Cold Smoking

[alaskanbear]

X2 what Al just said, the AMNPS will work wonders for any cold smoking venture.  I will never be without one while doing my cold smoked salmon!! or cheeses!,,

Rich

 

[Bearcarver]

I am a relative newbie to smoking, and I want to try cold smoking.  How can I cold smoke in my Brinkman Gourment Charcoal smoker? I have an electric heat source, (I live in an area that doesn't allow charcoal grills) and I am dying to do cold smoking. I mention the type of smoker so the experts out there can help me better. I want to buy a cold smoker, but if I can get the job done in my present smoker, then I can go that route.

Yup, What Teez & Al & Rich said:

You can easily cold smoke & warm smoke with an AMNS (with dust), and you can use an AMNPS (with pellets) for cold, warm and hot smoking.

Bear

 

[rwills81]

Hey guys,

I am new as well. I have cold smoked a bunch of ribs before but different from how you guys might do it....

You can see from my avatar my cold smoking unit, I have never tried to cold smoke something that was cured I just hung ribs and cold smoked them for 6 hours but kept the temp between 35-45. When it gets cold out in Boston I won't need the 40 bags of ice.

so the way I understand it....if the food item is cured through then it can be in a cold smoker with temps 85 and lower, but if not cured it has to be anywehre between 45 and lower...is this correct?

I am looking to cold smoke my turkey this year for for thanksgiving for a good 8-10 hrs and was wondering if I should brine it....not worried about it being cured because of the temps, I figure the weather temp outside would be perfect fridge temp btu I am sure the brining will make the flavors more intense. My question is how long should I brine it for? How do I know that the 'curing' has reached the center of the meat?

 

[eman]

welcome rwills,

 When you talk about "brining" and "curing",you are talking about 2 totaly different processes. Brining is to add flavor and moisture to the meat whereas curing is to ,well cure the meat

 We recomend that ALL smokers follow USDA guidelines . They say that any meat that is not cured needs to go from an internal of 40deg to an internal of 140 deg in 4 hours or less. I would not recomend trying to cold smoke any uncured meat. maybe it can be done under low enough temps ???

 Down here on the bayou we never get low enough temps to attempt it.

 How about some of you folks up there in the frozen north chiming in on this one!

 

[fpnmf]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

 

[eman]

That is a curing Brine , a curing liquid can have salt and be a curing brine. But if it has no curing agent then it is just a brine.The word brine has nothing to do w/ modern curing. Brine is just a very high salt content liquid. In the old days and old ways  when curing was done w/ salt and not the modern cures we have today , A brine would have been used to cure. But today, a true brine ( salt and water) would not be considered safe to cure with  by most .

 

[rwills81]

by the time thanksgiving is here the outside temps could be below 40

 

[fpnmf]

Wet curing is how most commercail bacon is made..

How is commercially cured bacon made?

Commercially made bacon is wet cured in brine with either phosphates or a derivative. Injected into the meat, phosphates encourage the absorption of water, boosting the weight of the meat. This is the milky liquid that seeps from bacon as it fries. Bacon cured this way will retain a higher level of salt, a matter of concern to anyone who worries about sodium in their diet. Commercial bacon producers also mix a colourant with the brine.