Cold smoking

[Eddie]

After purchasing a smoking generator from Mac's and reading Smoking and Curing by Keith Erlandson. I'm considering cold smoking some salmon and cheese on my Pro Q. But only reading the one book. Has anyone got any tips, ideas or would be willing to share their tricks of cold smoking.

Eddie.

[British BBQ Society]

Hi Eddie, type cold smoking (smoker) into the search bar (top right) and you will come up with quite a bit of information from the forum.

[Chris__M]

I've done 3 smokes so far, the first was ok, and the other two were great.

The first was a mixture of cheeses - both strong and mild, using Oak dust. I also smoked some (uncured) trout fillets, some tofu and some butter.

The trout was a letdown; because it was uncured (I hadn't bothered with salting or brining, as it was an impulsive experiment), I had planned to cook and eat them within a day or so. However, I quickly realised that at that point the smoke taste hadn't had a chance to mature. So I am currently leaving smoking fish and meat for another day, when I will do it properly.

The first batch of cheese was a mixed success - I had thought that the mild cheese would take the smoke better, but I found I far preferred the medium and strong cheddars.

The last two smokes have also involved cheese, butter and tofu, but using applewood dust, which I far preferred to the Oak. This time I concentrated on a good medium cheddar, which was brilliant, and is now in much demand amongst my friends and neighbours.

The tofu was also great - I use this a lot in stir-fries, and it took the smokiness really well.

The butter I have mentioned before - this is absolutely brilliant, I think I will put a block of butter on every time I cold smoke (make sure you place it in its opened wrapper, otherwise it may slowly slip through the grid). I am using it in sauces, and it also makes great scrambled egg.

So my best cheese results were using Applewood for about 3 hours, and then leaving them for at least 5 days. The tofu and butter seemed to work well with either Applewood or Oak.

Next time I try Oak, I may reduce the time to 2 hours.

[Eddie]

Chris, thanks for the reply. I never would of thought of smoking Butter, as it's seems one of those products that wouldn't work. But it does sound great.
Buy the way, what do you use it for or with ?

Eddie

[Chris__M]

When someone suggested I smoked some butter while I was doing some cheese, I went "huh?". All of my friends have also had a similar reaction when I mentioned it to them, until I explain how I use it. Then they want some, to try themselves.

It will infuse anything you cook in it with a subtle smokey taste. As I mentioned, I made some scrambled egg with it, and it tasted really great. It goes really well with practically any fish (grilled or baked in a foil parcel), and is even pretty nifty on a baked potato!

What it is really excellent for, though, is using in soups and sauces. Because I work from home, I make a lot of home made soup for lunch, and smoked butter is an easy way to add some extra flavour. In chestnut soup, it is brilliant; butternut squash soup made with smoked butter is divine.

Unlike cold smoking cheese, where you will want to cut it into blocks no thicker than about an inch, butter can be smoked as a normal sized block - the smoke will penetrate really well. Like cheese, you will want to leave the butter at least 5 days, before that it can be a bit bitter. As I mentioned, I smoke the butter on the open wrapper, then simply wrap it again and keep it in the fridge, in a sealed container, so it doesn't taint the flavour of anything else in the fridge.

[Eddie]

The soups sound fantastic, as I've got some Butternut squash at my allotment. I will be trying that one.

Eddie

[keith157]

OKAY i AM NOW OFFICIALLY DROOLING........

[LM600]

Bacon is good.

The last lot I did I gave it five nights of oak and hickory and then let it sit for a week before slicing.

Next lot I plan on doing is a double maple - maple syrup cured and then smoked with maple.

Cheese, I generally use whatever is on special at the supermarket and give it one night of oak then let it sit for a week again.

[Chris__M]

You give your cheese a whole night of oak?

Not knocking it, just surprised. I've been doing cheddar with just 3 hours of applewood.

[Big_Fat_Dan]

Saw this, looks interesting.