- Dec 27, 2012
- 2
- 10
I was interested in trying out some cured sausage recipes that called for cold smoking. I have a Kenmore propane-fired hot smoker but even at its lowest setting, it still generated temps that would cook rather than just smoke. I'd considered pop-riveting a mailbox to the side of the hot smoker and piping it into the box thinking that the hot temps would be confined to the mailbox while the smoke would simply pass into the box of my hot smoker. I hit on a much simpler and less expensive solution. I keep honeybees and have several bee smokers which by nature generate thick but very cool smoke. I removed the water pan from my hot smoker to make room for the bee smoker. I removed the lid from the bee smoker, put a sheet of newspaper in there to get things started, and then packed it full of apple wood chips. Give the bellows a few puffs to get the smoke going and then put the whole works into the hot smoker box with the sausage and close the door. Works great and the thermometer on the door of my smoker doesn't register anything. You can purchase a bee smoker at any beekeeping supply place (brushy mountain, dadant, etc) for about $30. Photo #1 shows what a bee smoker looks like. #2 shows what it looks like with the lid removed and lit. #3 shows my smoker, with no propane tank attached with smoke rolling out of the chimney. Hope this helps anyone looking to do cold smoking without spending a fortune on a new smoker.