The new experimental cold smoking thread

[Wohoki]

I really hope you're not a commited recycler Dave.

[Gill]

I had to ask!

[jenny_haddow]

A multi functional material is cat litter. Museums use it to take away any strong smell left behind by workmen. eg glue, paint etc. Just leave a tray out in the room you want cleared and the smell is slowly absorbed into the litter.

Jen

[saucisson]

I really hope you're not a commited recycler Dave.

No, it was purchased especially for the purpose . I wanted to start with a homogeneous mix that we could all get access to if it proved a success. My 11 year old son got quite excited when I bought it, I think the poor lad thought we were going to get a kitten

Dave

[dougal]

... spruce and pine wood pellets. ...

Leaving the branding and labelling aside, wouldn't it be rather unusual to smoke with such resinous woods?

[Wohoki]

Apart from one or two products, softwood is concidered to be unsuitable for smoking. The resin deposits a nasty taste (unless you like toilet cleaner) and I did read somewhere that it is potentially carcinogenic. I think that some Scandanavian meats, and Black Forest hams are smoked over spruce, but I could be wrong, and Juniper branches are used as a flavouring, but sparingly.

[dougal]

Oh well, so much for diplomacy...

[saucisson]

Hi Dougal,

The plan was to get "a" wood product in the intial test that people might be able to stock up on locally if we needed to tweak the testing beyond the initial test samples I sent out, hence:

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.

Dave

If Jen and Gill report back that the device has any promise at all, stage 2 will be to to get a hardwood material going.


Dave

[dougal]

Dave - I must admit that in the chatter of this thread, I hadn't spotted your comment, as quoted above, that folk might not want to eat the results.

By politely enquiring about the choice of wood, I had indeed been attempting to diplomatically and unthreateningly question the potential edibility of the product.
As it turns out, you were already very well aware of the problems, so my apologies for even thinking that this could have been a blind spot for you.
I think it might have been Jenny's eagerness to try smoking Garlic with it, that made me think these chips might be thought to be intended for practical smoking. My mistake entirely.

I had tried hard to flag my concern as gently as I possibly could ... And the gentleness seemed to be blown away instantly... So, I laughed. (Rare enough. ) What other response should I, could I, demonstrate?
But as long as you and your beta-testers are well aware that the product is likely to taste distinctly 'unusual', that's what really matters.



I've got this idea from somewhere (Elizabeth David?) that the Greeks appreciate a bit of resin in their smoked (or grilled) food as much as in their wine.

My own small experiments at miniature smokey fires (and experience with garden bonfires) indicates to me that different woods smoke (and burn) with quite dramatically different 'ease'. And that resinous woods, such as those, burn rather easily compared to the hardwoods conventionally used for smoking.
I'm intrigued by some of the concepts you are trying, and will be very interested to see how they translate to other woods, especially those more conventionally used for smoking.

[saucisson]

Hi Dougal,

I edited my post while you posted yours so I hope they still mesh.

Yes, this is still very much an experimental thread,

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

Don't worry, I shant be consuming what I smoke, other than a tiny taste just to see. I thought while I'm running the test I might as well give it some work to do, and today looks like a good day to give it a go.

Cheers

Jen

[Josh]

Apart from one or two products, softwood is concidered to be unsuitable for smoking. The resin deposits a nasty taste (unless you like toilet cleaner) and I did read somewhere that it is potentially carcinogenic. I think that some Scandanavian meats, and Black Forest hams are smoked over spruce, but I could be wrong, and Juniper branches are used as a flavouring, but sparingly.

See othmar's post a few down here regarding pine smoking

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... 99&start=0

[saucisson]

Interesting Josh, thanks for finding it.

Dave

[saucisson]

I think I should ask my brother-in-law to climb the church spire at Longstanton and see if he can see a plume of smoke rising from the south.

Any news Jen?

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

Sorry Dave, the only plumes your brother in law would have seen yesterday would be the steam rising from bowls of inhalent. The old man came home from work at lunch time with severe sinusitis so I had to switch to Florence Nightingale mode. I didn't think generating large volumes of smoke would go down well.
It's all ready to go though and I will try to photograph each step.

Cheers

Jen