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  • #16
    Lots of folks use a smoke generator - the least expensive commercial one I have found is a product called the A MAZE N SMOKER - there are several folks here that use it with good results - as others have indicated you can make your own using a soldering iron too -
    Scarbelly

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    • #17
      Cold smoke? Wait till January an come up North, bout a cold a smoke as ya can get!

      Lots a good suggestions there, the smoke generators make it much easier cause yer not havin a lotta heat in yer smoke box ta generate the smoke. With a generator, ya can use a small amounta coals, gas er electric heat source fer the little heat ya do wan't.
      sigpic



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      • #18
        Originally posted by BigBuck View Post
        Hello everyone,

        My name is Ernie Rosato I live in PA and I'm new to cold smoking meat.

        Several issues that I have questions about.

        My smokehouse is 4 feet wide 7 feet deep and 8 foot tall. Smoke is generated from a small wood burning stove and piped in with 6inch pipe through the concrete tiled floor. Two vent 6 inch vent holes along the roof line. The interior of the Smokehouse is lined with stainless steel.

        After two attempts of smoking trout and deer sticks, the product has a vinegary taste to it. I marinated the trout on the first go around and figured that is where the taste came from. I Processed the venison sticks with cure #2 all the salt, seasonings and spices, that my recipe called for. Cased the meat and let sit in the fridge @ 36 degrees for 1day prior to smoking. Smoke temps were maintained at 80-90 degrees F. Smoked the product for 24 hours.

        Product came out a little dry but the vinegary taste is the killer.

        What Am I doing wrong?

        Your help is greatly appreciated
        doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong, though why are you cold smoking raw snacksticks ?
        Looking at your numbers it just looks like too low a temp for way too long a time period. sounds like you might be getting some fermentation in the meat, which would give you a sour 'vinegary' taste.
        What exactly are you trying to produce ?
        jerky or snackstix or solid strips of meat/fish ?

        Also what is the spice mix you added.
        Made In England - Fine Tuned By The USA
        Just call me 'One Grind'



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        • #19
          Newbie to cold Smoking

          curious aardvark,

          Thanks for the vote of confidence. There was an older gentleman here in PA that made cold smoked Venison Sticks that were to die for. He would take venison and add 1/3 pork, season, salt and smoke, but would never give up the smoking trade secret to me. He always mentioned something about never get the temps to go over 140º but that doesn't make sense if he was cold smoking...

          When the sticks were delivered they were smokey and dry on the outside and medium rare, (for lack of better terms) or soft on the inside. If you left them out on your counter top for several days they would become progressively harder to the consistency of pepperoni.
          Honestly the best I have ever had, that is what I'm trying to replicate. I also would like to make jerky and strips.

          I prepared the meat that I smoked with a friend of mine who hot smokes with very good results time after time. We used his recipe and that is where I feel the trouble started. We seasoned and immediately cased the meat. I feel that I should have used more salt some fermento and let it sit in the refrigerator for 2-3 days to cure, then proceed to case.

          This is where I become clueless. #1 Should I wait until ambient temps out doors are conducive to cold smoking? If so do I just load the meat and fire it up . What procedures should I follow? Are there any really good books that take you through the steps in a systematic manner from food prep to consuming?

          Your help is greatly appreciated.

          Many Thanks

          Ernie Rosato

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          • #20
            travcoman45 ,

            The smoke that I generate from the stove is heating the box to 75-80º and Its pretty easy to maintain. The hard part is trying to get the temps to 160-170º to hot smoke the meat. Where do I find a smoke generator?

            Thanks for your help

            Ernie Rosato

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Scarbelly View Post
              Lots of folks use a smoke generator - the least expensive commercial one I have found is a product called the A MAZE N SMOKER - there are several folks here that use it with good results - as others have indicated you can make your own using a soldering iron too -
              Thanks Scarbelly, I'll check it out.

              Ernie Rosato

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              • #22
                It is fine to cold smoke your sausages until they get the desired color, and then increase your smokehouse temp to at least 160 to get the meat to safe eating levels. You could also finish them in the oven or poach them in 180 degree water to get them to a finishing temp of 152 internal after achieving your smokiness.

                As far as not getting your temps high enough in the smokehouse, you could try making your exhaust openings smaller, making a bigger hotter fire in your stove, or even putting an electric hotplate inside the smokehouse.

                Here is a great website with a ton of information...

                http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/
                Keith

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by Kingudaroad View Post
                  It is fine to cold smoke your sausages until they get the desired color, and then increase your smokehouse temp to at least 160 to get the meat to safe eating levels. You could also finish them in the oven or poach them in 180 degree water to get them to a finishing temp of 152 internal after achieving your smokiness.

                  As far as not getting your temps high enough in the smokehouse, you could try making your exhaust openings smaller, making a bigger hotter fire in your stove, or even putting an electric hotplate inside the smokehouse.

                  Here is a great website with a ton of information...

                  http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/
                  Thanks Keith I'll check out the website.

                  Ernie

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                  • #24
                    the sour taste is from the fermento. Leave it out.
                    Unless you're making salami or similiar you definitely don't want fermentation.
                    It's anarobic fermention that produces lactic acid, sour milk taste. Don't know why you'd want that in a venison snackstick

                    The venison sticks you got from the old man would probably NOT have been fermented.
                    They would also have been warm smoked - not cold.

                    140 - 160 would be about right temps for snack stix.

                    The description of the texture of the stix sounds more like biltong than jerky, which is a whole nother story lol.

                    I'd probably just get the smoker going and put the stix in and gradually (over a couple of hours) bring the temp up to 160. Depending on the thickness of the stix - give it another 4-6 hours.
                    Make some small stickx for samplng and checking along the way. Given the slimness of stix it's a bit trickey using the temp probes - so I never bother. a small sample every hour or so works just as well :-)

                    That ought to do it.

                    Another way to get crispy outsides is to make caseless stix

                    These end up looking like this:-
                    Last edited by curious aardvark; 06-13-2010, 10:11 AM.
                    Made In England - Fine Tuned By The USA
                    Just call me 'One Grind'



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                    • #25
                      I also noticed BigBuck said he used cure #2. I thought that was used for dry cured sausages like salamis and such. If he's using fermento too, that's the vinagery taste there.

                      Venison sticks just need cure #1 and the seasonings. CA, I know you won't agree, but that is the correct and safe way. Especially with wild game.
                      S-M Misfit #16

                      If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. ~ Red Green

                      It's a shame stupidity isn't painful.

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                      Lil Chief

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                      • #26
                        i just use a cure 2 analog for everything.

                        makes no difference really. just so long as you've used cure :-)
                        Made In England - Fine Tuned By The USA
                        Just call me 'One Grind'



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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by curious aardvark View Post
                          i just use a cure 2 analog for everything.

                          makes no difference really. just so long as you've used cure :-)
                          I would agree with that statement. Cure #2 are nitrates as opposed to nitrites. Nitrates produce nitrites which cure the meat.

                          Using cure #1 is like using cure#2 on steroids. Cure #2 will take a bit longer but the end result is that it is cured. Read about it here...

                          http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/nitrates-intro.htm

                          Some folks, like me, love to have some tang in my sticks. Fermento, encapsulated citric acid and starter cultures for a more natural fermentation are all fine for that.
                          Last edited by Kingudaroad; 06-14-2010, 09:52 AM.
                          Keith

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by BigBuck View Post
                            travcoman45 ,

                            The smoke that I generate from the stove is heating the box to 75-80º and Its pretty easy to maintain. The hard part is trying to get the temps to 160-170º to hot smoke the meat. Where do I find a smoke generator?

                            Thanks for your help

                            Ernie Rosato
                            Well ya can build one, they ain't that hard ta make. One I seen I like most as a commercial one is the smoke daddy. I just sorta borrowed his design an built one a my own.

                            Ya can also use a tin can with wood chips er pellets an a solderin iron in it.
                            sigpic



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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Kingudaroad View Post
                              I would agree with that statement. Cure #2 are nitrates as opposed to nitrites. Nitrates produce nitrites which cure the meat.

                              Using cure #1 is like using cure#2 on steroids. Cure #2 will take a bit longer but the end result is that it is cured. Read about it here...

                              http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/nitrates-intro.htm

                              Some folks, like me, love to have some tang in my sticks. Fermento, encapsulated citric acid and starter cultures for a more natural fermentation are all fine for that.
                              yes and no. Cure 1 contains ONLY nitrite. Cure 2 contains BOTH nitrite and nitrate.

                              so cure 1 is for a quick cure of a product that is not going to be left uncooked for any great period.
                              cure 2 will do the quick fix cure but also adds longer term protection via the nitrate.

                              If you're only going to buy one - buy cure 2 and you're covered for all eventualities.
                              Made In England - Fine Tuned By The USA
                              Just call me 'One Grind'



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