Smoked Ketchup

[Northern_Smoke]

So the temp is still pretty low around here so i decided to do another 10 or 15 pounds of cheese so i have some reserve for over the summer. I looked in the fridge and seen that we had about a cup of ketchup left in the bottle. My mind started spinning and a smokey ketchup didn't sound that bad. So into an aluminium tray went the last cup or so for 4 hours of cold smoking with apple and maple. Not sure if anyone else has tried this but i will report back on how it tastes.

[TTNuge]

You definitely have the disease!

[OU812]

I think he inhaled some smoke.  ;)  ;D

[Northern_Smoke]

You definitely have the disease!

Finally !!! haha. Well i figured i have heard of smoked peppers, smoked tomatoes and even seen smokey salsa...so why not ketchup? I think it was heinze that came out a few years ago with those falvored ketchups. They had lime and spicey ketchup. But never heard of it smoked LOL At this point, i will try and smoke just about anything. I will try anything twice ;)

[Slamdunk]

Thats a great idea! Why not try it??

My friends laughed at me when I said I was going to smoke some olives, but most stopped laughing after they tried some together with smoked cheese.

Please let us know how it turns out.

[Northern_Smoke]

3 hours left and hopefully i will have something good to report. :)

[OU812]

Well sure it will be good, anything comin out of the smoker is good.

My friends thought I had lost it when I started smokin corn on the cob.

[Habanero Smoker]

It should work. I've use a similar method to smoke vinegar, Tabasco sauce and other liquids and always had good success. Smoked Tabasco sauce was the best. The best results is to cold smoke, and place it in a pan to increase the surface of the liquid that will be exposed to the smoke.

[Northern_Smoke]

Thats what i did actually. Cold smoked and put it in an aluminium pie plate to increase the surface area. Its just about time to come out and have a try.

[Northern_Smoke]

Ok, so the cheese and ketchup are out of the smoker. I had a minor catastrophe though. I thought the bent was wide open but when i came back to see my string cheese, i noticed that the vent was only half open. It got to about 125 in there. I did save the cheese though. I had to cut the "hangers" from below but i vac sealed all the little strings and balls that were hanging down as one. I figure once it firms up, it should be ok for shredding on a pizza. But back to the ketchup experiment...Its hard to tell if there is any smoke flavor in it yet. I still find it very sweet and strong vinegar. It actually got about 5 hours of smoke so i am not sure what to make of it. I am going to put it in the fridge and let it chill for a few days and then maybe try dipping some french fries in it and see if the smokey flavor is more prominent. I have noticed that some things don't seem to have a great smoke flavor until you let them sit for a bit and i am hoping this is one of them. If it does not have the smoke flavor, i don't think i will call it a loss because i will just try re smoking it the next time i put something in for a few hours. Just try adding layers of smoke. Or maybe a stronger wood like hickory should have been used. Maybe in a few days though i will have something better to report :D

[La Quinta]

I agree N_S...especially with the cheese...but I'm assuming you know that! I can only imagingine a tomato/vinegar type product would absorb the smoke quickly...let it rest in the fridge...then see...I'm looking forward to hearing of your results. Good idea!!

[Habanero Smoker]

The ketchup should be fine. I never used more then 2 hours of smoke when I am smoking a liquid or sauce and it always comes out fine. The best part if it happens to be too strong of a smoke flavor you can easily adjust the smoke flavor by adding extra ketchup.

[OU812]

Bummer with the cheese N_S at least you didnt loose the whole batch.

I would think an over night rest in the fridge the smoke flavor in the ketchup should become more robust.

[Northern_Smoke]

Ok, the ketchup sat in the fridge overnight and i was so excited that at breakfast, i put some on my finger to try. Letting it rest overnight was definitely a good idea. The smokiness is delicious and that was without eating it with anything. I think this would be great with french fries or any kind of meat that doesn't get smoked...maybe on a loaded hamburger. Either way, it tastes amazing. It takes a 4 dollar bottle of ketchup and turns it into a 15 dollar bottle of nothing you have tasted before. Its a little bit like BBQ cause you have the tomato and the smoke but more like ketchup. Really hard to explain but very interesting to taste.

I think one reason it might not have tasted so strong was i spent the day yesterday around the smoker smelling smoke. Then i packaged up my cheese and smelled smoke and probably had a smoke flavor on my hands from handling it. Then when it came time to taste the ketchup, i already had a smoke overload so it didn't stand out that strong. But today it is very pronounced. I think this will be a keeper and possibly something i will try again once this small batch is used up. I am going to try what Habanero Smoker said he did and put some franks red hot in next time and see if i can give that some smoke. We put it on everything...And i mean everything. My 6 and 3 year old even eat it.

So to summarise, i think anyone that uses ketchup would like the flavor the smoke brings to it. And lets be honest, how often to you have a completely full smoker....you can always find room for a small container to try it with :D

[OU812]

I believe the smoke over load does happen to a person, you just need to clean your pallet with a nice beverage throughout the smoke time.

Its amazing what a over night rest in the fridge does to the flavor of things.