Using the Senses: Judging Doneness

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top 1000The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking
The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking

By Barbara Tropp

Published 1982

  • About
The eyes are one’s most important tool when smoking. It is the eyes that judge the heat to be properly intense during the process, and it is the eyes that judge by the color of the food whether it is sufficiently smoked.

Depth and evenness of color are the best indications of when something has smoked long enough to be flavorful. If a smoked chicken is pale in color, it will be pale in flavor, no matter how long it has smoked. The exterior of a well-smoked item should be rich brown to deep mahogany brown, depending on the strength of flavor you like, and in the case of poultry it should be evenly colored top, bottom, and all around. It may not be necessary to turn the food over midway through the process, or it may be necessary to turn it over an odd number of times, all depending upon the food, the intensity of the smoke, and even the contours of the pot. Use your eyes to know when the process is complete.