Anyone ever experiment with throwing some hops in a smoker’s water pan or adding a little in with the wood being smoked? Just curious if it would be delicious or taste like arse. ;D
Based on the aroma of burning hops, I think I’d skip it. They’re harsh and acrid.
Saw a video on the billy brew blog that showed how to make a hot sauce for chicken wings using a little bit of summit hops. Made me curious about other uses. Considering the aroma that leaves the hops when heated in water adding some to the water pan late in the smoking might add a touch of aroma but nothing too acrid.
-Sent from the future.
I think as long as the hops are in water and the bottom of the pan isn’t directly on the coals, then you should be fine. I’m thinking that whole leaf hops would be best for this application since they will float on top. It has potential since most of the hop oils flash off by the mid 150’s F. I’m just wondering how much hops you will need to use to see some results.
And I’m wondering just what kind of result he hopes to see/taste. What is it that you hope the hops will add?
Yummy hop goodness of course! :))
I’ll be smoking some chicken tenders this weekend and I’ll try this on a few.
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Well, yeah…but what qualities are you looking for?
Slight aroma and / or flavor of whatever hop i put in there.
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Hmmmm…what hop(s) would go with chicken? Guess it depends on what you do with the chicken. If ya go the traditional BBQ route, probably something hearty…maybe even Fuggles. OTOH, if you were doing a “light” chicken with OO, lemon, garlic, maybe something more like an Amarillo or even Summit. Damn you, now you’ve got me curious! 
I was planning on summit. I’m going to try the summit hot sauce on chicken in the smoker then try some with hops in the water. I’ll also throw some in with a lemon pepper rub.
-Sent from the future.
+1
IMO, it would be rather like smoking the food over lawn clippings.
I’d stick with oak or fruitwood.
Never tried this technique but I’d like to know if you get any flavor or aroma from it. I would think you’d have to add quite a bit of hops to get any effect but you never know until you try.
I have smoked poultry with orange peeling, brown sugar, and black tea leaves.
It made an amazing flavor. Sub the tea leaves with the Hops???
Lawn clippings…I suspect this is the correct answer…