Smoking olive oil

[vagreys]

...but any good sources for powdered smoke & filtration thereof? ..i'm in unknown ground where that's concerned.

Go to the top of any page on this forum and click on the "Franco's Famous Sausage Making" logo, then navigate to "Essential Ingredients". You'll find hickory smoke powder, there. Because so little is required, 0.5 gm/kg, it may not be necessary to filter. If you do decide to filter, you could try various home approaches to filtering, such as multi-layer cheese cloths, paper cone coffee filters (or flat-bottom paper coffee filters in a sieve), thin linen kitchen towel, but brewers sometimes use plate filters to remove particulate from and clarify beers. They are not cheap, but you should be able to find plate filters in a well-stocked brewing supply shop or e-store.

You've got me curious. I may have to try a couple of different approaches, myself.

[GUS]

Now there's a reason to pull my finger out & get some coffee filters, need to strain some vanilla extract ...70cl & get some more on the go ...bliss! justifying having the stuff around,
Woodstove top espresso drinker so no filters normally.

[JohnT]

Sorry to go off topic - Gus, how are you making vanilla extract. I stopped off in Madagascar last year and came home with 2 kg of vanilla beans. I made 2 litres of extract but think I overdid it with too many beans. Where a recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract, I have to use only 2 or 3 drops as it is so strong. What are you using for a base (I used unflavoured white rum) and about 20 beans to a litre. Still have about 50 beans over! Cost me about US $2.00 for the two kg. John.

[GUS]

John, $2.00 !? ..."I hate you Sir"!

We use http://www.vanillamart.co.uk/ & only Madagascan, so much difference to valueless, tasteless false economy Indian pods. ordering around 230-250 ish pods per time as I recall.

Smirnoff or Absolut work very well & both are frequently on offer, if too strong then thin it out (top up with wodka, having decanted some of the original, it is a re-useable commodity after all, & double or triple strength are not uncommon, how many pods to CL of vodka did you use? around 4x strength ...it gets a bit iffy (but rescuable by thinning).

See here http://www.vanillamart.co.uk/recipe-for-homemade-vanilla-extract/ ..we've had multiple orders rapidly despatched via vanillamart & I heartily recommend them. (no association other than happy customer).

Typically prior to ordering I over researched it via the web & the difference is there to be seen & tasted, we do full bottle 70cl (minus a bit for scooped, separated & scissor chopped pods).

Best form without waste for stripping pods isn't a knife, ..place on greasproof paper over your chopping board, split the bean & run a tea-spoon along, far better removal of seed that a kid can do it (see so much waste of it on tv) the greaseproof paper means you don't leave anything behind, simple 100% removal.

made up 25kg of vanilla sugar too (caster not granulated imho),
Tried homemade lavender sugar too incidentally, don't bother!

incidentally I can't point you at any decent sites that are good as my main pc is on the fritz.
when I can get on it I'll bang up a few decent links for the balsamic & fruit infused salts I came across.

[NCPaul]

Try this for vanilla extract:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5952&p=50569&hilit=vanilla+extract#p50569

Two Kg of vanilla beans should yield ten liters of double strength extract.

[JohnT]

Thanks Gus & Paul,

The methods are just what I wanted. The vanilla beans I bought whilst in the small norther Madagascar island of Nosi Be were really strong and I was a bit worried bringing them back to South Africa. Good stuff though"

Well, back to the topic.

[saucisson]

Well , this could be real easy...

I put half a teaspoon of smoke powder in 100ml and gave it a good shake. Left it overnight and it completely settled out. I carefully decanted the oil and it has a faint smoky odour and delicate smoked taste.

The bottle with the sediment in still smells quite smoky so I added a further teaspoon and another 100ml of oil and I'll leave that over the weekend to infuse...

[GUS]

Glad to hear it, i'm busy with other things (roof repair for one) currently, so glad you are getting something new out of it, ...if this is the main thrust of what this firm do, I wonder who holds the patent for filter coffee or frying chips, if not watch out your chips 'n drip coffee may be subject to patent pending

Would be interested (just for basic analysis sake) as to how much oil weight is lost to filtration?

I haven't been out to get hold of some coffee filters without balking at the price! (bearing in mind how few i'd actually need).

[GUS]

Saucisson, how has the oil developed? (or not), did the filtration take all the powder out on a visual level?

I looked at the filtration method as mentioned, leaky beer buckets are all the rage it seems (hate wasted beer).

But this link would seem to put everything into perspective as a source of mixing powder & straining it out again at higher level of processing & production, wondering what the filtration takes

http://beersmith.com/blog/2010/08/27/fi ... ewed-beer/

Ok, untested unproven & open to question but more control & likelihood of the claim to be an air free process, as far as marketing speil go's (he's not a Texan is he)?

I'm interested in getting some powder through a few litres in differing strength, will have to take a look at micron filtration of the el cheapo coffee filters.

All this takes time & planning so don't expect anything too soon, a few balls in the air.

[saucisson]

I only ever got a very delicate smoke flavour, too much of the flavour stayed in the powder, if you get my drift?

[GUS]

So, possibly fair to say the oil molecules crowd & encapsulate / lock the powder out?
Does this give you fresh ideas as to how the US based chap imbues his oil?

[GUS]

Am totally guessing a low heat to loosen the oil structure before it cools & gets back to the original structure, enough to allow a flavour transfer maybe? (but not enough to change the oils best flavour)

got some in along with other "oddments" (read stuff i'm totally unfamiliar with as a total CSG new boy.

Smoking butter, vanilla sugar (caster) alongside the eggs, it's a learning curve, ..I promise to smoke some meat & fish like any normal person shortly.

(it's merely that it's a fairly big walk in larder so could be a while).

[wheels]

A ..I promise to smoke some meat & fish like any normal person shortly.

[GUS]

My first oil merely left & not exactly stirred, (well just the once) has taken the smoke quite nicely, will try it to do some basic pasta to see if it holds or hides the flavour.

will also dilute the smoked amongst regular O/oil from the same bottle to see how much go's how far, but will offer some more up to the smoke first.

I can tell you, (as i'm not a real drinker of olive oil on it's own, I supped a drained plastic spoon of the stuff, hit by smoke, not too strong, then a very slight bitterness, however I think that might be from stirring in the very slightly coloured smoke edges of the bowl on this go (must remember) rather than pouring it straight off into a parfait jar, (live & learn).
Cup of tea in hand + a werthers (am I now of that generation...kill me now! 5 mins later there's still aftertaste of smoke.

I'll have to take a look over the thread but if correct it's had 3 full smokes of oak / beech mix

[wheels]

Gus

As the forum's 'Mr Smoke', you may be interested in this:

http://food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/dec/smoke

Phil