# First time Cold Smoking with A-Maze-N box - Temp question



## Italbro (May 14, 2019)

Hi everyone,

Got a simple question for all your smokeaholic. This is my first time cold smoking and was wondering if just light up the A-Maze-N box for +- 12 hours, no other heat, will it be enough ?

I believe I will only reach temps of 60 degrees and is it enough to "cook" the meat ? I have no concern on the smoke flavors but really on the internal temp of the meat. 

Thx!


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## fivetricks (May 14, 2019)

Well if you're cold smoking, you're not actually "cooking" the meat. It's more of a preserving the meat thing.

Not sure what you're cold smoking though.


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## Italbro (May 14, 2019)

Cold smoking BACON :)...and I know im not "cooking" it but was under the impression that meat as to reach a certain temperature. 

Maybe I'm fine then and just using the heat and smoke from the a-maze-n box will do the trick. 

Thx!


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## SmokinVOLfan (May 14, 2019)

Did you cure the pork belly?


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## Italbro (May 14, 2019)

Of course, I usually cure and hot smoke...want to try cold smoke now.


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## daveomak (May 14, 2019)

AMNPS with pellets raises the temp of my MES30 about 20-25F...  Using the Mail box mod... maybe 5-10F...  Using pellets made into dust...  maybe 0-5F...   I like using the dust..  better flavor I think..


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## SmokinVOLfan (May 14, 2019)

Italbro said:


> Of course, I usually cure and hot smoke...want to try cold smoke now.



You are good then. No temps to worry about. You will end up cooking the bacon after you slice it up anyways to get it up to temp so no need to hot smoke unless you just like to. I cold smoke all of my bellies for 12 hours. Usually get great smoke flavor! Let us know how it turns out


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## radioguy (May 14, 2019)

I use my electric smoker with PID controller to do my cold smoking.  I set it to 60-70 F.  The reason I do this is to create a draft.  I use a mailbox pellet tray set up and this helps keep pellets burning.  It really helps to draw clean air through the mailbox.

RG


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## deb.williams (May 14, 2019)

Italbro said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Got a simple question for all your smokeaholic. This is my first time cold smoking and was wondering if just light up the A-Maze-N box for +- 12 hours, no other heat, will it be enough ?
> 
> ...


you can try doing it by 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Time depends on the thickness of your meat.


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## indaswamp (May 14, 2019)

Italbro said:


> Cold smoking BACON :)...and I know im not "cooking" it but was under the impression that meat as to reach a certain temperature.
> 
> Maybe I'm fine then and just using the heat and smoke from the a-maze-n box will do the trick.
> 
> Thx!


No, the meat does not need to reach a certain INT when cold smoking. Cold smoking is more of a drying process, but it also allows the smoke to penetrate all the way through the slab as opposed to what some in the U.S. refer to as warm smoking (Hot smoking in the E.U.). Cold smoking is best done below ~70*F and 50~80% humidity, similar to dry aging set ups...You want the outside of the meat to stay moist. This will allow full smoke penetration on the raw meat and enhance the drying of the interior of the slab. Cold smoking is also done for many days. It is not uncommon to cold smoke for 36, 48, 72 hours or even longer.
Ideally, you do not want to go above around 90*F in the smoke chamber as this speeds the drying of the outside layer of meat and slows total smoke penetration all the way through the meat. Proteins start to denature around 105*F. A steak is cooked rare @125*. So the cooking process starts somewhere between those values.

When Hot smoking (what some refer to as warm smoking in the U.S.) 105*-140*F, the meat will loose anywhere between 5~10% moisture. When cold smoking below 70*F with proper humidity and allowing the outside layer of meat to remain moist, the moisture loss is anywhere from 5-20% and total smoke penetration is achieved.
The two processes are not the same, though both will give you better bacon than you can buy in a store.

*edit to add: cold smoking is not a continuous process. The smoke process is stopped many times to allow the meat to rest. this does two things, it allows the moisture in the meat to equalize, drawing more water from the center to the outside layer where it can evaporate during the next round of smoking. It also allows the smoke compounds time to travel deep within the slab of raw meat; as more moisture is lost in the interior, more smoke is drawn deeper within the slab intensifying the smoky flavor.


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