Cold smoke Salmon?

tolip

Is it worth the risk?

Botulism, salmonella, tapeworm?  I love LOCKS, but I am not sure I trust all the variables?

opinions?

HellrodKC

Lox.

But yea, I haven't cold smoked any before, but have cured a few filets of salmon and eaten them "raw". A quick google will find plenty of recipes and techniques to try.

Make sure you are buying high quality fish from a good fish monger (or a grocery store you trust, whatever). Make sure to let them know your plans and they should be able to steer you in the right direction.

If done properly, the risks are pretty low, I believe. It's a fun thing to do, only takes a couple days. 

gdenby

Aside from the risk, one of the few short comings of an Egg is cold smoking. Very hard to do. Some years ago, there were some folks doing cold smoking by hooking up a mini to a large via a drier duct, and pumping in smoke that way. Or having just a chimney worth of lump going, and maybe a pan w. ice above it. And doing it in the dead of northern winter.

From what I've read, commercial smokers can have multiple cycles of drying to for a pellicle, and smoking, and repeating several times. Nothing i can manage.

Myself, the closest I've got was making gravlax, which is a cured salmon. Then rubbing it w a bit of hickory smoke powder, and cooking for 10 minutes. The results didn't urge me to try again.

tolip

I was building a small side smoker....cans and ducts, then venting it into the XL-egg.  I do not see why that would not work, for the cold smoke part.  Just don't want to find out that the person I "TRUST" selling me the fish was not trustworthy....because then I would be puking or worse!!  But, I think I will start with a nice "hot" smoke Salmon, do my bucket list, and make sure this is the last one on it! LOL

tolip

Maybe, I will start with cheese!

Teefus

How cold is cold? This smoked for six hours on the egg with lump and big chunks of apple and pecan. Temp was between 180 and 200. 

gdenby

Teefus said:

How cold is cold?

That looks like something I'd like to bite right now.

Technically, that's a hot smoke. Cold smoking is pretty much like hanging the meat over a smoking pit on a sunny day. Or maybe in a shed on a hot summer day with some smouldering hay fire.

Cold smoking happens under the temperature where the pathogens die. So the the meat must be dried, or cured w. salt and sugar and spices/herbs, and/or given enough smoke that the formaldehyde from the smoke wipes the bacteria and spores.

jtcBoynton

Before you start cold smoking, you should educate yourself on the risks.  Learn what it takes to lower the risks to an acceptable level.  This is one area where you should learn from a trusted source.  I don't consider anonymous internet sources as good trusted sources for this subject.  For most of the cooking we discuss around here, if you mess it up a bit the meal might not taste good.  Messing up a cold smoke could mess up your health in a serious way.  This is not an area for experimentation - learn well before attempting.

Brisket_Fanatic

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/08/thirdeyes-nova-lox.html

http://http//playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1995/02/seafood-dry-cure-for-salmon-trout-or.html

SmokingPiney

I like to cure Gravlox in the cooler weather, and I like it cold smoked.

I use an Amaze-N pellet smoker maze in the Egg. It works well.

I will only do this with cured salmon and only in cool to cold weather. With the AMNPS, the BGE's temp never gets more than 5 degrees or so above ambient, so I'm not tickling the dragon. 

HeavyG

A good page to read if considering cold smoking fish or sausage - http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/cold_smoking.html

NPHuskerFL

Since this place helps everybody spend $$$ here ya go. I don't cold smoke enough to justify it. Maybe you do or will. 
https://youtu.be/YIX1REYCcOc

GrillSgt

It won't kill you. Probably. 

mrw123

I use the recipe in this book. Of all the food I share, the cold smoked salmon is the one EVERYONE loves.  Many have told me they don't like salmon, but they love my smoked salmon. I only do it when the weather is cold. I trust the cure, but only so far.

SmokingPiney

Hot, humid day, even relatively warm.............no such thing as cold smoked salmon. 

You need COOL to COLD.

tolip

Maybe I will just pump smoke into my fridge!

The_Stache

gdenby said:

Aside from the risk, one of the few short comings of an Egg is cold smoking. Very hard to do. Some years ago, there were some folks doing cold smoking by hooking up a mini to a large via a drier duct, and pumping in smoke that way. Or having just a chimney worth of lump going, and maybe a pan w. ice above it. And doing it in the dead of northern winter.

From what I've read, commercial smokers can have multiple cycles of drying to for a pellicle, and smoking, and repeating several times. Nothing i can manage.

Myself, the closest I've got was making gravlax, which is a cured salmon. Then rubbing it w a bit of hickory smoke powder, and cooking for 10 minutes. The results didn't urge me to try again.

The process is not something that you grab some fish and  cold smoke it (this you probable already know) and does involve about a week of the curing process before the smoke starts. 

The results I had were good and it was a definite learning process.  I'll probably do this again next Jan/Feb and with a larger qty of salmon.