Cold smoking.

Unknown · July 2003

I am on the verge of purchasing a BGE. I looked at one in BBQs galore and the store guy told me that you couldn't do cold smoking on the BGE since it was a vertical smoker. Cold smoking is generally done around 90 degrees F. When I flipped open the manual, it said that the temp could be easily controlled from less than a hundred to over seven hundred (800?) degrees. If this is true, then it seems like you could do cold smoking.[p]Has anyone tried this? If not, do you think you could reliably keep the temperature around 90 for an extended period of time?[p]Thanks
Brad

Eric · July 2003

Brad M,
I have a hard time keping a stable temp that low.
First problem is that I live in the South and often times the out door air temp is above 90 so just for starters the BGE is above 90 just sitting there. I would have to run a duct line from the A/C to the BGE to cool it down (now that would be an interestiing contraption).
I have tried to keep a low temp stable but it is tricky- my experience is that it is very easy to keep a stable temp anywhere above 200 deg. under that I have never been able to get the right air flow.[p]But that said , get the egg, a cold smoke may be interesting but it is but one trick in the BBQ bag, the Egg can do so many things it is great!

Unknown · July 2003

Thanks Eric,[p]I'm not really basing my decision on whether the egg can cold smoke. I'll be getting the egg regardless. It was just something I had been wondering. On the plus side, I live in the San Francisco bay area, where it rarely gets much above 75, so maybe i'll have better luck.[p]Brad

Eric · July 2003

Brad M,[p]I'm sure that you will enjoy your BGE.[p]I'm curious what kind of food you would consider for the cold smoking process. Are you looking to do a ham?

Chuck · July 2003

<p />Brad M,[p]There are a few ways to cold smoke with a BGE. The photo is of the way I do it. The smoke is made in the mini and the food (cheese in this case) is in the large. It works well but you would need two BGEs to do it. Another way that I have seen a picture of poster fere is to use your egg for smoke and vent it into a box or foil bag. The third way that I believe DJM5X9 does is to just build a very small fire and put the food over a pan of ice (which I also do with my two Egg method). [p]Godd luck with your purchase, you WILL be very happy.[p]Chuck

Bordello · July 2003

Chuck,
I just love that picture, guess I'm a gadget freak. LOL[p]Cheers,
New Bob

Eric · July 2003

Chuck,[p]It looks like the vent is dryer duct and good ol' duct tape, is that correct?[p]I assume that the large has been cleaned of ash and unused lump- is that correct?[p][p]

chuckls · July 2003

Chuck,[p]Wonderful picture! I laughed out loud when I saw it. [p]I cold-smoked fresh-caught salmon when I lived in Portland. The smoker had a firepit, about 10 ft of clay tile to an upright smokehouse about 5 ft high, 3 ft wide, and 16" deep. Great results if you got the brine right.[p]I never would have thought to do it the way you have done!

Chuck · July 2003

Eric,[p]Correct, correct, correct!!! I guess I could have explained it better.[p]Chuck

Chuck · July 2003

chuckls,[p]That fresh caught salmon sounds mighty good. I just smoked some good store bought salmon from a good fish market and it was great. I agree that a good brine is important weather you cold or hot smoke your fish. I use the 3men recipe that you can find in the link below, it is very good and give great fish smokind advice also. I usually hot smoke mine at about 150* which I can hold fairly easy on my large. My family likes it that way.[p]Have a great day!![p]Chuck

[ul][li]3men fish smoking process[/ul]

Zip · July 2003

Brad M,[p]Yep, been working on this since back in '98 with a dual egg setup among other methods using a egg. Check out this post for some pics and alternatives.[p]Ashley
[ul][li]Cold Smokin'[/ul]

Unknown · July 2003

Eric,[p]Probably salmon first. And in the future maybe a ham or goose leg. Did you know that using a goose leg, you can make a pretty good mini cured ham? Check it out:[p]
http://www.winesemporium.com/cgi-bin/sincronet_eng.cgi?id_pro=714&id_cat=11[p]Brad

Unknown · July 2003

Thanks guys,[p]Lots of great info on this board. I can't wait![p]Brad

tn slagamater · July 2003

Chuck, if ever a picture was worth a thousand words!!! Great contraption, looks like a Chilean sea monster!

Eric · July 2003

tn slagamater,[p]What kind of wood would you use to cold smoke a chilean sea monster

Zip · July 2003

Duh, I should have looked at the page before I posted the link. It's very cool to see others took off and tried this for themselves.[p] [p]and[p][p]were the first attempts of cold smoking. It actually worked pretty well.[p]I then started thinking of a way for someone with only one cooker to do this and created this contraption.[p]
This is a stainless steel pressure cooker I took over to a friend that owns a machine shop. We cut out the nipple and installed a staineless drain from a sink to provide a bigger nipple for the hose to attach to.[p]
This is with the flex hose attached and sitting on top of a cheap hotplate. [p]I had other pictures that I cannot locate on my computers at this time that shows other options. A alternative and a very good one is a big enclosed tea kettle with a lid. The one I picked up a the thrift store was stainless and the spout was easy to transition into the egg with flex alum hose from the auto parts store. The hotplate is used for the heat source on this setup as well. One of the most important things to remember if you tackle this, the longer the hose/pipe is between the smoker generator and the cooker, the lower the heat of the smoke for the cooker.[p]I haven't used this in a while, but still answer emails from those that see this setup in the archives from time to time.[p]Ashley [p]

MAC · July 2003

Chuck,
How much chips or chunks do you put in at a time? how long do they last. I see cleaning out my large and doing a ham this fall.

Chuck · July 2003

MAC,[p]I put in a couple of handfulls of chips at first then add a handfull as needed. You get a pretty long smoke from the first two handfulls, usually with a stir or two. I usually have to add once or twice before finishing.[p]Chuck

tn slagamater · July 2003

Eric, Sea kelp soaked in a fine chilean wine. Yahoo news has pictures of the sea monster they found today. Not edible it seems, but the size of a school bus!!

Chef Arnoldi · July 2003

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<p />Brad M, i did some salmon- first i cured it with salt/sugar mix for 3 days, then cold smoked as per the photo.
(placing the salmon filets on an old oven grid/tray, encased with aluminum foil- note connecting dryer hose on one end of the foil & making a small hole at the opposite end to allow smoke to flow through the salmon)

Cold smoking.

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