Cold smoking...

[Hannibal]

And no, I am not referring to lacing up the snow boots and dusting off the smoker in the winter time.


After seeing this thread, I got interested in the idea of cold smoking some stuff. So I looked around the site and began reading this one on some of the general questions it seems many of us have (or had) about cold smoking. I am still a little leery of the process. Maybe I am a slow learner, but I am somewhat lost in the concept. Is it really as simple as keeping the temp under 100* and using a source to generate smoke? Can it be too cold?

Is there a good book or other resource that you would recommend on cold smoking? Anyone care to school me (us) on the basics of cold smoking?

Maybe some starter recipes to try? I found this tutorial thread and it looks great, but this also brings up questions about curing (another mystical process in my rookie mind).

Anyone care to jump on this grenade?

Thanks

[curious aardvark]

Maybe I am a slow learner, but I am somewhat lost in the concept. Is it really as simple as keeping the temp under 100* and using a source to generate smoke? Can it be too cold?

Yes. it's that simple
And no as long as it's above freezing it can't be too cold.
lol That's pretty much all it is. Technically it's a much simpler process than hot smoking.

As far as my cold smoked salmon goes. It's been made in england & scotland like that for 100s of years.

You need to start seperating the different processes of food preservation.
It's all down to bacterial growth inhibition.

Bacteria need water and nutrients to thrive.
So salting food not only removes some of the water but the salt then contaminates (from the bacterial point of view) what liquid is left and makes it hard for the bacteria to thrive.
Drying out food also deprives the bacteria of water.
Using nitrates and nitrites actively poisons the bacteria.
As - to a certain extent does smoking.
There are numerous components present in smoke that inhibit bacterial growth and help aid preserve food.

So low temp food preserving is not all about nitrate/nitrite based cure.

The biltong I made last night is a classic example.
you cut the beef pretty thick (about 1/2 an inch) it looks more like steaks than anything else. Give it a quick vinegar bath, coat in biltong spices (brown sugar, salt, cbp, loads of coriander & garlic) and then you hang it in a luke warm place for 4-5 days.

So why doesn't it go off ?

Well to start with the strong acids in the vinegar totally destroy any surface bacteria and in my process remain during the whole process (in some south african methods they rince the vinegar off after) while in the box it's drying out and the salt and spices are also penetrating into the heart of the meat.

There's not nitrates -but a properly cured slice of biltong will never go off :-)

However with cold smoking - we generally use it to just add flavour to the food in question, so it will generally be cured, salted, brine or even cooked first. Yes the smoke will add to the preservation process a bit.
But that's not generally it's main job.

Does that help ?

[Hannibal]

Does that help ?

Yes it does.

I guess it will just take me some more reading up on it to build the confidence I need to try curing something. As for the cold smoking, what other foods are good for cold smoking rather than hot smoking?

[Hannibal]

A suggestion to the mods/admins

A "cold smoked" section?

[Richtee]

Yes it does.

I guess it will just take me some more reading up on it to build the confidence I need to try curing something. As for the cold smoking, what other foods are good for cold smoking rather than hot smoking?

Well...cheeses, fruits/veggies for use in recipes, just about anything you don't want "cooked" but flavored with smoke.

[Kingudaroad]

Somewhere to start

Cheese- Must be able to produce smoke under 90 degrees or the cheese will melt. Great cold weather project.

Cold smoked salmon- Simple 24 hour salt cure. Then smoke at under 90 degrees or fish will cook making hot smoked salmon. Another great cold weather project.

Pork bellies- Can be successfully smoked at temps as high as 140 degrees, but cooler is better. Fat will begin to render off of the bacon at about 125 degrees. Needs a 7 to 10 day cure before smoking.

Jerky- Actually a warm drying smoke in the 120 to 150 range is what I prefer. A 1 to 3 day cure is what I recommend.

I'm not sure what kind of smoker you have, but experiment sometime trying to create smoke as cool as you can. You may be surprised how low you can go, especially in cooler weather.

[curious aardvark]

cheese, more cheese and when you get tired of that, just smoke some cheese :-)
Two hours of cold smoking followed by at least a week sealed (cling film or vacpacking)in the fridge.
It's hard to explain just how much better it is than that horrible brown processed 'smoked' cheese you buy.

Curing is quite possibly the easiest thing you can do with meat.
Measure the correct amount of cure (hell use a packet mix if you have to) rub it on the meat, put the meat in a ziplock bag.
Put bag in fridge.
turn bag every day.
about a week later take meat out of bag, rinse and dry.
Tada - cured meat :-)
This can be further dried, cold smoked, hotsmoked, sliced and eaten raw (just me then ? lol) used in stews, pasta sauces etc.
Turned into pastrami.

Best suggestion.
1) Find a small piece of pork shoulder and make some BBB - try my sweetcure (per lb of meat:- correct amount of cure #1 salt. .5 ounce brown sugar, .5 tsp fresh ground coriander, .25 tsp garlic)
If all you've ever had is salty ham and bacon - this stuff will blow you away.
2) Smoke a small piece of sharp cheddar.
3) hot smoke bbb to 150.
4) slice bbb thin and place on cracker with slice of cheese.
5) eat - your tastebuds ->

Fish is even easier as you generally just use a brine or salt based rub and leave over night. Rinse, dry and smoke.

[Hannibal]

OUTSTANDING info guys, thanks.

[firemandan]

Pls help me on this.....

i have a dry rub composed of sugar, ground pepper,garlic powder and salt...i apply the rub on pork belly and chicken breasts and leave it in the ref for at least 2 hours then i transfer it to the freezer overnight...

after thawing the meats,i plan to cold smoke them for at least 3hours just to have just a taste of smoke...

I fear that without nitrites..there might be some contamination or anything...i fear for the safety of my family...

QUESTIONS:

1.Is it safe to cold smoke chicken parts and pork belly (1/2 inch thick) without applying nitrites or without curing them?

2.How long should i cold smoke chicken breasts and 1/2 inch pork belly just to give it a smoke taste?

3. my dry rub:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic powder

what can you suggest to make it a dry cure rub without affecting the taste and how long should i cure the meat?

I dont use large parts...i only use chicken parts and sliced pork belly...


Thank you for your help. God bless us all!

2.

[Richtee]

i have a dry rub composed of sugar, ground pepper,garlic powder and salt...i apply the rub on pork belly and chicken breasts and leave it in the ref for at least 2 hours then i transfer it to the freezer overnight...

Any brining/curing process is drastically slowed/stopped below 32°, Dan...

after thawing the meats,i plan to cold smoke them for at least 3hours just to have just a taste of smoke...

I fear that without nitrites..there might be some contamination or anything...i fear for the safety of my family...

Yes, you will have to use nitrates for any cool/cold smoking of meats. With a few exceptions anyway...and that's advanced stuff. Your rub is NOT gonna be sufficient for what you plan.

QUESTIONS:

1.Is it safe to cold smoke chicken parts and pork belly (1/2 inch thick) without applying nitrites or without curing them?

2.How long should i cold smoke chicken breasts and 1/2 inch pork belly just to give it a smoke taste?

3. my dry rub:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic powder

what can you suggest to make it a dry cure rub without affecting the taste and how long should i cure the meat?

I dont use large parts...i only use chicken parts and sliced pork belly...


Thank you for your help. God bless us all!

2.

[Richtee]

3. my dry rub:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic powder

what can you suggest to make it a dry cure rub without affecting the taste and how long should i cure the meat?

oops..I missed this part...

You will need to add Cure #1 to the above mix... but the amount depends on the weight of the meat to be cured. 1 TEAspoon of Cure #1 (Pink curing salt) will cure 5 lbs of meat. Be sure to coat all surfaces well and evenly so as to distribute the cure evenly thru all the cuts.

This is one reason why I like the Tenderquick product. It makes things easier by being "diluted" with the salt needed. To use it in your rub- delete your salt, and add 1 TABLESPOON Tenderquick per pound of meat. Evenly cover...etc.

All thinner cuts of meats/parts like you mention will prolly be good to go in 3 days REFRIDGERATED cure time.

[lcruzen]

I'd recommend using Morton's Tenderquick curing salt when your first getting your feet wet in the curing process. The salt, nitrate, nitrite ratio is already formulated in the bag. Just remember to omit the salt called for in the recipe or your final product could be too salty.

[curious aardvark]

lol - actually given the temps and times you're planning on smoking - can't see any problem with the pork belly certainly.
And I'd leave it in the fridge overnight - not the freezer.
You're rub is high enough in salt to do the job.
Chicken I'd probably be a bit more circumspect with.

Let's put this in perspective.
A butt is rubbed overnight, and then smoked for around 8-12 hours.
At the 3 hour point, the odds are the interior is still cold enough to have passed for cold smoking. The smoke has sterilised and started to cure the outer layer.

Were it a 1/2 inch thick piece of pork belly, it would be fully cured from the smoke anyway.
To be honest the chicken would be perfectly safe as well.

Bear in mind that in strong concentrations sugar is at least as good a bacterial inhibitor as salt is.
So add the salt an sugar in the rub and you've got a very good level of bacterial inhibition.

On the other hand - I can't see any reason NOT to use cure. The results will be virtually identical, rich won't have seven fits and you'll know it's all perfectly safe.
Plus the very small amount of added salt from #1 should not effect your rub in any negative way.
Win Win situation :-)

[Whisky Fish]

I guess it will just take me some more reading up on it to build the confidence I need to try curing something. As for the cold smoking, what other foods are good for cold smoking rather than hot smoking?

That's good advice you gave to yourself. I've read so much about curing, I now know the processes of food contamination and bacterial growth and I believe that is the key to having confidence in your projects. The processes of inhibiting the growth of that bacteria cover everything from canning, drying, salting, fermenting, sub zero freezing, curing with nitrites/nitrates, pickling ect. Oddly enough the more you learn about the micro biology of it the more ambitious you'll become about exploring "raw" or "undercooked" foods.
As for safe cold smoking projects, try smoking some salt, pepper, misc. spices, nuts, flour(for baking) and if you can keep it around the 40 degree mark, any previously cooked foods. Good luck and keep on researching, you will get more and more creative the more you learn.
If you have any doubts, post em on here. I guarantee, if anyone posts bad advice, these folks are on it, like white on rice.

[Richtee]

lol - actually given the temps and times you're planning on smoking - can't see any problem with the pork belly certainly.
And I'd leave it in the fridge overnight - not the freezer.
You're rub is high enough in salt to do the job.
Chicken I'd probably be a bit more circumspect with.

You know my position on this CA- if you want to talk microbiology with Danger Dan, BBally, King- or any other number of EXPERIENCED meat curing folk... have at it. But FM Dan here is a beginner. Beginners must start at the beginning. Advanced curing techniques are cool and all that... but they are for ADVANCED meat curers.

On the other hand - I can't see any reason NOT to use cure. The results will be virtually identical, rich won't have seven fits and you'll know it's all perfectly safe.
Plus the very small amount of added salt from #1 should not effect your rub in any negative way.
Win Win situation :-)

Why not let him know "it's all perfectly safe" and follow accepted main-line curing methods?

And that was barely half a fit.