Did you know that you can smoke sweet potatoes? Whether you do it for the light smoke flavor or for the convenience of making a side at the same time as the main entree, it's a very good idea and I'll show you the easy steps below to smoked sweet potato nirvana!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 3 hourshours
Total Time 3 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Author Jeff Phillips
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoesas many as you'd like
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Butter
Brown Sugaroptional
Jeff's original ruboptional
Instructions
Prepare the Sweet Potatoes
Scrub the potatoes under cool water to remove any dirt, grime, etc.
Dry them with a clean paper towel.
I was always taught to poke potatoes before baking them to let the steam escape and prevent exploding.. there is a lot of skepticism regarding this being really necessary but I figure it's easy to do and life is too short for taking these kind of chances. It's your potatoes.. so, you assume the risk;-)
Set them on a cooling rack, Bradley rack or Weber grill pan as this makes it really easy to transport them to and from the smoker but you can use anything you like.. even a large bowl.
Brush on some olive oil.. Then some kosher salt.
Voila! They are ready for the smoker!
Smoke the Sweet Potatoes
At 225°F, you are looking at 2.5 to 3 hours however if you crank the heat up to about 275-300, you can get these done in about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Place the potatoes directly on the rack or leave them on the cooling rack and set the whole thing in the smoker.
Let them cook with smoke flowing until they are soft just like you like them.
If you like them al dente, then you can remove them a little sooner or if you like them really soft (like I do) then leave them longer.
If they get done before the other food, keep them hot for several hours in the oven at 170°F.
You can eat them savory or sweet or try both and see which you like better.
A little butter with my original rub is really good or if you prefer, butter and plenty of brown sugar is good enough to be dessert.
I paired these sweet potatoes with some citrus rosemary cornish hens and the combination was a hit!