Rational VarioSmoker Instructions for use
VarioSmoker.
Application manual
for iCombi®Pro and
iCombi®Classic.
Chapter 1
04 Smoking made easy.
05 How the VarioSmoker works.
06 General information on
smoking.
07 Ingredients for creating smoke.
Chapter 2
08
Chapter 3
14 Examples with poultry.
Chapter 4
24 Examples with meat.
Table of contents
Chapter 5
32 Examples with vegetables.
Chapter 6
36 Examples with low-
temperature smoking.
32
Smoking without an extra smoker oven? The VarioSmoker allows you
to cook and smoke food at the same time in your cooking system. This
according to your preferences.
In the iCombi Pro, the VarioSmoker is controlled intelligently via the USB
interface. Once the VarioSmoker has been connected to the cooking
system, cooking paths are displayed in the iCookingSuite, which ensures
optimal smoking results.
few minutes of heating up, the intelligence of the iCombi Pro will deliver
an optimal and professional cooking and smoking result. You can also use
the VarioSmoker in all RATIONAL combi-steamers manufactured from
1997, but in manual mode.
This application manual will help you achieve optimal and professional
cooking and smoking results both when using the intelligent cooking
paths in the iCombi Pro and when smoking manually in RATIONAL
combi-steamers.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it in your iCombi Pro on a rack
above or below the food and close the cooking cabinet door. If you are
using the bottom rack level, slide another Gastronorm container above the
VarioSmoker so that fat does not drip onto it.
Intelligent mode
1. Remove the protective cover on the power supply for the USB port.
2. Insert the USB connector into the power supply and the USB port on the
cooking system.
the smoker cooking paths are displayed in the iCookingSuite.
4. Press the smoker button to display all the intelligent smoker
cooking paths.
5. Start the desired cooking process. The VarioSmoker will be controlled
automatically during the cooking path.
If you remove the USB cable from the power supply during operation,
a message will appear on the display. The intelligent cooking path will
the USB cable is reconnected, the VarioSmoker will restart in the intelligent
cooking path.
Manual operation
Switch on the VarioSmoker with the mains switch. The VarioSmoker will
heat up and smoking will begin.
Manual operating mode in the iCombiPro
Once the VarioSmoker has been connected with the USB cable and
switched on, on and o will be shown on the display. This means the
VarioSmoker can be used at any time.
Smoking made easy. General instructions for using the VarioSmoker
successfully.
How the VarioSmoker works.
Information:
›
› If the option "New batch" is available, check whether the smoking chips need
to be piled up.
›
cleaning tips for your VarioSmoker in your operating instructions.
1
4 5
meat types are especially suited for smoking. Bacon, pork belly, whole
Various beef cuts, poultry, lamb, turkey or duck are likewise excellent
products for smoking. There are also great options for vegetarian
alternatives.
with standard smoking materials such as wood chips or pellets. By
selecting smoking materials, the temperature in the cooking cabinet and
an appropriate preparation of your raw materials you can determine the
aroma and intensity.
you can use wood chips or even dried herbs or spices. It is not necessary
to soak the wood chips beforehand. Read the usage examples for ideas
on the types of wood that are most suited for each product.
In the smoking paths, you have the option to select an additional pre-
smoking in order to customise the intensity of the smoke aroma.
5 pre-smoking levels
There are 5 smoking levels to choose from each with 20 minutes of
Only use suitable and approved material for smoking. Also read the
operating instructions enclosed.
Read and carefully follow the operating instructions enclosed,
which contain the safety precautions and warranty terms and
conditions.
General information on smoking. Ingredients for creating smoke.
1
6 7
particular sensitivity as the exact combination of preparation and
temperature is crucial.
possible. For all applications, remove the gills and scales and clean the
It produces the distinct saltiness and the characteristic smoked skin.
For dry salting, you can also use modern spice mixes such as basil, lime,
orange or fresh bay leaves.
2
Golden yellow skin from the smoke, and the
meat underneath has a distinct spicy avour.
Examples with sh.
The following table summarises the possibilities for preparing sh.
Method Dry salting Wet salting Brine
Preparation Sprinkle and rub the
inside and outside and
place it in a tub. Salt
must be able to drain
Prepare a 5-8 percent
cooking salt solution.
To do this, dissolve
50-80 g of cooking
salt in 1 litre of water.
Prepare enough brine
loosely in the solution.
Dissolve as much
salt in the water as is
needed to reach the
degree of saturation.
Depending on the
temperature, the salt
content is 27-33
percent.
Time The salting time is
1-2 hours.
this solution at room
temperature for
around 12 hours.
Approx. 2 hours is
enough.
Note This method does
not guarantee even
used.
The solution may only
be used once (due
to blood and mucus
residues).
The solution may only
be used once (due
to blood and mucus
residues)
98
Example with sh.
Smoked salmon.
Instructions
Place the salmon pieces in the brine for 8
and leave it to dry in a cold room for 12 hours.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
In the meantime, season the salmon with
lemon rind, tarragon and dill and use an
appropriate roasting and baking tray for
cooking.
Once the VarioSmoker begins smoking and
your RATIONAL combi-steamer asks you to
load, place the salmon in the cooking cabinet
and close the cooking cabinet door.
Ingredients
for 64 portions
› 8 salmon sides
›
› Lemon rind, tarragon
and dill
› Apple wood chips
› RATIONAL roasting and baking
tray
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
2
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 80 °C 54 °C 100 % Stage 3
1110
Example with sh.
Hot-smoked trout,
mackerel.
Instructions
Place the trout in the brine for 8 hours on the
the cool room for 12 hours.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it in
food and close the cooking cabinet door. Select the
appropriate setting for your cooking system. The
program will start automatically in the iCombi Pro.
In the meantime, season the trout to taste and use a
grid for cooking.
Once the VarioSmoker begins smoking and your
RATIONAL combi-steamer asks you to load, place
the salmon in the cooking cabinet and close the
CNS grid or hang it on a hook in the cooking cabinet.
Ingredients
for 16 portions
› 8 trout
›
› Juniper berries, bay
leaves, peppercorns,
allspice
› Beech chips, hickory
chips › RATIONAL CNS grid
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
2
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 150 °C 65 °C 100 % Stage 3
1312
the low fat content and the relatively high proportion of protein, poultry
is a popular food. However, poultry meat does have a tendency to
become dry.
A gentle cooking process combined with the VarioSmoker is therefore
ideal for preparing poultry meat.
3
Create avours and intensity according to your taste.
Examples with poultry.
1514
Example with poultry.
Smoked grilled chicken.
Instructions
Prepare a spice mix from the spices and rub it
into inside and outside of the chicken.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
Use the chicken superspike for cooking.
Ingredients
for 24 portions
› 12 grilled chickens
› 50 g raw sugar
› 30 g paprika, sweet
› 30 g onion powder
› 30 g mustard powder
› 20 g garlic powder
› 30 g thyme
› 50 g sea salt
› 30 g black
peppercorns, crushed
› Cherry wood chips
› Chicken superspike
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
3
Preheat Step 1
160 °C 60 % Stage 2 150 °C 90 % 72 °C Stage 3
Step 2
150 °C 40 % 88 °C Stage 3
1716
Example with poultry.
Smoked turkey breast.
Instructions
Bring the brine to the boil and then chill it.
Place the turkey breast in the brine in the cool
room for 12 hours. Then take the turkey breast
out of the brine. Dry it for another 6 hours in
the cold room.
Prepare a spice mix from the ground coriander,
pepper, aniseed, paprika, ground peppercorns,
brown sugar and fresh garlic.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
In the meantime, season the turkey breast with
the spice mix and use a CNS grid for cooking.
Ingredients
for 24 portions
› 2.4 kg turkey breast
›
120 g salt,
120 g sugar
› Zest one each of
untreated lemon and
orange, 1 bunch of
chopped parsley (add
to the brine)
› 3 tbsp black
peppercorns
› 1 tbsp ground aniseed
› 40 g paprika, sweet
› 2 tbsp ground
mustard seeds
› 3 tbsp brown sugar
› 8 Garlic cloves
› Juniper wood chips
› RATIONAL CNS grid
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
3
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 120 °C 60 °C 100 % Stage 2
Step 2
110 °C 72 °C 80 % Stage 2
1918
Example with poultry.
Smoked duck breast.
Instructions
Place the duck breast in the brine for 12 hours.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
In the meantime, season the duck breast with
the fresh rosemary and use a CNS grid for
cooking.
Ingredients
for 6 portions
› 6 duck breasts
›
½ litre of water,
30 g salt
› Zest of one untreated
orange (add to the
brine)
› Rosemary
› Oak wood chips,
orange wood › RATIONAL CNS grid
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
3
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 190 °C 80 % 3 min Stage 3
Step 2
150 °C 80 % 68 °C Stage 3
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
2120
Example with poultry.
Smoked chicken legs.
Instructions
Place the chicken legs in the brine for 24 hours.
in cold room to dry for 12 hours.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
In the meantime, season the chicken legs with
salt, sugar, madras curry powder and ground
paprika, and use a roasting and baking tray for
cooking.
Ingredients
for 10 portions
› 10 chicken legs
›
120 g salt,
2 litres of water
› Salt, sugar, madras
curry powder and
ground paprika
(sweet)
› Apple wood chips › RATIONAL roasting and baking
tray
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
3
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 140 °C 84 °C 100 % Stage 4
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
2322
4
In principle, you can use any meat for smoking.
One small exception is cured meat, which should not be grilled or
processed at high temperatures because of the curing salts they contain.
Beef, pork, poultry and lamb are good options for smoking.
Pulled pork, beef brisket and spare ribs are now the most well-known
meats used for smoking. Beef brisket in particular has recently become
very popular.
This is made by cooking and smoking beef brisket. It is the time that
makes the beef brisket so irresistible. Pulled pork is where the pork meat
has been cooked and pulled apart. Here too, the time is what produces
the delicious result. It is made by cooking a pork shoulder in the cooking
system for up to 11 hours. Spare ribs are also known as baby back ribs.
They are succulent and meaty and are also cooked in the cooking system
for several hours and then smoked with the VarioSmoker.
This special method produces extremely tender
meat with smoky aromas.
Examples with meat.
2524
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 150 °C 20 min 80 % Stage 4
Step 2 Step 3
110 °C 83 °C 100 % Stage 3 110 °C 60 min 100 % Stage 3
Example with meat.
Pork neck/
shoulder (pulled pork).
Instructions
Mix all ingredients for the rub and rub it evenly
into the pork meat. Vacuum pack the meat and
place it in the cold room for 12 hours.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
Use a granite-enamelled container for cooking.
Ingredients
for 18 portions
› 3 kg pork neck/
shoulder
› 60 g mild red paprika
› 2 tsp cayenne pepper
› 4 tsp garlic powder
› 2 tsp black
peppercorns
› 2 tsp salt
› 2 tbsp brown sugar
› 2 tsp cumin
› 2 tsp onion powder
› 1 tsp ground ginger
› Hickory chips, oak
chips
› RATIONAL container, granite-
enamelled
Tip:
Also possible with
Delta-T cooking.
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
4
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
2726
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 120 °C 150 min 50 % Stage 3
Glaze Preheat Step 2
Take out and
marinate the spare
ribs. Remove the
VarioSmoker
from the cooking
cabinet. 260 °C 40 % Stage 4 255 °C 15 min 40 % Stage 4
Example with meat.
Smoked spare ribs.
Instructions
Mix the ingredients for the spice paste and
evenly rub it into the ribs; season the meat side
more than the bone side.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
Use the ribs rack for cooking. Remove the
VarioSmoker from the iCombi for gratinating.
Ingredients
for 12 portions
› 12 spare ribs
› 12 tbsp medium
mustard
› 12 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce
› 12 tsp coarse sea salt
› 12 tsp cane sugar
› 12 tsp chilli powder
› 6 tsp garlic powder
› 6 tsp freshly ground
black pepper
› Apple wood chips
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
4
› RATIONAL spare rib rack
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
2928
Pre-smoke
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2
Step 1 Step 2
140 °C 60 °C 100 % Stage 2 110 °C 72 °C 80 % Stage 2
Example with meat.
Smoked brisket.
Instructions
Rub the beef brisket with salt and crushed
pepper.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
Use a granite-enamelled container for cooking.
Ingredients
for 35 portions
› 7 kg beef brisket
› Salt, pepper
› Hickory chips
› RATIONAL container, granite-
enamelled
Tip:
Also possible with
Delta-T cooking.
iCombiClassic settings
Accessories
4
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
3130
Example with vegetables.
Smoked sweet potato.
Instructions
Peel the sweet potato and dice. First steam for
the humidity has to dry out.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
Use a granite-enamelled container for cooking.
Ingredients
› 1 kg sweet potatoes
› Salt
› Apple wood chips
iCombiClassic settings
5
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 140 °C 20 min 100 % Stage 3
› RATIONAL container, granite-
enamelled
Tip:
Also possible with
Delta-T cooking.
Accessories
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
3332
Example with vegetables.
Smoked colourful
vegetables.
Instructions
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
Select the appropriate setting for your cooking
system. The program will start automatically in
the iCombi Pro.
Use a RATIONAL roasting and baking tray for
the VarioSmoker begins smoking and your
RATIONAL cooking system asks you to load,
place the vegetables in the cooking cabinet
and close the cooking cabinet door. Serve the
vegetables as a side dish or make a salsa out of
them.
Ingredients
› 10 tomatoes
› 3 Onions
› 150 g red chilli
› 5 bulbs of garlic
› 3 yellow and 3 red
peppers
›
› Salt
› Apple wood chips
iCombiClassic settings
5
Pre-smoke Step 1
30 °C 20 min 30 % Stage 2 150 °C 100 % 20 min Stage 3
Accessories
› RATIONAL roasting and baking
tray
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
3534
6
With the VarioSmoker, you can gently smoke in the temperature range
between 30 °C and 40 °C in the iCombi Pro. This is because the fan
wheel only rotates slowly and no heat is used.
Preserving, avouring and seasoning food.
Examples with low-temperature
smoking.
Tip:
In order to ensure a low cooking cabinet temperature from
the start, the iCombi Pro will perform a "cool down" at the
beginning.
In order to achieve an even lower temperature, a container
with ice can be placed on the lowest rack.
3736
Example with sh.
Smoked salmon.
Instructions
Place the salmon sides in the brine for 8 hours
leave to it dry in a cold room for 12 hours.
Fill the VarioSmoker with wood chips, place it
in your iCombi Pro on a rack above or below
the food and close the cooking cabinet door.
start automatically in the iCombi Pro.
In the meantime, season the salmon with the
use a RATIONAL roasting and baking tray for
cooking.
Once the VarioSmoker begins smoking and
your RATIONAL cooking system asks you to
load, place the salmon in the cooking cabinet
and close the cooking cabinet door.
Ingredients
for 64 portions
› 8 salmon sides
›
120 g salt,
4 litres of water
› Zest of one each of
untreated lemon, lime
and orange
› Apple wood chips
› RATIONAL container, stainless
steel
Accessories
6
iCombiPro settings
Cooking path
3938
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