Liquid Smoke - Liquid Gold?

So the days at the short lived Dad's Backyard Burgers in Merrifield are long since past, but the memories of their Wisconsin Smoked Chedder Burger still lingered on my tongue. There wasn't a week that went by that a momentary yearning would once again spark and I would desire that smoked beef. Of course, what is funny about it, they didn't have a smoker. So where did that smokey flavor come from? Liquid Smoke of course.

So seasons passed and the desire did not go away, then finally one day I was terribly bored at work and searched for Liquid Smoke online. Turns out Colgin is the name of the company and smoke is their game. So you are thinking, how do they make it taste like smoke...well, it doesn't just taste like smoke, it is smoke. Now I'm sure that any halfwit who attended chemistry class could have figured this out, but a simple condensing of smoke as it left the chimney (cause smoke is a gas) and then some refining created this liquid which is essentially smokey water. I know, it doesn't sound like much the way I describe it...but it is so much better.

I tried it in burgers...good but I still need to tweek the recipe. I tried in the crockpot with a beef pot roast...wow that was mighty good. It's like I cooked the pot roast on a smoker. But the coup de gras was Chicken. Chicken marinated in liquid smoke (along with some salt and seasonings) and then cooked on the grill till it was done was fantastic. I mean, the wife and the kids just ate it up. I couldn't get enough and let me tell you the next day at work when reheating, it was even better. I have to give 5 stars to the liquid smoke that I might just need to put on everything now (well maybe not the pancakes). The next test will be a full chicken marinated in smoke and grilled slowly with a salty-rosemary crust. Yumm.