Quick Tips - Napoleon APOLLO User Manual

Quick Tips

• Use hot water in the water pan at the start, this will allow the unit to come up
to the desired temperature a lot quicker.
• Make sure that the air vent in the lid is kept fully open during use, failure to do
so will disrupt the airflow and may result in the fire going out.
• If you're looking, the food's not cooking. Every time the lid is lifted to inspect
the food, it will take up to 30 minutes for the smoker to come back up to the
required temperature. Familiarity and the use of probe thermometers will
reduce the need to inspect the food visually.
• Start with a small amount of wood to create smoke on your first few attempts,
as it is very easy to "over smoke" food and remember, to get a smoke flavour
all that is required is a wisp of smoke, smoke billowing out of the unit is not
desired and will often leave a sooty deposit on the food which doesn't taste
good.
• Use a good quality lumpwood charcoal or charcoal briquettes. Some brands of
fuel have unsavory fillers and may impart an unpleasant flavour to the food.
• Buy good quality ingredients, as this makes all the difference.
• Allow the food to come up to room temperature by taking it out of the
refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you intend to cook it. Meat at room
temperature allows smoke to penetrate more.
• Use only tried and tested non-resinous woods, see chart in manual.
• Try to source wood that has no bark on it, as the bark can contain bugs and
other nasties that may be poisonous.
• Most importantly... experiment! Try different woods, rubs and sauces until
you come up with the combination that suits your taste buds. We've included
a few recipes in this booklet, but feel free to add your own twist to them.
8.
Low and Slow Spare Ribs
The important thing to remember when buying ribs (or any meat) is to ensure
you get the best quality available..... You're going to spend about 5 hours cooking
them, so you don't want to start off with meat that will not turn out right, no
matter how you prepare and cook it.
1. Prepare ribs by removing the membrane from the underside of the ribs.
Trim off any loose fat or meat.
2. Pat the ribs dry using a paper towel, apply a rub, making sure to cover the
ribs completely. You can use an "off the shelf" rub or make your own, just
blend a few dried spices and herbs together. Wrap the ribs in Clingfilm or
use a "foodsaver" bag (one that seals) to place the ribs in, and refrigerate
overnight.
3. Remove the ribs from the fridge about half an hour before you want to
cook them, this will ensure that they are at room temperature. Baste the
ribs with Napoleon's bbq sauce or make your own by using cola, tomato
sauce/ ketchup, honey and whatever herbs and spices you like.
4. Get the charcoal going and place the water pan in position and place the
ribs on the cooking grill/rib rack. The cooking time should take 5 – 6 hours,
so make sure you are using a full load of good quality charcoal and keep
the smoker temperature between 200-250°F.
5. Add wood chips or chunks through the bottom door on to the fire to create
smoke, this should be done for the first 3 hours. You will need to baste the
ribs every hour during this period.
6. After 3 hours, remove the ribs from the smoker and place them on some
heavy duty tin foil, baste heavily with the sauce, wrap the tinfoil around
them, making sure there are no holes in the foil. Put the parcel back on
the smoker for another 2 hours, keeping the temperature at between
200-250°F (there's no point putting any wood for smoke on the fire at this
stage).
7. Remove the foil from the ribs and place them back in the BBQ.
8. After 6 hours total cooking time, baste for a final time, drop one of the
grills onto the fire bowl brackets and quickly sear the ribs on either side for
30 seconds, caramelising the sauce.
13.