The new experimental cold smoking thread

[saucisson]

I've been running three variants at once with virtually no heat generation tonight. I'm also applying Occam's razor to see how simple I can get it.

If the Bradley costs less than a �1 an hour in bisquettes to run, I'm looking at <15p an hour at the moment, with no investment in machinery...

I'm going to be eating humble pie for the rest of my life if this doesn't get off the ground

Who wants to sign up for a free test run?

"Legal bit:

Your only commitment is your address so I know where to send it.
I promise not to disclose it to any other party, and I'm happy to post to Occupier, Forum name or whatever." End of legal bit.

As this is a test run please be aware it is a pine/spruce mix and you might not want to smoke any food with it. I'm after a feel for how it works in some different BBQs/ smokers. If you are prepared to put a one inch cube of cheddar in with it and sniff or taste it afterwards it would be very helpful. This is very small scale so I only need a few testers


Dave

[Gill]

Count me in, Dave !

Gill

[jenny_haddow]

Me too Dave, I've pm'd you.

Jen

[tristar]

Hi Dave,

There may be some useful tips on this site: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green_Home_Building/1974_November_December/How_To_Build_And_Use_A_Sawdust_Stove

The trick for us is this line from the page

It is absolutely essential that the fuel for this stove be bone dry. If it's slightly damp, it will smoke

Line drawings are available on the top right of the page under 'Tools' click on 'Image Gallery'

They have stated that the stoves will burn for up to 12 hours, which would be handy for smoking.

Best Regards,
Richard

[saucisson]

Very interesting read, so we need a very shallow wide one with damp sawdust to maximise smoke and minimise heat, I'll look into it. Thanks!

Dave

[saucisson]

Gill and Jenny, I will be sending out the testers tomorrow. Jenny is testing a kettle BBQ, what does your smoker look like Gill?

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

Looking forward to receiving the fruits of your labours Dave. I'll give it my best shot.

Cheers

Jen

[Gill]

My smoker looks like an up-ended wooden tea chest with a digital thermometer tuck through a hole at the same level as the meat racks and a wooden baffle at the bottom.

Well... let's be honest... it used to look like that. When I built it, I used hot glue and a couple of screws to hold the sides together. Then I inaugurated the whole darned issue by accidentally super-heating it, igniting the baffles, and breaking the hot glue so that one of the sides fell off. There's no way I'm taking a photograph to show you the sorry state it's in now !

The good news is that it can be repaired quite easily, but even if that wasn't the case I'd still be able to use my Brinkmann Hot Smoker.

Gill

[saucisson]

They're in the post, pictorial instructions as to what to do with the bits are here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jackie.mar ... smokin.htm

The charcoal disks light quite easily with a match but at first they don't look alight. It's worth checking after a couple of minutes.

Have fun!!

Dave

[Gill]

Wow !

What an original use for loo rolls. I wonder if Blue Peter would be interested.

I'll try to run a test when my wood source is restored - probably in a fortnight or so . In the meantime, what's the charcoal disc that you use? Is it just a normal briquette?

Gill

[jenny_haddow]

Thanks Dave, this is going to be fun. I thought I'd chuck in some garlic along with some cheese and see what we get.

Will report back when tests are complete.

Cheers

Jen

[saucisson]

Wow !

What an original use for loo rolls. I wonder if Blue Peter would be interested.

I'll try to run a test when my wood source is restored - probably in a fortnight or so . In the meantime, what's the charcoal disc that you use? Is it just a normal briquette?

Gill

Gill, I have posted you everything you need for a test run except the loo roll ie base/heat shield, wood chips and charcoal disk. The charcoal disks are food grade designed for incense burners and come from the link Wohoki posted earlier in this thread.


Good luck both of you!

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Dave,

The package arrived this morning. I'll clean out the barbecue and give it a whirl. I thought I'd do a bit of garlic and a piece of cheese. Will report back on results.

Jen

[Gill]

Hi Dave

Mine arrived too . Thanks very much. I'll have a bash over the next couple of days.

Gill

PS what sort of wood pellets do you use and where do you get them from? Sorry if you've already told us, but having them in front of me reminds me that I can't recall seeing anything like that before.

[saucisson]

Do you really want to know?

You probably have seen it Gill, just didn't realise it

It's Waitrose's finest spruce and pine wood pellets.

Get a pellet wet and see what happens to it... it's cat litter


Dave