Being a non-meat eater, cooking meat doesn’t exactly do anything for me. I do it, though, because when it’s my turn to cook, I want to make sure the fam gets what they like.
Our friend, Ian Benson, is known in our circle for being “The Smoker.” It’s not because he smokes; it’s because he uses a smoker on almost everything he cooks!
Ian’s culinary journey took off in 2010, the year he expanded his cooking skills into the world of smoking.
His first tool of choice was a Bradley smoker. “And, you know, I was struggling with it,” Ian admits. “I learned how to do different types of smokes with it, but then I got into propane. That’s when I started doing briskets.”
Ian says the difference between the two comes down to control. “The Bradley is computerized and electric. If the control board goes out, you’re looking at buying a new smoker. There’s no control board on a propane smoker, so I can control the heat a lot better and maintain it easily.”
So, what drew Ian into the low and slow world of backyard smoking?
“I just loved going out and having smoked food, so I had to learn how to do it myself,” Ian says. It wasn’t an immediate success story, though. “I’ve destroyed a lot of meat doing this. If you don’t marinate it and put it on low and slow, you can actually burn it. Tastes awful.”
Ian says his first brisket ranks as his worst.
“I pretty much made it into burnt rubber,” he laughs. “When you squeeze a good brisket, you should see juice coming out of it. There was no juice.
When you cut it, you should see three rings all the way around. I cooked that first one so much I lost all the rings. I knew it was overcooked.”
And what did the family say? “They ate it anyway and said, ‘It’s good, dad.’”
Since those early rubber brisket days, Ian has mastered the craft. He counts brisket and ribs as his top triumphs, alongside a more rugged local delicacy. Moose.
“Moose roast is extremely hard to do because it’s so dry and has no fat,” Ian explains. After doing a lot of research on YouTube, Ian found a winning strategy. “If you put brown sugar all over it, it will tenderize it. Then, I wrapped it in bacon! And the bacon drippings go inside the moose roast and make it nice and tender.”
Ian’s golden rule for smoking is simple. Prep ahead a couple of hours or even the day before, and guard the thermometer. “You have to watch the temperature; you want it on low. If you get over 275 or 300°F, you have to turn it down. Low and slow. The slower you cook, the better and more tender it’s going to be.
Once you have that down, Ian says the sky is the limit. He’s smoked everything from burger and salmon (including candied salmon) to pickerel, deer, pizza, mac and cheese, apple pie and cherry pie.
At celebrations, camping or just hanging out, our family has been involved in the pizza making and we’ve created many different pizzas, all cooking on their own shelves in the smoker for our gatherings. So good!
“There is nothing you can’t smoke. It’s unbelievable,” Ian says. “If you can cook it in an oven, you can do it in a smoker.”
These days, Ian’s setup has evolved. He keeps his trusty propane smoker out at Eagle Lake Island Lodge near Dryden, where his wife, Lisa, works as the head cook and kitchen manager. These two are a match made in heaven. Lisa loves to fish, Ian, not so much. But he happily goes along just to spend time with her. After a successful day of fishing together, they head back to the island where Ian slow smokes their catch to perfection. At home, Ian has a top of the line Traeger wood pellet smoker. “It’s all computerized. You just set it for what you want and walk away,” he says, adding that it completely monitors the heat for you. It even connects to his phone via MEATER probes. “It doesn’t matter where I am; I can check on the food. When Lisa’s cooking in it and I’m out of town, I can even see what’s being cooked. It’s the easiest way to cook.”
If you’re looking to step up your own backyard game and impress people, Ian says to start with ribs using the classic “3-2-1” method. “First, you have to take off the membrane,” Ian instructs. “Then it’s three hours with the tinfoil open, two hours closed in tinfoil and white wine, then one hour open again, tinfoil off with whatever barbecue sauce you want.”
And for dessert?
“Smoked apple pie or smoked pudding,” Ian says. “Those are really good.”
