton Brown make liquid smoke. And it really is just smoke. No food involved at all.

He started with some sort of a clay oven and added hot coals and some kind of soaked wood chips. At the top of the oven, he had a long metal pipe with a ring of crinkled aluminum foil at the top and bottom to keep it seated. On top of the pipe, he placed a bundt pan, right side up, then two metal bars across it. Atop that he placed a metal bowl that was slightly smaller in diameter than the bundt pan. On top of that, he placed a plastic bag full of ice to keep the bowl cold and force condensation. Some 15 to 20 minutes later, he removed the ice and the bowl and there in the bundt pan were several large drops of liquid smoke.

Obviously not raw, but then not exactly a food either. Hmmm...

[RawVegan4Health]

Well, you can smoke foods in Raw temperature range. The trick is to have the fire seperate from the smoke chamber. You want the gases from the burning wood to travel to the cooking chamber, cooling along the way. It is possible to have these gases arrive over the food at 100 degrees for example. This is referred to by many as cold smoking, but since there is no strict definition of cold smoking, some poeple think smoking at 200 degrees is also cold smoking.

Did you know visible smoke is caused by fires that are not burning cleanly and particulates of the burning matter and ash get carried away by these gases? So if you apply visible smoke to your food, you are in truth carrying ash and particulates to the food. The best tasting smoke usually comes from very thin smoke, almost invisible. The thinker white or yellow smoke from wood is loaded with creosote and other nasties you do not want on your food.

Alton Browns episode of Good Eats on cold smoking did this. He had a long aluminum dryer ventilation hose coiled up in a cooled area that was used to take the gases venting from the fire to the cooking chamber.

[SchoolOfRAWk]

Liquid Smoke: For as little as you use, I don't think it's a big deal - nor healthy to obsess about something like that (not to call anyone "obsessive")...

but this:

For those who have never smoked food, it is a great preservative and is usually used for animal products. It takes a good amount of time for the smoke to permeate the food. With raw vegan the food would be prepared and dehydrated first then smoked.

Smoked food is notorious for carninogens. It may preserve the 'food' but not your health. I would respectfully never smoke flax burgers, etc, because it would counteract anything healthy about the meal.