Hi from Bedford, England

[londonsteve]

Hi everyone, I bought a Char-Griller with side box last year and have used it a number of times with some great results IMO. I found the Thermapen absolutely brilliant, saves so much time and guesswork.

Done a number of pork bellies, pork shoulder, ribs etc. 

I prefer to make my own rubs and sauces, use recipes from all over.

I've also made a small (4' x 20" x 12") cold smoking cabinet out of spare wood and used chromed B&Q saucepan stands for shelves. I have done sausages, bacon, cheese in this, again all good - well, actually i have to say they all taste most excellent. Use one of those spiral Pro Q cold smoke generators with various woods.

Also have a gas 3 plate grill for a quick burger type BBQ.

All my stuff is outside, at the mercy of the weather (covered with tarpaulin / sheeting though) so i cannot cook as often as i would like. So today it's raining quite heavily and 7deg C.

Look forward to finding some new ideas for the spring !

Cheers for now !!

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a cooooold day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything. 

Gary

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David

 

[gary s]

Post some pictures of your equipment

Gary

 

[londonsteve]

Ok here's a short video of my cold smoker, part loaded and underway. 

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello Steve.  WHOA!  A bit concerned here.  You didn't mentioned making sausage.  The bacon, garlic and cheese are fine but are those just plain bangers from a market or the butcher?  If so I doubt there is any cure in them.  I have never bought any banger with cure in it.  How long in the cold smoker and how quickly did you bring them to at least 60c.?  When not using cure you need to get that sausage to an IT of 60c. in under 4 hours.  The time starts when they leave the fridge.  You would also be ok if the sausage never reaches above 4.44c.  The good news is that you put the sausages on the bottom so there is no cross contamination.  You MIGHT get by a few times but you are risking family and friends each time.  Just not worth it.  If those sausages are cured and you are aware of the rule for botulism safety then I apologize for my error.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[londonsteve]

Hi Danny,

Thanks for the concern and advice !

I am aware of food safety and salmonella etc, and that was one of the main reasons i bought the Thermapen.

They were cold smoked for 2 hours, with the dust smoker burning at both ends.

Yes plain sausages from the butchers, I took em out of the fridge and put a few holes in them before smoking.

Then straight back into the fridge once done, before cooking indoors (fried) the next day.

The outside temperature was around 20C, during the smoking so i was a bit nervous.....

They were eaten only by me - .I did sweat it for an hour or so after having tested one on its own first  !!!  No ill effects though. Tasted good, i have to say.

I was equally worried about the bacon, but again no ill effects.

Not done any since, but may have another go next week. Outside temperatures here are around 3 to 10 degrees at the moment so i will be happier to have a go. I will let you know if i do a smoke.

cheers for now.

Steve

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi Steve welcome to the forum.

Good to see new members form the UK.

Always good advice give on here, even if it was not ask for, but people are going ney looking out for each other.

Smokin Monkey [emoji]133660013031[/emoji]

(Nottingham)

 

[wade]

Hi Steve - Welcome to the forum and what a lovely looking cold smoker.

I think it is great what you are doing there and is a good start. In no way do I want to dampen your enthusiasm, however Danny has raised a valid concern regarding the sausages. Although they were only in the smoker for a short period of time and unlikely to pose a significant threat it is not good practice to cold smoke the commercial sausages in this way, These would have been better hot smoked in your Char-Griller up to a temperature of 74 C. One other comment is that it is also not good to mix the raw meat and cheese in the smoker at the same time. I see that you are using the correct fridge technique of placing your raw meat below your cheese however looking at the drip tray there is liquid in there (probably from the sausages) which would have caused a fine mist as it dripped and splashed. Unlike in a fridge, the the heat of the smoke generator is going to result in a constant upward flow of air through the smoker causing this aerosol to be carried upwards over the sausages and bacon and then over your uncovered cheese. It is a learning curve for us all when we start out and I think you are going to produce some fantastic smoked food in there.

Your cold smoker is going to be great for the cheese and you really must smoke some salmon and also some bacon in there in the future. Here is a link for curing fish - it is simple to do and creates great results

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/140785/smoked-fish-fillets-salmon-cod-and-haddock-q-view

Looking forward to seeing your next posts

Cheers

Wade

 

[londonsteve]

Hi Smoking Monkey, Dave and Gary, thanks for the warm welcome !

Hi Wade, thanks for the advice, and warm welcome !

I want to smoke some salmon so will be checking out that link above !!

cheers for now guys !

 

[gary s]

Be looking forward to your salmon smoke

gary

 

[kc5tpy]

Hi Steve.  You might not be as lucky but I get my local butcher to make sausage for me to my recipe.  I just bring in a bag with the proper spices and cure and he provides the meat and makes the sausage.  Maybe just add the proper amount of cure to his sausage recipe if you like his sausage.  If you buy say 7-10 kilos he will go for it.  Of course my local man gets smoked treats now and then.  Took him a smoked turkey leg and thigh for Christmas.  

  Good luck with the smoking and with the butcher.  Keep Smokin!

Danny