Top 3 non-meat items to smoke

Everyone gets a smoker to smoke brisket, ribs, chicken, pork, etc. The words meat and smoker go hand in hand with one another. However, there are plenty of non-meat items that are much better from the smoker than from anywhere else. You don’t have to be a meat lover to enjoy delicious smoked food items. In fact, even a vegetarian is capable of enjoys some of the thinks you can cook (or smoke) in your smoker. Here is a list of my top 3 non-meat items to make in your smoker:

1. BBQ Baked Beans

If there is one side dish that goes exceptionally well with most BBQ meats, it is BBQ Baked Beans. They compliment BBQ so well and when cooked in your smoker along side your BBQ Meats, they are incredible. If you are a bean fan, try taking your beans to the next level by adding some of the drippings from the BBQ into the beans. This will add a whole new level of depth and flavor to your beans.

Beans can be simple or complicated. I like simple and delicious. I start with a couple cans of pork and beans, add several ingredients like peppers, onions, bbq sauce and bacon before letting the pot simmer in the smoker for hours on end. Try to make your own signature beans, experimentation is fun and often helps to discover awesome new things.

2. Cheese

I don’t think you have lived if you haven’t tried smoked cheese. Cheese is a little tricky to smoke as it must be cold smoked, but it can be done. The trick is to keep the smoker below 90° for the duration of the smoking process. This is where the Amazen Pellet Tube Smoker come is handy. You can light it and provide all the smoke you need with minimal heat.

I last smoked a block of cheddar with apple pellets and it turned out great. As you can see in the picture, I used my Amazen tube on one side of the smoker with the cheese on the other side. I didn’t even turn on the main firebox as the tube was able to provide all the smoke I needed. With the cheese near the smoke stack, the smoke was forced past the cheese once I closed the door to the smoker. You are typically going to smoke cheese for 2-4 hours depending on how much smoky flavor you are going for. 

Once huge tip for people new to smoking cheese. If you can going to smoke cheese for a party or some other event, start a week ahead of time. Once you are done with the 2-4 hours of smoke time, you need to wrap the cheese tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. You will leave the newly smoked cheese untouched for a week to allow for the smoke to fully penetrate the cheese and for the flavor to even out. Resist the urge to cut into the cheese too early.

3. Pizza

While a lot of pizza does technically have meat on it, I am including this in my list of non-meat items because it its all meat and can be free of any meat if you like. Personally I always have meat on my pizza. Of all the non-meat items that I have smoked, pizza may be my favorite. When smoked, fizzed takes on a wood-fired taste that is second to none. Also, there is nothing more fun than having everyone make their own little pizzas, just how they like them, then cooking them on the smoker and enjoying them in the backyard.

Pizza in the smoker is best cooked at a higher temperature of around 400° if you can generate that heat, and I prefer to use pizza stones as well. Prior to owning a set of pizza stones, I had to be exceptional careful not to burn the bottom of the crust of the pizzas we smoked but now with the stones the pizzas are little more forgiving and are easier to can a perfectly crispy crust.

Another great thing about pizza is that you can do it with limited time and little prep. If you don’t have the time or ingredients for pizza, you can do one of our quick go to methods of getting a Papa Murphy’s Take and Bake or even buying a frozen pizza and them cooking it on your smoker. This is change the way you think about these types of pizza.

Conclusion

Whether you are smoking bean, cheese, pizza, or something else entirely; you will find that the smoking non-meat items can be a lot of fun and very delicious. I have done everything from potatoes to asparagus and a lot of the in-between. But, we want to know about what you like to smoke. Leave us a comment with your favorite non-meat item to smoke and the recipe and we will pick the best one to feature in an upcoming blog post. Be sure to comment with the full recipe for we can try a few of the submissions and empirically decided the winner based on a true taste test. Happy BBQing everyone.