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Calling all smokers,

7K views 53 replies 12 participants last post by  teamfat 
#1 ·
Sausage makers, bacon expert and everyone else interested.

I have just started making sausages and bacon and am about to try my hand on smoking as well.

I have wanted to do this for a long time, but never really did.

Some of the entries in the pork challenge of last month made my mouth water, so I bit the bullet and went ahead.

So I tried some sausages the other day:


Finely cut shoulder pork with spices (hand cut)


The mincer with stuffer attachment etc all set up


The first ever sausages I made coming out :)


A tray of sausages


And finished on the braai (the other stuff at the side is belly pork)

I would like to see what you are all doing, and how you are doing it (set up, recipes, tips, smoked chicken, fish bacon, vegetables(?) etc etc).

I am building a cold smoker which will never work as a cold smoker here because of the climate, so maybe I should just call it a tropical smoker?

In the mean time I will be using my fake webber braai and I have also bought a proQ cold smoke generator which got delivered yesterday.

In the pork thread, this proQ thingy was used by Culinaire Zaken for cold smoking sausages and he seemed to like the thing and his sausages looked awesome, so I bought one.

Now I just need to find myself a precission scale so I can weigh the nitrite necessary for cold smoking accurately and then the sky is the limit (hopefully)

Please post all your experiments !!!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
As long as you keep chamber temp below 40C (give or take) you're "cold smoking." 

We cold smoke outdoors in a large covered pit, which usually serves as our Santa Maria style steak grill.  The foods we mostly cold smoke are fish, sausage, and cheese.   

To keep temps down, we run the smoke in from an external smoke generator, and cool the chamber with with one or two large, ice-filled pans if ambient temps require. I place really delicate food -- cheese or even butter, for instance -- in a pan set directly on the ice and keep a very close eye on chamber temp.     

Cold smoking at night saves ice. 

Make sure you brine any fish which you're going to cold smoke.  More often than not, I go beyond that and "cure" fish before smoking, as I would do when making gravlaks.   This shortens the smoke time to get to a usable product from days down to hours, and leads to better texture.  

Using "cure" in any sausage you're going to cold smoke, is also a good idea. 

An excellent way of getting smoke into food without actually cold or hot smoking it, is seasoning before cooking with smoked salt.  To make smoked salt in your hot smoker, cover the bottom of a baking sheet with a thin layer of coarse salt, and let it smoke for a couple of hours.  There's no reason you can't do it while you're smoking other things -- just remember to place the pan somewhere where nothing can drip on it.   

BDL
 
#4 ·
I actually did try my hand on some streaky bacon, according to this recipe: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/nov/11/recipes.pork

The taste was good, but way way too salty.

Totally my own fault as I hardly rinsed it after 4 days in a dry cure (without nitrites) I didn't realise that that was actually necessary to level out the salt content (obviously the outside will be salter than the inside and by soaking/rinsing it for a short while, the salt level of the outer levels diminishes while the inside stays the same, so basically leveling it out,, but it wasn't that obvious to me at the time).

Anyway, I had/have part in the freezer and when I defrosted a piece, I rinsed it at that time. Still salty, but acceptable now and very very tasty.

Picture to follow as that doesn't seem to work at the moment.
 
#6 ·
@ BDL

I like the idea of smoking salt!

I think I'll do that at my first attempt as it doesn't look like much can go wrong and it gives me a chance to check how much hotter than ambient temperature my set-up is going to be.

Regarding temperature, in another forum I saw someone using big bottles of frozen water inside the chamber and I am going to copy that!

Can you tell me something more about the way you do fish? Do you use any nitrite or just salt? Would any type of fish work?

I am in a land locked country, so we get mainly riverfish (esp tilapia), although we can get frozen whole and filleted fish

@ Mike,

I got my set up worked out in my head, I just need to implement it and will show some pics when it is done. It is based on a steel pipe (almost like a drum) I got my hands on and will have an air inlet at the bottom, just above that will be my cold smoke generator (or a heater plate with any type of wood or sawdust), above that 2 half-circular plates to make sure the smoke gets all over the place. on the top will be sticks to hang down food, and an option to put a grid, and obviously the top vents won't be forgotten.

@teamfat,

Yes, I am enjoying /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I am also thinking of copying your smoked tomatoes (as posted in the tomato challenge thread). What temperature did you smoke them at?

And here is a pic of my unsmoked bacon. Not a very good picture but it will give an idea:

 
#9 · (Edited)
If I'm making a gravlaks type cure, followed by a very light, cold smoke; I sprinkle the fish salt, sugar, and press the fish with herbs (dill, usually), sprinkle a little booze (gin, Vermouth or a fruity white or rose, or a flowery white like a Riesling), press two pieces together face to face, wrap in cling wrap, and press with a weighted pan.  Every 8 to 12 hours, I unwrap, drain the liquid, and turn the fish.  This can go from 1 day to as long as 3. 

If you're planning on doing something with your cold smoked fish other than slicing it -- making a smoked trout dip for instance, you don't need to press it.  If you're hot smoking and serving the fish as steaks or fillets, you can dry-brine it in the same way, also omitting the pressing. 

If you're doing fillets for slicing, it will make slicing a lot easier if you leave the skin on. 

After brining, rinse, and dry thoroughly (very thoroughly, you want a pellicle) before putting it the smoker.  I rinse, pat the fish dry with towels, blow dry it with a hair dryer (heat off, of course), pat it with a towel again, then into the fridge on a rack to finish air-drying.  

I hardly ever use a "wet brine" for fish anymore, whether cold or hot smoking.  The exception is smoking anything whole AND skin-on.  

I don't use nitrite or nitrate cures for fish.  Be aware that cold smoked fish doesn't keep any longer than cold smoked fish.  In other words, follow the same rules about keeping as you would for smoked salmon in Holland.  If you're holding for more than a couple of days, wrap tightly in cling film (or vacuum pack if possible), and hold in the freezer. 

Cold smoking is not cooking.  Consequently you want at least some freezing somewhere between catch and table to ensure that any parasites are killed. 

Whether hot or cold, you always want to use a very mild wood for smoking fish.  I don't know what you have available in Effreekka, but fruit trees are generally milder than nut trees, and any sort of citrus wood is good for fish. 

Never had smoked tilapia.  On the one hand, why not?  On the other, tilapia is a very lean fish and when it comes to smoking -- the fatter the better. 

"Frozen water" and "ice" are very similar.  Feel free to substitute.

BDL
 
#10 ·
So, my smoker is ready and it is experimenting time this weekend!
Thanks for all the tips sofar.
One thing that I still struggle with is the use of nitrites.
It seems like there are no clear rules about their use. As far as I understand, they should be used when cold smoking sausages because of the anaeroob conditions (sausage skin and smoke combined with low temperature).
When smoking above 70 something oC they are not necessary.
But now what about fish, beef, lamb etc ?

Anyway, my first experiments will be a pork chop, chicken, some eggs and coarse salt.
All in small amounts and not touching and /or dripping on each other.

The pork chop will go in a dry cure with some nitrite for a couple of hours.
The chicken will be poached and dried before smoking (also with some nitrite added)
The eggs will be hard boiled and cracked and the salt just somewhere on a tray in the smoker (and then used on freshly roasted peanuts)

More to follow.....
 
#11 · (Edited)
...One thing that I still struggle with is the use of nitrites.
It seems like there are no clear rules about their use. As far as I understand, they should be used when cold smoking sausages because of the anaeroob conditions (sausage skin and smoke combined with low temperature).
When smoking above 70 something oC they are not necessary.
But now what about fish, beef, lamb etc ?
Butzy, your concern about nitrites is very right, they are suspected to transform into cancerogenous substances. Years ago there was a big thing with butchers using loads of it to keep minced beef nicely red. Nowadays it is very much regulated on European level how much nitrite that can be used. There's a very good no-nonsense read in dutch about this. I would strongly advise to read it. You will also find a suggestion to limit the use to 50-250 milligrams per kilo...

http://www.voedingscentrum.nl/encyclopedie/nitriet.aspx
 
#12 ·
Thanks Chris,
Got a lot of info about this already, but it is still not clear to what it should be used for safety reasons (botulism).
It is easy to calculate for cold smoked sausages as it is directly in the meat. I use 100-120 ppm, the max in the USA is 156, in europe 150 and in Denmark 100 ppm.
But my problem comes with the other meats and wet brining.
Shiuld fish be treated with nitrite, or beef, or fruit/veges (like teamfats tomatoes)? All not a problem when cooking at higher temperatures, but it is or could be when cold smoking.
When wet brining: how much will be taken up by the meat?

Bdl described his fish cure without nitrites. The salt concentration here is probably high enough to prevent any issues. Although this is just an assumption on my part. All I can find back is that a salt percentage of 3% and hot smoking should be safe.

Anyway, enough thinking and wondering on my part.
I got my chops in a dry cure and chicken in a wet brine.
I was going to boil some eggs, but the whole pack I bought yesterday is off :-[

Smoking is scheduled for tomorrow;-)
 
#14 ·
Thanks Chris,
Some interesting info tnere, but it basically confirms that there are a lot of things not yet clear about nitrite and how it works.

Anyway, my smoker is in action today.
I have been smoking chicken and chops (and eggsand salt) for 3 hours now. The outside temperature is 31.5 oC and only 1 oC warmer inside the smoker.
Pictures too follow
I am using oak dust as that came with the cold smoke generator.
I can get wine barrel oak dust here and whisky oak dust. I haven't found anything else yet,. I might try mixing in a bit of tea with it. Has anyone tried that?
Wood types I might be able to get here are
Lychee
Avocado
Mango
Baobab
Accacia
Marula
Msao (don't know the spelling, it grows ver small sour apples the size of a cherry)
Citrus (maybe)
Mukwa, teak and eucalyptus (mot too sure if these are suitable)
Maybe pecan and macademia.
To use with the cold smoker I would have to make them into sawdust and maybe mix with the oak.
Anyone got any experience with this?
 
#16 ·
#17 ·

My first smoking effort

This is what it looked like after 12 hours of cold smoking with oak saw dust

On the top shelf is a colander with salt and a couple of hard boiled eggs (with a cracked shell)

Hanging are some half chickens and pork chops.

I took everything out of the smoker at about 23:00 and then decided to finish the chickens in the oven (low heat) till an internal meat temperature of 70 oC.

By 01:30 it had reached just over 60 oC and by the time I woke up at 05:30 the chickens were at the slightly too high internal meat temperature of 94.9 oC!

I did expect them to be very tough, but they were actually still suprisingly moist and incredibly tasty

 
#18 ·
Google: "smoke generator".

I built one from pipe and an aquarium pump and can get an 8-10 hour burn w/o opening the door to the smoker (well, really forever) and so far haven't had any temp issues w/ cold smoking (under 80 deg F)...I smoke at night when the air temp right now is in the low 70's. I have an electric smoker which I don't even feed any more after the "generator", I use it more as an oven if I need temp for hot smoking.

It attaches to the side of the smoker.

I'll take pictures and post.

It's stupid simple.

I do meat, fish, cheese.

I dry rub meat, fish.

Wet on poultry.

Nothing on cheese.

Haven't done salt, pepper or eggs yet, but looking forward to it...
 
#19 ·
acon

astrami Smoked Salmon

astrami

pplewood Smoked Fresh Motz in cheesecloth hammocks

f you look close @ the silver rod @ the top that is what I came up with to suspend the cheese in my "test" smoker, worked well.

Also made a rig to smoke salt in consisted of constructing a fine screen box, I used SS mesh, doubled it for strength and stapled it together.

I'll upload and post a pic.

Good luck & Cheers!

EDG
 
#21 ·
I only have hot-smoked in a Weber kettle so far. A proper cold-smoking setup shall be installed this autumn, though.

Some examples:

Bacon. Pork belly cured 8 days with salt, pink salt, brown sugar, garlic, bay leaves and juniper berries, then smoked over beechwood:


Pork loin. Same basic cure, just quicker, 3 days or so:


Tasso ham. Again cured with salt, pink salt, brown sugar, rubbed with a Lousiana-style rub:


Duck breast, smoked over green tea:


Less charcuterie, more BBQ: pork ribs, memphis rub, smoked over hickory and whisky barrel chips:


Less smoke, more charcuterie: Duck breast prosciutto. Packed in salt for a couple of days, rubbed with pepper and herbs, then hung to dry for two weeks:


Gravlax on roast potatoes. Basically like BDL described it, Pernod for the alcoholic component and some shredded beets for more color:

 
#22 · (Edited)
I'm getting hungry, just looking at those dishes!I have bought some more chickens and I will do them in a wet cure again. I am also going to try out chicken breast. These would be easy to slice thinly and vacuum pack per portion (if they come out moist enough. I suppose I'll have to let them soak a little less long and maybe smoke a bit shorter as well.The other thing on the calender are smoked sausages. I am going to do 2 batches: one for fresh consumption (without pink salt) and one for smoking (with the same spices as the first batch, but with pink salt).Right now I am on a quest to find the right wood (well saw dust). I am going to try some masau (also called Indian Jujube https://www.google.com/search?q=mas...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) and acacia. Maybe mixed with some wine barrel oak dust.I have been pretty happy with the smoke generator but it is a bit on the expensive side. I came across this thread: http://www.aussiebbq.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9567: Gene: That may be an option for you:)I was going to download a picture of my proQ after 10 hours smoking, but I cannot find the toolbar to post picturesI have an other question as well: How do you all keep all your smoked goods? As I have tried hard to finish all but I am looking at keeping some as well?Do you freeze, vacuum pack, just leave it to hang at room temperature?(Tried to edit on 31-08-2013 to get the formatting back & tried again 01-09-2013 )
 
#24 ·
No ways my place is going to be cold enough! Probably not even during winter time.

So, it will probably have to be the freezer for me (until such time that I dare making salami's and hams like parma and serrano ham)

Oh, and here is a picture of the proQ (as I can post pictures today)


@ Gene:

I love your plating!

What temperatures do you smoke at?

Care to give us your duck and pork loin recipe?

What's a Tasso ham?

@everydaygourmet:

Awesome! Especially that bacon. Was that cold-smoked?

I am going to look for some mesh, to get a better smoke penetration for the salt.

@shutupandcook:

Can't wait to see your pictures!!
 
#25 ·
Thanks Butzy,

yes the bacon was cold smoked, on an improvised smoked from an impromptu food challenge pool to make a smoker out of something you currently had and smoke something "interesting". Made the "McGyver smoker" from

a wine club cardboard box,


parts of and old trellis


and a throw away veggie grill grate


I used a coffee can for my heat source with a couple of pieces of charcoal and foil pouch for the smoke to keep the temp down as was trying to go more low tech.

Have used the old coffee can/soldering iron rig as well more for cheese, olives and other delicate items.

will upload the salt smoker box pic later today or tomorrow.

Zambia?, is that correct?, any Biltong tips?

Cheers,

EDG
 
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