Smoking Mussels


 
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Guest
Hi,

I bought a kilo of fresh mussels this morning. I also bought some pork butt, which I'm going to smoke tomorrow.

Can mussels be smoked on the WSM? With the pork? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Jack
 
The mussels are going to take no time at all, maybe 1/2-1 hour tops. I would just spread them on the top grill and smoke them for 30 minutes and check them out. If they need more time go for 15-30 minutes more.

Pork butt usually takes me 2 hours a pound.

Maybe you can put the mussels on at the end if you want to serve them together.
 
Thanks Jeff, sounds good. One more question - should I take 'em out of their shells first? Or should I keep them in, letting the heat open them naturally, as per grilling? Will there be enough heat to do that? Maybe sit them in a half shell? OK - it's more than one question.
Cheers,
Jack
 
/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif Happy New Year everyone! It's good to be back. I've been trying to catch up on all the posts I've missed since Thanksgiving -- no mean feat! I see you've been busy because there's lots of really interesting reading and great advice!

Chris, your site gets better every month! How do you do it?

Regarding the mussels -- I'm planning on giving them a try for the first time in a few days too. In order to keep from losing all the precious juices I thought I'd try putting the shell-on mussels in a shallow pan with a classic steaming liquid (a little wine, some shallots, a knob of butter or some good olive oil, and perhaps a smidgeon of herbs) and let them pick up some smoke, even if it only takes 30-60 minutes. Have to have something good to dip that bread into!

Does anyone have a preference for a wood that seems better than some others?

What kind of heat do you suggest - high or low?

Dry water pan or water in the water pan to steam them? If I'm going to smoke them uncovered, it seems that I ought to provide some moisture in addition to the small amount I'll have in the shallow pan to keep them from drying out.

Those foil pizza pans that Chris uses for his meatloaf might work well for the mussels too.

Best to you all,
Rita
 
Boy Rita, that sounds sooo good with the broth for dipping bread into - ooooweee!

Just for kicks I checked our website under the COOKBOOK section, and then on to the SMOKING BASICS. It actually recommends using seaweed for smoking mussels. Go figure. I guess it's a lot like a clam bake type of thing.

And I would definitely leave the mussels in the shell until they open on their own. This sounds like a weekend gameplan!

Go Bears!

Weber Dave
 
Thank you, Jim. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif And good ideas Jack, Jeff, and Dave. I'll have to be on the lookout for seaweed - it would be fun to experiment with!

It looks as if no one wants to admit to actually trying to smoke mussels on the WSM. Hmmmm...... afraid to 'fess up? /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif Isn't there anyone out there in Bulletland who's tried it?

I'm still looking for ideas. I apologize if I've overlooked this elsewhere on Chris's site - please steer me there. I've only found one other thread so far.

Questions/thoughts/ideas:
(1) low heat, water in the pan?

(2) or high heat, dry water pan?

(3) I'm thinking possibly of a very light smoke with hickory or oak (alder doesn't feel right to me for this) -- some pros and cons on different smoke woods would be helpful.

A short cook would be worth the little extra effort if the results are good. And there's always the fun of the challenge!

Thanks to all,
Rita
 
Rita
Water in the pan will keep pit down, so 1 and 2 you right on.
Now 3 hickory, oak and light smoke don't really seem to go together, I'd use alder or fruitwoods. If your use to the stronger flavors of hickory and oak then a lite exposure to those flavors would be right.
Jim
 
Hi all,
A report on how the smoked mussels worked. After the Renowned Mr Brown pork butt was done, we put the mussels, still in shells, on the top grate. The temp was still around 250 deg. and I put a handful of dry apple wood chips on the coals.

After half an hour, they has started to open. After 45 minutes, they were well and truly cooked; in fact the mussels closer to the edge had started to dry out.

I think I was tricked by the fact that the shells never fully opened as they do when cooking over hot coals. The widest any opened was maybe half and inch. Must've been the low heat. As a result, there wasn't much smoke flavour to them. Nothing to write home about.

I'm interested to see how other folk go. Rita, I think you've got the right idea with the pan of steaming liquid.

Mussels are highly under-rated and cheap. You can't beat cooking them over hot, hot coals. A sqeeze of lemon, cracked pepper, good bread and an icy cold beer.

Oh, the pork butt was fantastic.

Cheers,
Jack
 
Jim and Jack,
I knew I could count on you! Hickory seems to be the wood of choice in the South, but I too was concerned that it might be a little strong. I'll probably go with apple, as you did Jack. Or I might try a first batch with apple and then do a second batch with hickory and see what happens. That way I can take advantage of the fuel that's already lit.

It looks as if I might have to add a little more wood than I thought in order to flavor the mussels and I'll start checking them after 30 minutes. Hope to do the experiment next week some time.

Thanks for the great information. I can't wait to get started!
Rita
 
I don't normally refer people to the WSM owner's manual, but on page 27 there's a description of how to use the WSM for steaming:<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>Fill the charcoal ring 1/2 full and arrange the coals so that they conform to the shape of the water pan--higher around the edges and low in the middle.

<LI>Light the coals and when they're all hot, place the water pan right on top of the hot coals.

<LI>Add 2 qts. boiling water to the pan and place the lower cooking grate right on top of the water pan.

<LI>Add meat and place lid on cooker. Close the top vent, but leave all bottom vents open.
[/list]

Sounds interesting.

Regards,
Chris
 
Thanks, Chris. I'm glad you included the instructions and prodded me to check my 1981-3 owner's manual, which only has 15 pages but does devote page 15 to steaming. I haven't uncovered my cooker to check this out, but from the diagram it looks as if they suggest putting the charcoal grate in the lower rack position and then stack the rest as you mentioned.

That might provide a moister environment than I would have had if setting up the smoker as usual. Sounds good to me and I just might work that into my mussel cook.

I'm wondering, though, about keeping the lid vent closed during the cook. Perhaps the mussels won't be in the smoker long enough for that to cause a problem?

Another lesson learned.....When all else fails, check the instruction book....

Rita

P.S. - The only drawback I can see is that once the mussels are steamed, it would be impossible to rearrange the live charcoal and charcoal grate to the lower position and cook something else. Or cook something else first and then rearrange to steam the mussels. I'm going to have to give that some more thought.

[ 01-14-2002: Message edited by: Rita Y ]
 
I know this thread is old, but a friend brought back some smoked mussels from Seattle and they were so fantastic I'm trying to figure out how to do it myself. It looks like there's a new thread where someone has had some success. roasted mussels
The ones my friend brought home looked like they had been smoked out of the shell as the color was even all over the meat (and they were already shelled when he bought them). Probably steamed open then smoked? These particular mussels were huge, so the extra cooking probably didn't hurt, but for normal sized mussels I would be a little concerned. Maybe a hot fire with no water in the pan and a little bit of smoke wood (rather than charcoal only in the above mentioned post) on the live mussels would give the results I crave. Will be sure to post again after I try it.
 
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