The Back Story | The Great New York City Smoke-in

(Kenji Aoki for The New York Times)

The Back Story previews articles appearing in the style and food pages of The New York Times Magazine. This Back Story is told by Jill Santopietro, who writes, tests and edits recipes and styles food for the magazine.

In this Sunday’s Magazine, I discuss how to create barbecue flavors indoors — in my case, in a 350-square-foot New York City apartment. This challenge, if you want to call it that, turned out to be more fun and a lot easier than I imagined. How do you smoke food without smoking yourself out?

I phoned Elizabeth Karmel, the executive chef at Hill Country in New York and one of the sole women on the barbecue circuit, who is as practical as she is particular about barbecuing. Karmel advised me to buy a $50 Camerons stovetop smoker.

For first-time smokers, however, I suggest making your own by using foil, a large wok and a circular cooling rack. Like this:

(Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)

Once you get hooked (and trust me, you will), you may want to upgrade. A stovetop smoker is less wasteful and a lot easier to assemble, and each part can be used separately as a cooking utensil. The Camerons stovetop smoker is essentially a roasting pan with a lid, a drip tray and a baking rack, and comes with finely ground wood chips in alder, oak, hickory and cherry.

It’s easy to use: set the roasting pan on a burner, put 1 tablespoon of chips in the middle of the pan, place the drip tray over them and then the baking rack on top of that. Place your meat on the rack, cover and set the heat to high. When smoke appears, reduce the heat to medium-high and smoke for about 30 minutes.

Smoking chocolate in a stove-top smoker. (Lars Klove/The New York Times)

I started my indoor smoking extravaganza with baby-back ribs. The more pit masters I spoke to, the more I wanted to become one. They are the coolest, nicest guys (and gal). I asked Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Ala., if you have to pass some sort of friendliness test to become a pit master. He said that it’s hard to find an unfriendly one.

Next I called Mike Mills, one of the authors of “Peace, Love and Barbecue” and the owner of four 17th Street Bar and Grill restaurants in southern Illinois. “I hope you can never duplicate my ribs, or else we’re all out of business,” he said. “At the same time, you should be able to achieve something similar.” And I did. Thirty-five minutes of smoking the ribs in the Cameron and then an hour and a half of cooking them in a low-temperature oven yielded lip-smacking results.

I learned that real barbecue involves three components: a rub, smoke and sauce. Contrary to its name, a rub, or a dry marinade, should be sprinkled on and not rubbed into the meat. Rubbing clogs the pores, making it hard for the smoke to permeate. Who knew?

The second component, the smoke, is created by burning pure, resin-free wood chips. Cameron’s chips are best for stovetop smokers because they are superfine, with more service area to speed up the smoking process, which is crucial in a small space. I have used larger wood chips in a homemade wok smoker with great results.

The third part of good barbecue is the sauce. There are as many theories on sauce styles as there are on smoking temperatures. Some like sweeter sauces, others more acidic. Some like wet barbecue, meaning they baste the meat as it cooks. Others like it dryer, serving the sauce on the side.

At this point, I was getting ahead of myself. I was supposed to write an article about smoking in a small apartment, not a dissertation on traditional barbecue.

Moving forward, I smoked as many things as I could on the stovetop: ricotta, tomatoes, corn, cod, salmon, catfish and mozzarella. But it wasn’t until I smoked chocolate that I realized something about smoke: it loves fats and proteins.

I threw chopped bittersweet chocolate, corn syrup and cream in a tray and placed it in the smoker. I added some ice cubes to the drip pan to cold-smoke it. After 30 minutes and a quick stir, it turned into a smooth, deliciously smoky hot fudge sauce. I grabbed a marshmallow and dunked it into the sauce. Ugh. Gross! I tried a piece of cantaloupe. Ugh again. Then a strawberry. Urrr! What the heck? It’s a delicious sauce on its own. One last try: I grabbed vanilla ice cream and poured the fudge sauce over it. WOW! It was amazing. At that moment, I realized that the smoke flavors needed the fat of the cream to carry it. That helped explain why I wasn’t crazy about smoked corn on the cob and tomatoes. Try this chocolate sauce: it adds a whole new dimension to a hot fudge sundae.

Smoked Chocolate Sauce

2 tablespoons pecan-wood dust or small chips (see note)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
4 cups ice
1 tablespoon bourbon
Ice cream.

1. Place a stovetop smoker (see Note) on a burner or make a smoker by lining the inside of a large wok with heavy foil. Place the wood chips on the bottom of the smoker, toward the center. Cover with the drip pan. Place the ice in the drip pan and set the grate over it. (If using a wok, see Note.)
2. In a wide, shallow, heatproof pan small enough to fit over the smoker rack, combine the chocolate, cream and corn syrup. Cover the smoker and set the heat to high. When smoke appears, lower the heat to medium-high and smoke for 30 minutes. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in bourbon. Serve over ice cream. Makes 2 cups.
NOTES: Cameron stovetop smokers and wood chips can be purchased at many cooking stores, such as Zabar’s in New York City or at Cameronscookware.
To make a smoker, line the inside of a large wok with heavy foil. Place the wood chips in the wok. Make a drip pan by placing a heavy piece of foil over both the chips and the bottom of the wok but not rising up the sides. When called for, add ice. Set a small 10- to 11-inch round baking rack over the foil drip pan. Use another piece of heavy foil as a lid.

Read previous posts by Jill Santopietro.