Just Add Smoke With the Breville Smoking Gun

We recently brought on the  Breville Smoking Gun as a new addition to our product offerings. Unlike the large outdoor smokers that smoke large cuts of meat, the Smoking Gun is a handheld cold smoker that adds a dash of seasoning. It’s quick and versatile, and we bet every home chef could find a dozen ways to use it.

We searched for some resources online to help illustrate the usefulness of the Smoking Gun. You may find yourself using it as frequently as salt and pepper to season your foods.

The Smoking Gun on Breville Food Thinkers

The Breville Food Thinkers blog features a variety of suggestions for using the Smoking Gun. One reason we love their ideas is that they don’t limit themselves to meat or cheese. Two of the recipes feature cocktails, and two others are for desserts.

The  Side Car recipe includes smoked sugar, along with smoking the entire combination using hickory wood chips and pepper. The Bloody Mary recipe is similar, using the Smoking Gun to season the contents of the cocktail shaker, in addition to the bacon garnish. Such an unusual way to spice up brunch.

The  Smoked Bourbon Cherry Ice Cream takes a lot of prep time, both active and inactive, but it will knock your guests’ socks off. It’s also the perfect time of year to make it, since cherries are in season. Save the other dessert — a Smoked Maple Pecan Tart — for the holidays. It would be an extra-special addition to your Thanksgiving table (and another dessert option that isn’t pumpkin pie).

The Smoking Gun on PolyScience Culinary

You'll find even more creative recipes on  PolyScience Culinary. They have cocktail and dessert recipes too, but we found a few others that raised our eyebrows.

For example, smoking can add flavor dimension to Tex-Mex toppings, like salsa verde and guacamole. The Smoking Gun makes it simple: all you have to do is fill the bowl of your food processor with smoke. Let your salsa or your guacamole absorb the smoke for several minutes, and then serve. Use your own recipes, or try the ones on PolyScience Culinary.

Another recipe we can’t wait to try is  Smoked Spinach and Strawberry Salad. You won’t smoke the spinach or strawberries; instead, it’s the vinaigrette that you’ll infuse with smoky flavor. Try this approach with any homemade dressing to take your salad up a notch or two.

The Smoking Gun on Bon Appetit and Tasting Table

A couple of our favorite foodie websites have covered their own experiences with the Smoking Gun. They both had some smart insights that didn’t occur to us, so we want to share them here.

Bon Appetit noted that adding smoke to roasted or sautéed vegetables imparts almost a meaty flavor. Using the Smoking Gun could help make vegetarian dishes more appealing to carnivores who insist no dish is complete without meat. They also seconded the value of the Smoking Gun for amping up cocktails. We love the idea of smoking scotch or bourbon, whether you use it as the base of a cocktail or sip it straight.

Tasting Table suggested mixing herbs and spices with the wood chips, or even using them on their own to generate smoky flavor. We expect dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, and thyme would work beautifully. We’re also curious to try sweeter spices, like cinnamon sticks or whole cloves. They could produce a fantastic flavor for cider or eggnog.

The more we think about all the ways we could use the Breville Smoking Gun, the more we realize this gadget isn’t one that will haunt a far corner of our kitchen cabinets. Instead, we bet we’ll enjoy experimenting with this tool in all sorts of unexpected ways.

Give the Breville Smoking Gun as a gift, or treat yourself. $99.95 on our site, plus free shipping.