# Smokin Good Clam Bake



## y2kpitt

Tonight I had another fantastic smoking experience.  I decided to try a full fledge clam bake in my ECB SnP.  Man did it turn out great.  I was going to include some Dungeness crab but since Jeff's newsletter with a Cornish hen recipe came out the same week Safeway put Cornish hens on sale I thought this must be fate.  I smoked using a blend of apple, cherry and alder wood at a temp range between 190 - 220.  The hens took just a little over 3 hours everything else took around an hour.  I had pretty good luck with timing and all the seafood and veggies got done just as the hens got done with their rest time.

List of goodies -
2 Salmons
2 Lobster Tail
2 lbs Clams
2 Cornish Hens
4 small ears of Corn on the cob
6 small Red potatoes
4 Yellow potatoes
4 Sweet onions

 8) 

Lobster Tail recipe (to good not to try)
2 cups of seafood stock (475ml) 
1 cup of dry white wine (250ml) 
Â½ cup of honey (125ml) 
Â¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil (60ml) 
2 tablespoons of kosher salt (30ml) 
2 bay leaves 
2 teaspoons dried thyme (10ml) 
4-7 ounce Main lobster tails, uncooked 

- 1Â½ hours before smoking, combine all the ingredients with the exception of the lobster, into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir until honey and salt have fully dissolved. 
- Let the marinade cool to room temperature. 
- Place the lobster tails into a shallow glass dish. Pour the cooled marinade overtop of the tails, cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.  
- Place the lobster tails shell side down on the far side of the grill as far from the smoke and heat possible. Smoke for 40 minutes until cooked through


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## sasquatch

Y2k, Thats an awesome collection of grub ya got goin on there, makin me hungry!!!! Im definatly gonna have to try your Lobster reciepe, sounds great....I hope it ate as well as looks. Im gonna get my GOSM fired up here in another hour or so and start my race day feast !!! take care and happy smokin !!
              Todd


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## bob-bqn

:shock: Fantastic!!! 8) 

I couldn't see getting a meal that great in any of the finest restaurants. My only suggestion would be BIGGER PICTURES! :lol: I wouldn't want to slow down the forum but if you'd like to email me a full size of the presentation shot, I'd really like to see it. Very impressive! 8)

bob_bqn
AT
yahoo
DOT
com


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## brianj517

:shock: WOW! :shock: What an awsome display. That is some of the finest lookig seafood I've ever seen on one plate! Nice work, Y2K.

Cheers,
Brian


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## y2kpitt

Thanks guys, I can't stress enough how easy this meal was.

Here is the timeline (8 hours including the brine time for the hens)
- Brine the hens, this only takes four hours and well worth it
- while the hens are brining go to the store and get clams and lobster
- Get the smoker ready (for me that is getting a fire going)
Smoker Reaches 200* -
  - Put the hens in
  - at the same time do the following 
    - cook up lobster marinade
    - mix up 1 gallon of water with 3Tbsp Sea Salt and 1/4cup corn meal
    - Relax with your favorite beverage and man the smoker

After one hour do the following -
  - put the clams in the saltwater and keep them in a cool place
  - put lobster in class bowl and pour the marinade over them cover and put in fridge
  - rub salmon (I use a mixture of old bay, sugar in the raw and some dryed peppers)
  - Relax with your favoirte beverage and man the smoker

After two hours do the following -
  - peel the onions then boil them and the potatoes whole for 15 minutes
  - wrap corn in foil (I had to use froze corn other wise I would have just removed the silk and left them in the husks)
  - drain the clams
  - drain the lobster tails

After potatoes are done boiling put everyting in the smoker and in about 30 minutes take off the hens and wrap them in foil.  15 minutes later everything else should be done so unwrap the hens and put it all in one big roaster for presentation and you are ready to pop the top on some white wine (personally I recommend a Riesling) and enjoy the clam bake you will never for get 


Here are just a couple of medium size pics for a better view


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## bwsmith_2000

Y2K,
      Great looking meal! I'm definitely putting this one in the "must try" file. But I have a question .... did you split the lobster tail in the process or serve them whole? (I was wondering about the mariande getting into the meat with the shell in tact.)


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## y2kpitt

I left the shells intact, I wasn't quite sure how long everything was going to take and lobster can get a little chewy if it gets over done.  So even though I let them soak for an hour I still injected the meat with some of the marinade right before I put them in the smoker.  They turned out so juicy we didn't even use butter. 

That being said I think you could easily do the same thing and split the underbelly.  If you did that you could skip the injection and probably get a slightly more smoky taste.  They may even cook a little quicker as well.  Just make sure you put them in the smoker shell side down to help trap moisture as long as possible.


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## bwsmith_2000

Y2K,
      Thanks! I'll definitely be trying this one.


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## bob-bqn

When I show this to my wife, I'm sure we'll be doing this too! Thanks Y2K for the bigger pics. :D


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## Dutch

Y2 just as a thought-the next time you do this seafood smoke you might want to put you 'taters right into the smoker when you put the birds in. I like to give my 'taters a veggie oil and kosher salt massage just before they go on the racks. 

For last Valentine's Day I  tossed a Dungeness Crab onto the ECB smoker with some apple chips while I grilled up a couple of steaks.  I just popped the back off of the crab and cleaned out the interior and cracked the claws. When the little critter turned a nice pink it was then placed on a platter and served to my Bride!


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## y2kpitt

Earl,

Thanks for the tip about the taters, they were one thing that I wish had a more smokey flavor and I was thinking about quartering them after I boiled them but just coating them with a salty rub and put them in the smoker is even easier.  I will give it a try on Saturday when I smoke a bunch of chickens I got on sale last Sunday; man my wife's Moms Group just can't get enough smokey chicken salad.  I give her a hard time by asking her 'what are all those hen's doing eating all that chicken' :)


In regards to crustaceans, what I'm really hoping to try this year is some softshell blue crabs.  If anyone has a good recipe I would love to see it.


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