Hands-On with the Tower 6 Litre Digital Pressure Smoker & Multi-Cooker

Hands-On with the Tower 6 Litre Digital Pressure Smoker & Multi-Cooker

We’ve been rather busy here at Tower HQ since we last brought you a video of one of our fantastic kitchen appliances. Not only have we been beavering away to create a host of new grills perfect for the summer when alfresco dining is the done thing, we’ve also come up with something that’ll allow you to enjoy authentic barbecue flavours even when the weather fails you. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Tower 6 Litre Digital Pressure Smoker & Multi-Cooker! As you’ll see from the video above, this handy kitchen appliance brings together a variety of functions. You may already know what culinary wizardry can be achieved using a Multi-Cooker (if not, take a look at this feature and be enlightened), but for many of you out there, the concept of the pressure smoker might be a little confusing. Fear not though as we’re about to tell you just what it is and what it’s capable of…

Smokers explained

A smoker, in the culinary sense at least, is an appliance that infuses food with delicious smoked flavours whilst cooking. They come in many forms and have been around for years. However, most 'traditional' types of smoker are too large to use in the home and are mainly found being used at outdoor events. The food they produce is very tasty however, so their popularity has led to the development of compact, electrical appliances that achieve the same delicious results. Kitchen-top smokers are much more convenient to use and perhaps most importantly, can be deployed indoors without users having to worry about naked flames. They don’t need bulky fuel sources such as wood or charcoal as a heat source and can be plugged in to the mains, meaning you can enjoy barbecue-style food without the need to have a barbecue. All smokers have one thing in common though – they all rely on hardwood placed over a heat source to create the smoke that infuses the food being cooked.  Why hardwood? You might ask. Well, softwoods such as pine and cedar contain too much resin (the liquid compound found within most plants and trees) and will become soggy when heated, ruining whatever you’re cooking and your smoker too.

Why pressure is better

The Tower 6 Litre Digital Pressure Smoker & Multi-Cooker is an electric, kitchen-top smoker that works by heating an element beneath the wood pan, which in turn causes the wood to release smoke that permeates through cooking chamber, flavoring your food. In addition, the pressure element of the cooking process akin to that found in a standard pressure cooker, helps retain vitamins, nutrients, and flavour usually lost during ‘standard’ cooking methods. The pressure cooking aspect also has another benefit in that the steam/smoke mix your food is subjected to under intense pressure helps the hardwood smoked flavour permeate deeper into cuts of meat. Slow and consistent cooking gives the smoke from the supplied hardwood chips (or any other chips you might choose to use) time to infuse with the meat and allows it to tenderise naturally. Meat cooked in pressure smokers are generally more succulent as the cooking process they employ helps break down the natural connective tissue. Depending on the type of meat, this procedure actually turns connective tissue into a basic sugar, giving a light, sweet taste when infused with the hardwood smoke and adding a delicious richness to the flavours. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to choosing which hardwoods to use but the general consensus is that heavier woods like oak and hickory are better for ‘heavier’ meats such as beef and pork. Lighter hardwoods such as birch, juniper and beech are said to be better for smoking ‘lighter’ meats like fish and poultry. Check out our infographic below to find out which hardwood to use with which meats: If you'd like to get your hands on this fantastic product then you're in luck as we've got an amazing discount for you. Head over to the Tower 6 Litre Digital Pressure Cooker & Multi-Cooker page and enter the discount code SMOKEMACHINE when you get to the checkout. Hurry though as this offer only runs until 10 June!