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Smoked ice

caliking
caliking Posts: 19,780
in EggHead Forum

It started with smoking some cheese yesterday, because I was jealous of all the cheese smoking threads. Busy day, so I could only get the cheese done in the morning. Only had time to smoke it for about 1hr 45mins. Sharp cheddar and Monterey jack with jalapenos, apple pellets, amazn smoker thingy, pan of ice to try and keep the temps down. "Cold" smoking in Houston on a humid day doesn't always go as planned - it still hit ~80°F in the egg. Smoked some butter too because @canugghead said it was good.

Gratuitous cheese smoking shot:image

Pulled it all 10mins before we had to leave the house, so I set it up in front of a fan to dry a bit. Thought we would be home in a couple of hours. Returned about 11hrs later, and the cheese was sweating like a hooker in church. Oh well. Maybe I'll just save it all for myself. All vac packed and stashed away for now.

Now to the experiment. I had about half of the ice left in the pan after the cheese was done. Smelled quite smoky. I saved it in the freezer and then tried a few cubes with some whiskey today.image

So... it wasn't as bad as drinking out of an ash tray, but kinda like licking the inside of an egg.

Second round was tried with a few cubes of regular ice, and just 2 cubes of the smoked ice. Made a big difference and was actually pretty good. I guess it is somewhat like adding Liquid smoke to a drink, except for the chemicals that LS has.  Might have to try another round with 1 cube of smoked ice and see what the flavor is like.

All in the name of science, of course :D



#1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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Comments

  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    edited December 2014
    caliking said:

    Now to the experiment. I had about half of the ice left in the pan after the cheese was done. Smelled quite smoky. I saved it in the freezer and then tried a few cubes with some whiskey today.image

    So... it wasn't as bad as drinking out of an ash tray, but kinda like licking the inside of an egg.

    Second round was tried with a few cubes of regular ice, and just 2 cubes of the smoked ice. Made a big difference and was actually pretty good. I guess it is somewhat like adding Liquid smoke to a drink, except for the chemicals that LS has.  Might have to try another round with 1 cube of smoked ice and see what the flavor is like.

    All in the name of science, of course :D


    You should go to Finland and try some Terva Snapsi.
    It's Pine Tar Liquor like Schnapps with a smoky flavor.
    I liked it when I was there one summer.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,703
    Hope you saved some in the freezer and let it mellow a few weeks, then try again?
    canuckland
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  • anton
    anton Posts: 1,813
    Smoked ice, one of the most interesting things I have ever read on this forum! There really is no end to what you can smoke. Thank you for sharing.
    :-bd
     Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in  Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay "
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  • shtgunal3
    shtgunal3 Posts: 6,134
    I bet the more experiments you try the better it will taste. BTW I'm digging the name of that whiskey. :D

    ___________________________________

     

     LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .

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  • tjosborne
    tjosborne Posts: 529
    anton said:

    Smoked ice, one of the most interesting things I have ever read on this forum! There really is no end to what you can smoke. Thank you for sharing.
    :-bd

    Smoked ice? You've never heard of that? That at one point was my whole weekend.
    middle of nowhere- G.I. NE
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  • anton
    anton Posts: 1,813
    @tjosborne, but a twelve step program and a lot of support cleared that up, right?
    @-) :))
     Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in  Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay "
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,974
    Ha!!! I thought the final result was going to be "I was rewarded with a mellow, smoky glass of pure joy," not a drink that tasted like licking the inside of the egg. Cool idea though!
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 34,725
    I think Ron Swanson would approve of this recipe.  
    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike

    "The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand." - Deep Throat
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  • mwatts
    mwatts Posts: 122
    Just got me thinking. I wonder if you can smoke a pan of water, run it through a strainer/filter (something to get the ash out) and then place in ice cube trays to freeze. What do we think about that? I might have to give it a try.
    Extra Large, Large, DigiQII, Thermapen, Adjustable Rig
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    mwatts said:
    Just got me thinking. I wonder if you can smoke a pan of water, run it through a strainer/filter (something to get the ash out) and then place in ice cube trays to freeze. What do we think about that? I might have to give it a try.
    I thought of that as i was pouring the melted ice/ smoked water down the drain. The freezer would reek of smoke though if I froze it in ice trays, so I need to find a covered ice tray or something. The kitchen smelled smoky for hours after I poured the water down the drain!

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    blind99 said:
    Ha!!! I thought the final result was going to be "I was rewarded with a mellow, smoky glass of pure joy," not a drink that tasted like licking the inside of the egg. Cool idea though!
    The second round with just 2 cubes was pretty nice. Third round with just one cube of smoked ice was just right. But by then, I was kinda mellow too :)

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    shtgunal3 said:
    I bet the more experiments you try the better it will taste. BTW I'm digging the name of that whiskey. :D
    That's what happened :)

    And this is a family forum, so I'm not going there!

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    @Zmokin - it was better than pine tar... not by much though,  on the first round.

    @Canugghead - I saved some of the smoked ice in a tupperware in the freezer. I don't know if it will mellow and become smoother after a few weeks, but we'll see. 

    I was wondering if i should vac pack some of the ice to compare it to what is in the tupperware after a few weeks?



    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    anton said:
    Smoked ice, one of the most interesting things I have ever read on this forum! There really is no end to what you can smoke. Thank you for sharing.
    :-bd
    I read about this somewhere a long time ago, but I think fancy bars that try this use a cold smoke generator of some kind indoors, and the smoke flavor is much lighter. Cen-Tex also mentioned that there are chefs who are using smoked water in their soups.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    caliking said:
    mwatts said:
    Just got me thinking. I wonder if you can smoke a pan of water, run it through a strainer/filter (something to get the ash out) and then place in ice cube trays to freeze. What do we think about that? I might have to give it a try.
    I thought of that as i was pouring the melted ice/ smoked water down the drain. The freezer would reek of smoke though if I froze it in ice trays, so I need to find a covered ice tray or something. The kitchen smelled smoky for hours after I poured the water down the drain!

    what about some of those old tupperware popcicle makers? Can't remember if they sealed completely. Seems they had a hole for the stick, but plastic wrap would cure that. You'd probably want to bust them up a little.
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    edited December 2014
    I used the smoky water (actually it was apple cider) and drippings from smoking a pork butt to make a homemade smoke flavored BBQ sauce.  It was really good, but the hours spent making it has prevented me from trying to repeat the process.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    @Zmokin - The sauce sounds good already, and I only know 2 of the ingredients so far!

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    caliking said:
    @Zmokin - The sauce sounds good already, and I only know 2 of the ingredients so far!
    Well the smoky cider was already reduced when it came out of the smoker.  I put it in the fridge, chilled it so I could peel off the solidified fat.  then filtered it with a reuseable coffee filter (my sieve), and tasted it and I thought it was pleasant.  I then reduced most of a bottle of inexpensive whiskey (I wasn't about to boil off the alcohol of the good stuff).
    Then I added tomato paste, mustard, brown sugar, garlic powder, home grown dried and powdered cayenne, lemon juice, salt, some soy sauce, Worcestershire, A-1, honey, and who knows what else from the spice rack.  It made a rather large amount.  so I home-canned it to preserve it.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • mwatts
    mwatts Posts: 122
    Just was researching and came across this. Pretty interesting. http://www.ibtimes.com/smoked-water-latest-culinary-craze-heston-blumenthal-852551
    Extra Large, Large, DigiQII, Thermapen, Adjustable Rig
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Sweating like a hooker in church. Brilliant

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780

    @Zmokin - that's a killer sauce. I find most commercial sauces to be on the sweet side - I like more heat. have thought about making my own, but I guess I've been too lazy to do it. Your sauce sounds really good.


    Little Steven said:
    Sweating like a hooker in church. Brilliant
    You should have seen it sweating after being out for ~12hrs in 73°F. I guess I could have dialed into the thermostat and turned the AC on but it didn't occur to me at the time. Plus it may have been a tad excessive :)

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 34,725
    I just made an awesome comment in this thread.  It will appear once it's been approved.  
    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike

    "The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand." - Deep Throat
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