Liquid Smoke Ingredients

The concept of adding liquid smoke in your cooking can seem a bit odd, but innovative. Similar to the concept of barbecue, using smoke to enhance the flavor and preserve the food is very common. But not everyone has time or money to invest in barbecuing their food every time to achieve the smoky flavor. And that is where the concept of liquid smoke comes in.

What is liquid smoke? It is a distilled flavoring used to replicate the essence of smoked wood. Wood chips or sawdust from hickory is burned, condensed, and passed through water. This captures and dissolves the smoky flavor effects in the solution. There are other woods used in the process like apple, pecan, and mesquite. So, instead of using the natural resources to cook up a barbecue or get the smoky effect, many chefs use liquid smoke. Ingredients will follow as per usual, what the recipes call for, while adding just a hint of smokiness.

Liquid Smoke Recipes

You can use the smoke as an ingredient to enhance the flavors of marinades for meat, with soft cheeses, and hardening any solutions. The technique is very easy and doesn't take that much of extra time.

Barbecue Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• cup onion, chopped
• cup celery, chopped
• cup ketchup
• cup bread crumbs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• Salt and black pepper, for taste

Directions

Preheat the oven at 325F. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together, except for the ground beef. Take a hand blender and mix on low speed. Now add the ground beef and again mix on low speed. Make sure you don't mix the ingredients too much. Wash your hands properly and shape the mix into a loaf. Take a pan, spray some cooking spray in it, and line with aluminum foil. Place the pan inside the oven and bake for about 1 hour. Once the meatloaf is brown and firm, remove from the oven. Take out excess fat and drippings from the pan and let the meatloaf sit for about 10 minutes. Cut into equal slices and serve with some mashed potatoes from scratch.

Barbecued Beef Sandwich

Ingredients

• 3 lb beef lean, boneless
• cups ketchup
• teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar brown
• 2 tablespoons vinegar red wine
• Salt and pepper, for taste
• French rolls or sandwich buns

Directions

In a slow cooker, place the beef and add the ingredients in, except for the french rolls. Cover the cooker and slow cook it for about 8 hours. Once the beef is cooked, shred it with a fork. Warm the french rolls in the microwave. Place lettuce leaf, cheddar cheese, shredded beef, tomato slices, pickle, and onion slices between two pieces of french loaf. Serve immediately.

Barbecued Tofu

Ingredients

• 2 packages extra-firm tofu
• 12 oz ketchup
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• cup chili sauce
• cup onion, chopped
• Cayenne powder
• Salt and black pepper, for taste

Directions

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cut the blocks of tofu into bite size pieces. Grease a baking pan and place the tofu pieces in it. Cook till the tofu turns brown from all sides. Till the tofu is cooking, let's prepare the sauce. Take a pan and saut the onions in butter. As they start to become translucent, add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for at least 10 minutes and do a taste test. Now add the tofu in with the sauce and bake it for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place barbecued tofu in a platter. Serve hot.

These were some of the recipes with liquid smoke. The ingredients are pretty simple to follow and the end result is simply delicious and savory.