Herb Infusion

[raiderfan]

Hello all, Raiderfan here. Yes I know how well they played this year, no need to rehash it.
New to the forum but have a few years experience smoking. Used an offset for years until it got worn out then switched to my Weber kettle in recent years.
I have gotten to the point where I am trying new meats and tricks. Here is a question to you all, has anyone ever tried using a container of fresh herbs to infuse flavor as they dry out during the cook? If so, does it impart any flavor? I am assuming fish and poultry would pick up more flavor.
It has been pretty cold around the St. Louis area but we have a warm weekend coming and I hear my grills calling me.

 

[timberjet]

There is still a little debate as to any use for water and steam in the smoking environment. I and many others on here or even most of us do not use water in the water pan of our smokers. I think in order to use aromatics effectively you need to be cooking with steam. The smoker environment is moist by nature but you are not actually steaming the meat and if you are you are probably not truly smoking the meat. Now adding fresh herbs directly to the meat I think does impart flavor but just having a container of them in there? I don't know. I am sure someone will be along that has experimented with this. I love me some fresh rosemary on lots of things for sure.

 

[gary s]

  Good afternoon and welcome to the forum, from a beautiful sunny and cool day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David

 

[gravey]

raiderfan - I have used fresh rosemary and sage while grilling with great success! The hardier/woodier herbs seem to last the longest. When grilling I have set them on the grate near the food, as well as directly on top of the coals. I've been keeping the 'sticks' that I take my rosemary leaves off of in an airtight container for just this reason. Works best on poultry and fish, more towards the end of the cook, as the herbs don't last long over heat!