What is cold smoking and how do you cold smoke food
Cold smoking is the process of applying smoke flavor to foods without cooking them. Depending on who you ask,
cold smoking is said to occur at temperatures in the range of 80-100°F, but certainly no higher than 120°F. In reality, with the use of the
SmokePistol or the GrillKicker, you can cold smoke and should cold smoke food at temperatures as low as 40°F. This low cold smoking
temperature is very important for
food safety purposes and is ideal for cold smoking sausage and fish. It is also a very easy thing
to set up using the SmokePistol or
GrillKicker and nothing more than a cardboard box.
Examples of cold-smoked foods include
sausages, country ham, fish, and
Cold smoking doesn’t cook or substantially cure the food or meat that you are smoking and therefore cold smoked meats are usually brined or
salted before they are cold smoked. Brining or salting the meat ensures that bacteria will not develop while meat is being cold smoked.
The brining process also helps with the distinctive flavor of the cold smoked food. Bacon, lox, country ham and
beef jerky are all cold
smoked foods that are brined in advance. Even though the brining helps prevent bacterial growth and food spoilage, it is still a good idea
to keep meat as cold as possible while cold smoking. This makes the use of a cooler or refrigerator a good idea when cold smoking because
they are insulated and can keep the meat or other food cold while it is exposed to the
flavored wood smoke.
Cold smoking food is very easy with the right equipment. You just need a container to hold the food in the smoky environment, racks to support
the food inside the container and a source of cold wood smoke like the SmokePistol® or the GrillKicker™. The container can be as simple as a cardboard box or a plastic cooler. You can use cookie cooling racks to support the food and to keep things cool you can fill plastic food containers with ice or use cold drink cans. Now the only things you need are the cheese, fish or other food you wish to cold smoke and a SmokePistol or GrillKicker to provide the smoke.
The picture above shows cold
smoking cheese with cookie cooling racks and a GrillKicker. See our cold smoking cheese page for details.
and smoker tip
cook for real BBQ meat and fish
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