Cold smoking advice

[cabaiguan juan]

@Tall Paul sounds like a guy I need to meet!

@Tall Paul is a good guy to know.

 

[cabaiguan juan]

Since you guys are all following a theme of smoking in the cold.......in a cooking forum LOL

@jfields , @Keystone_Raider and I were at my cabin for a weekend in February and we were bound and determined to smoke by the fire despite it being 25 - 30 degrees out. We erected a tarp and sat under it the first night; we froze and our eyes and noses were stinging from smoke. The next day John went on a scavenger hunt and came back with my neighbors fallen down tin shed and built us an honest to God fireplace which reflected heat and took the smoke up above the tarp. We ended up being comfy in jeans and tee shirts. The neighbors thought we were nuts! Not good pics but you get the idea.
View attachment 38639
View attachment 38640

Sounds like Marine ingenuity right there.

 

[CigarStone]

Ahh, so then my suggestion won't work very well. I just read a bit on cold smoked salmon, and it makes me want to give it a try. I'm not sure I can get my smoker to operate at 80° but I'll see. I love lox, so if I could make my own that would be awesome!

My utlimate goal is to do cold smoked salmon but I am using cheese as the guinea peg until I get everything right. I am going to try some more today and I will keep you posted. I bought this smoke generator on Amazon for $10 and it works well but I haven't perfected the amount of smoke and the time yet. I just put it in the bottom of an old charcoal barrel smoker and it kept the temp at the top around 50 degrees F. From what I gather, Lox is slightly different than cold smoked salmon?

 

[CigarStone]

Sounds like Marine ingenuity right there.

Marine ingenuity stole the neighbors shed, Air Force ingenuity kept us from getting caught!

 

[{tpc}]

I've never cold smoked salmon, only hot smoked it. Do you brine it beforehand and all that? From what I read, the temp on the cheese seems a little low at 45, probably why it didn't come out as well. I think you want it closer to 80. At a minimum 65 I would think, but I've not tried it yet, only read about it.

My buddy has an electric with a cold smoking attachment and I believe he smokes his cheese around 90, which I think may be too hot, but I'm not 100% sold on the accuracy of the thermometers he is using.

 

[lherzolite]

I Have no experience with cold smoking, but wondering if you could insulate the domed lid (or entire rig) to get the temp up a bit? At least it might allow you to take the temp out of the equation.