Hay Smoking with herbs...

[Will Squared]

I am a total Noob. I have a new MGF560 that is not together as I am waiting for a gasket from Masterbuilt. We were prompted to buy it as we got 25 lbs. of local salmon. I am starting to climb the learning curve and am trying to absorb all knowledge I can find. I read about Hay Smoking and wondered who has done this and the results. I have herbs that grow in our garden and can throw oregano, thyme, and sage in with the straw. I was thinking in terms of Hay Smoking cheese and burgers, maybe veggies. Thought?

Anyone else have the MGF560?

... from the Gold Country of N Cal...

 

[chef jimmyj]

I've seen this technique but never tried it. To make a distinction,
Hay in nothing more than a specific variety or mixed Grasses, that are allowed to grow high and cut for Animal feed.
Straw is the dried Stalks after grains like Wheat, Barley and Rye are harvested. It used for bedding but isn't eaten.
I don't think Hay would make tasty smoke. Dad burned dry Grass clippings and it smelled horrible...JJ

 

[Will Squared]

What I read referred to using straw but it was called Hay Smoking as a name.
For sure I would not use alfalfa. Haha.
Dry clean straw that was not moldy or anything like that because it would impart to the taste.
Thank you for the reply.

 

[kmmamm]

I suppose you could smoke with grass or legume forages, but unless that is absolutely the only source of fuel available, I can’t come up with a good reason to do it. We occasionally burn piles of old hay and straw that is no longer suitable for feed or bedding and none of it produces an aromatic smoke.

 

[Will Squared]

I am an archer and buy a couple of bales of straw for my target from the Feed & Grain Barn every year. They always have lots of loose straw laying around the stack and all you need is enough to stuff into a grocery bag. You just need enough to make it flair up and smoke for 3 - 5 minutes. I was thinking of using a few handfuls of Oregano, etc, to make an herb flash.

 

[Bearcarver]

What I read referred to using straw but it was called Hay Smoking as a name.
For sure I would not use alfalfa. Haha.
Dry clean straw that was not moldy or anything like that because it would impart to the taste.
Thank you for the reply.

If I'm not mistaken, Darla "used" Alfalfa!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Bear

 

[zwiller]

Never heard of hay smoking but Santa brought me Raichlen's new book and there are a few hay smoked things in there. https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/hay-smoked-mozzarella/

NOTE: very short smoke. 2-4 minutes. To me hay (around here) smells like corn cob and I like smoking with that. Also, I am really into german smoked stuff and they use many things that are not considered desireable for smoking IE softwood. Worth a try if you ask me.

 

[Will Squared]

We just got Steven Raichlen's PROJECT SMOKE and that is where I got the idea. I did some more digging on the Web.
We grow some herbs in the garden and I thought it would be a good flash smoke for burgers.
It's got me jazzed !