The new experimental cold smoking thread

[jenny_haddow]

Dave, you must put all thoughts of stackable smokers on the back burner for the duration of you holiday. Is it the Tenby trip, if so you lucky so and so. Nice part of the country, especially around Manorbier.

Jen

[saucisson]

Yes Jen, it is the Tenby trip, I'm looking forward to it

Dave

[Gill]

This is my home-made smoker. It has a digital thermometer which is at the same level as the produce to be smoked.







I set up the micro incinerator.



Then inserted the grill rack with some cheese, making sure the cheese wasn't directly above the incinerator



And finally put the lid on.



The temperature was 66F just before lighting the charcoal starter. A minute or so later when the smoker was covered at 3.15 pm, it had risen to 68F. Then 75F at 3.25 pm and it remained at 75F at 3.40 pm. I'll keep an eye on the temperature and try to take a note every 15 minutes or so.

Gill

[saucisson]

Looks good so far Gill.

Dave

[Gill]

Boy, does this ever kick out smoke!

I just went into the outhouse to check the temperature (75F at 4.00pm) and as I opened the door you could certainly smell the smoke! So I lifted the smoker lid quickly to see what it was like inside and I was almost overwhelmed!

I'm wondering just how much smoke you need to be given off at any particular time for it to be effective. If we could use a narrower tube, it might mean that a smaller surface area is burning and the wood chips would last longer. Just a thought.

Gill

[saucisson]

The ideal cold smoking temperature is ideally 75-80F (24-26C) so we're doing well there (Thanks Dougal for pointing that out on another thread ). A narrower tube may well give less smoke over a longer period (a desirable thing) but it may also go out due to insufficient air/and or heat. This is something else we can experiment with. Another thing I would like to try is hardwood which may also burn more slowly, but again may go out.

Dave

[Gill]

Here are the temperatures I recorded and observations:

77F at 4.15 pm
77F at 4.30 pm
77F at 4.45 pm
75F at 5.00 pm
73F at 5.15 pm (there was considerably less smoke than before)
75F at 5.30 pm (the amount of smoke had picked up again)
75F at 5.45 pm
75F at 6.00 pm
75F at 6.15 pm
75F at 6.30 pm
82F at 6.45 pm (the cardboard tube had fallen over)
78F at 7.00 pm (the amount of smoke had diminshed considerably)
75F at 7.30 pm (there was no smoke)

I then took the dogs out for a walk and when I returned at 8.40 pm the incinerator was inactive with a temperature of 66F. I photographed the final scene and the finished micro incinerator. All the wood pellets had been burned, although not all had turned to ash.





The cheese had remained in place this time and had turned a lovely golden yellow. The colour had not permeated the cheese but it did have a mild smokey taste. To be honest, I've tasted better .

Gill

[saucisson]

Thanks Gill for the detailed report on temperatures, I was concerned about heat build up not being dissipated in a wooden box. The taste test, is this a cat litter pine/spruce thing or an entire concept thing?

Dave

[Gill]

It would have been the easiest thing in the world to have conducted the test with a metal smoker - I have a Brinkmann water smoker. However, after reading Erlandson's book I decided that it would be better if the cold smoker was made from wood because of its more stable thermal properties.

The taste of the cheese? I love smoked cheese, it's just that kitty litter didn't flavour it to my palate .

It was interesting to note that both my incinerator and Jen's fell over. Mine was in a lean-to and certainly well protected against external influences.

Gill

[saucisson]

Hi Gill, that's good news that it's because you don't like the flavour of kitty litter flavoured cheese

Now you have tested it in a wooden box, we know heat build up is not a huge issue.

My tubes fell over at the end too, I think it burns hotter just at the end when it gets nearer the air vents at the bottom and burns the cardboard at the base. Another issue to consider...

Thanks to both you and Jen for testing so far.

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

It's interesting to see that there is a certain amount of consistency between my effort and Gill's, although using very different smoking environments. Also the temperature seems to be reasonably stable, so I think you have the basis for progress Dave. I have a small pot with ventilation holes around the base used for oil burning I think I will try it out with some Hickory chips damped down and see what we get.

What a good smoking cabinet Gill.

Cheers

Jen