Alder Smoker Bag for Oven or Grill
Melanie's Fine Foods

Give someone a piece of moist, freshly smoked turkey, duck,chicken, meat or fish and they can’t help but comment on how great it is! Did the cook fire up the grill, soak wood chips, fan the smoke and monitor the heat? Did the cook even have a grill?

You can smoke chicken, turkey, squab, vegetables, duck, fish, beef, pork or lamb… even if you don’t have a grill or a balcony or deck to put one on! You can smoke food on top of your grill if you choose, or you can turn out succulent and subtly alder smoke-flavored meat or fish in your kitchen oven. Now don’t think that the neighbors will smell the smoke and your fire alarm will go off. You will taste the freshly smoked flavor on your poultry and vegetables, but you will not see smoke!

The Pure Zing team tried smoking chicken in the oven and none of us could smell smoke or see smoke. How is this possible? It’s all done in a special bag that seals the food, juices, flavor and smoke inside.

This marvelous bag is an import from Finland. Some genius there has taken a heavy foil bag and basted it with alder wood chip and hardwood syrup and other natural sugars. All you have to do is place seasoned food in the bag in a single layer, double fold the bag opening and place it in a preheated 450% oven on the lowest rack. Cook for the prescribed time and remove the bag from the oven. Let it sit for 10 minutes to develop the flavors. That’s all! Remove and serve.

The chicken that we had placed inside was moist, and lightly smoked. The flavor was not overpowering and the aroma did not take over the kitchen. You could do this in an apartment house, or duplex and no one would even know. If you want to look like you’re going through all the soaking of wood chips routine, you can put this bag on a grill, close the lid and impress friends and family with the luscious results. Instructions are given on the box for cooking with this bag in the oven or on a charcoal or gas grill.

The inside of the slender box opens up and has tips on seasoning your meat so that it complements the smoky flavor. Mostly, the seasonings are adding herbs, garlic, a little butter and maybe some vegetables of choice. We put on two herbs and slid the chicken breasts in, keeping them in a single layer. We rolled the opening shut and put the sealed bag on a baking sheet on the lowest rack setting. The only thing you have to watch for is the ‘this side down’ stamped into the foil packet.

We followed all the simple directions. No smoke, no billowing steam: just a subtle but wonderful smoke aroma emanating from the chicken.

Cleanup was simple. Put the leftover chicken in the refrigerator, roll the bag opening shut and throw it away. Put away the clean cookie sheet. Done!

The bag is big enough to fit enough meat inside for 6-8 people. If you wanted to be thrifty, you could put several servings in this bag and cook it all at once. Then, enjoy smoked meat of fish in a number of ways for several days. Freeze some for a quick but luxurious snack in the future.

We totally approve of this smoke-free, natural, non-chemical way to achieve subtle smoke flavor. The price is right. Get several for yourself…and give a couple as gifts. This Smoker Bag won 3rd place in the 2006 Chile Pepper Magazine's Fiery Food Challenge. Everyone would love the flavor and convenience of this bag and we can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want freshly smoked flavor any time of year, no matter what floor their apartment was on!