Thanks for the welcome and all the suggestions! Japan is on 100v AC, so pretty much everything from the US works. I've had a couple problems with a sensored battery charger, but things that just require electricity to make heat will do just fine.
The wok worked pretty well! There's still room for improvement, but as a first effort, I'm pretty happy.
Details:
Wok with woodchips (cherry) This is morning after, last night I did soak the chips in water for an hour or so.
a small screen:
a steamer plate to catch drips (the small screen may not have been necessary)
and a larger grill, to put the food on:
with a loose lid, on my little gas ring:
30 minutes of cooking, and two chicken breasts are done!
Things that went well:
I got smoked chicken out of it, and cherry tastes great with the chicken. I only used salt and pepper beforehand as a sort of a control, I didn't want to confuse my impressions with rubs or marinades.
Things that could have gone better:
I started off cooking on my main kitchen gas stove. Unfortunately, it is "smart," and turns itself down to avoid getting the food too hot. Like, hot enough to generate smoke. I realized this when I wasn't seeing any smoke, thought I had burned through my woodchips, and opened it to find out they were mostly unburnt. That's why I switched to the portable gas ring.
The chicken was a little bit dry, 35 minutes could probably have been shortened to 20 or so, but since I; a)didn't know exactly what I was doing, and b) have had salmonella from chicken before, I went a little on the long side. I know, cook to temp not time, but I didn't want to keep opening the lid. Next time I'll have more smoke taste and juicier chicken, since I'll actually be able to control the heat, rather than having some engineer for Sharp decide it for me.
Anyway, back to my reading and studying, tons of good information here!
Thanks again all
-val
