week 7 - QST Smokehouse series

Over the past six weeks the John R. White Company has been featuring tips, facts, and guidance from QST Smoke Flavors to help inform, educate, and highlight important considerations during the smoking processes. Here is our final smokehouse tip.

Download our helpful Smokehouse Tip Sheet now!

#7 Keep a Clean Drench Solution

One common area of concern when using a liquid smoke drench system is keeping the drench solution free from foreign material. A recirculating drench solution has a tendency to wash off loose particles of meat, casing and fat that is clinging to the outside of the product as it is ready to enter the smokehouse. This foreign material can be more than a nuisance, it can become a potential food safety hazard.

CONTAMINATED Smoke Solutions

Small particles of meat and fat that are washed into the liquid smoke solution can rob the smoke components from the solution. Over time, the smoke components will absorb into this material in place of absorbing into the meat products. Additional smoke will be required to maintain the component level of the solution. This material can also add to the bacterial load of the sump solution if it remains in the typical temperature of emulsions over an extended period of time.

So how do you maintain a cleaner, more efficient, liquid smoke solution?

Liquid smoke drench systems should be designed with proper screening and filtration to remove the foreign material. Although no system can be designed to remove all foreign material, the best system will filter out much of the material that robs the solution of the required components and keeps it fresher for extended periods. A clean solution will produce more consistent product and can be used over a longer period, thus minimizing the liquid smoke cost.

Looking to learn more? Contact us today with any of your smoke questions or visit us here to learn more about QST Smoke. 

DOwnload all Seven Tips in this helpful printout

Click here to download all seven tips immediately to help put you and your smokehouse ahead of the game.