# Cold Smoking on the Weber Kettle



## kingt36

Has anyone tried this? I'm thinking about using the 22" Weber kettle to cold smoke some bacon. Any advice, tips or pics?


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## ak1

It's doable, but it's hard to do.


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## full noon farm

I have two organic hogs being butchered and I have the fresh sides(Bellies, Bacon that I have to cold smoke) first there is the hickory apple/peach/maple smoke then there is the what type of smoker and cold smoker am I going to use, the other cuts I sell and the pit masters do their thing. I have spent 2yrs breeding and raising these hogs this bacon is very expensive and labor intensive for a beginner to smoke. I will leave the organic pork in the freezer get some cheaper fresh sides and start smoking,any suggestions?


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## JckDanls 07

I would suggest you cure the meat first before subjecting it to a lengthy cold smoke....


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## coolbob1

I do cheese on the Weber 22 when the weather is cool. I just throw Todds AMNPS on the very bottom of the kettle (remove the charcoal rack), open both top & bottom vents & go for it. With this set-up, the kettle seems to run about 10˚ above ambient, so a 35 degree morning gives me a 45 degree smoke, for as long as the AMNPS burns. Good luck!


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## full noon farm

Thx for your suggestions I'll Ikeep you posted FNF


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## daveomak

Full Noon Farm said:


> I have two organic hogs being butchered and I have the fresh sides(Bellies, Bacon that I have to cold smoke) first there is the hickory apple/peach/maple smoke then there is the what type of smoker and cold smoker am I going to use, the other cuts I sell and the pit masters do their thing. I have spent 2yrs breeding and raising these hogs this bacon is very expensive and labor intensive for a beginner to smoke. I will leave the organic pork in the freezer get some cheaper fresh sides and start smoking,any suggestions?




As far as suggestions go.....    First..... weigh everything on a grams scale....   probably need 2.... one for pounds over 1# up to 50 or so...    #2 a grams scale for weighing cure and spices etc...   0- 500 grams will do....

Weigh the pork, weigh the water... add salt, sugar and cure...  salt I use  approx. 2%.... sugar I use approx. 1%...  cure I use 120 Ppm to "no skin" bellies or shoulder "butts" when making bacon...  Then when you taste the finished product, you can make educated adjustments to satisfy your taste....  using a "reduced" cure amount like I do is called "equilibrium" curing/brining...   it takes longer in the brine, 15-30 days minimum, but the product is consistent...   Never too much salt, or cure or sugar.... everything in the bucket comes to equilibrium...  You can't screw it up...  Be sure to thoroughly clean EVERYTHING so you aren't adding any "unwanted" stuff....   I wipe EVERYTHING down with vinegar to kill all bacteria before adding stuff to the bucket...   If you have any "unwanted" guests, you could end up with "ropey" brine, which is not a problem but you have to dump the brine and make new and rinse the belly...


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## full noon farm

Thanks Dave


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## wade

Hi King

Like Coolbob I used to regularly smoke cheese in my Weber 22" however being such a small space there was always the problem with the temperature increase caused by the smoke generator if it is inside. In the end I rigged up a remote external box for the smoke and introduced it in through one of the bottom vents. Smoking a small piece of bacon in it would probably be OK however anything of size is likely to be a challenge as AK1 says.

You may want to try simply using a large large cabinet or some have even successfully cold smoked in very large cardboard boxes.

If you do try then please let us know how you get on.


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## dougmays

I use my Weber kettle for all my Jerky making. I stick the A-Maze-N dust smoker on the bottom with the vents on the grill wide open...once it gets smokering i put 2-3 pizza trays with jerky on it and let it smoke for 2-3 hours then finish on the dehydrator


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## roy jensen

I've had success as well with the a-maze-n dust smoker in the weber kettle. I cold smoked some bacon as well as a pie tin with cream to make smoked mint chocolate chip honey ice cream. I did include a bowl full of ice cubes in the weber when smoking the cream. Kept the temps down, but I'm not sure if it was really needed.


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## donr

You could pipe in your smoke through the bottom grill vents?

If you are using an A-Mazen product or a soup can/Soldering Iron smoke generator, you could place that on the ground below the grill and use a cheap, flexible dryer vent pipe to channel the smoke up to the lower grill vents.  This would give the change for the smoke to cool off a bit.

Or put a thermometer inside the grill to monitor the temperature to see how far above the ambient temperature the grill gets.  If it's acceptable, then no Mods needed.

I tend to cold smoke meats overnight to help keep the chamber temps down.

Don


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## wade

donr said:


> You could pipe in your smoke through the bottom grill vents?
> 
> I tend to cold smoke meats overnight to help keep the chamber temps down.


Both of these are techniques that I have used successfully in the Weber 22"


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## morning wood

This link has a very informative way of doing this:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/coldsmoker.html


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## one eyed jack

DaveOmak said:


> As far as suggestions go..... First..... weigh everything on a grams scale.... probably need 2.... one for pounds over 1# up to 50 or so... #2 a grams scale for weighing cure and spices etc... 0- 500 grams will do....
> 
> Weigh the pork, weigh the water... add salt, sugar and cure... salt I use approx. 2%.... sugar I use approx. 1%... cure I use 120 Ppm to "no skin" bellies or shoulder "butts" when making bacon... Then when you taste the finished product, you can make educated adjustments to satisfy your taste.... using a "reduced" cure amount like I do is called "equilibrium" curing/brining... it takes longer in the brine, 15-30 days minimum, but the product is consistent... Never too much salt, or cure or sugar.... everything in the bucket comes to equilibrium... You can't screw it up... Be sure to thoroughly clean EVERYTHING so you aren't adding any "unwanted" stuff.... I wipe EVERYTHING down with vinegar to kill all bacteria before adding stuff to the bucket... If you have any "unwanted" guests, you could end up with "ropey" brine, which is not a problem but you have to dump the brine and make new and rinse the belly...


Gotta confess that I am new to curing but this reads like a treasure trove of info to me.  Thanks Mr. Dave.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   I learned several things on my first read through.   Will revisit for more.


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## one eyed jack

I have smoked cheese in my, (brothers),  22 inch Weber kettle, in 40* weather with a 6 inch "Amazn" tube smoke generator.  (No "baffle" above the smoking tube).

If you place cheese directly above the tube it will melt, even in 40* weather.  Cheese very close but not directly above the tube was fine and the overall set up worked fine.  Isolating your smoke generator with dryer vent hose has got to work very well. 

The kettle smoke was with my brothers kettle.  I use my 18 inch WSM with water in the bowl and two 6 inch Amazn tube smoke generator's.













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__ one eyed jack
__ Oct 18, 2014


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## chuck2u

This is an older thread, but here's me $0.02

I wanted to see if I could cold smoke on my Weber kettle so I did the following experiment:

My Weber kettle cold smoking experiment

Date January 2, 2016

Outside Temperature 31 deg. F

Maximum temp inside kettle at the grill grate 62 deg. F.  This meant that the outside temp would have to be 50 deg F or less to cold smoke to never reach a temp higher than 90 deg F inside the kettle.

Purpose of Experiment:

To see if I could cold smoke high-end charcuterie (cheese, eggs, lox, and bacon) on my Weber kettle grill.

Smoke pot: A tin can with about (12) 5/16” holes drilled into the bottom.  The top is open and the label has been removed.  The can is 3.25” tall and 3” in diameter.

Instructions:

Fill can with wood chips

Light by holding filled can with a plier or other tool over a Weber white chimney starting cube for 60 seconds.  Save cube by blowing it out.  

Set smoke pot on lower charcoal supporting grate.

Add chips to pot to continue smoking until desired flavor is reached.

Occasionally tap pot to remove ashes through bottom holes to keep air moving.

Watch for chips to flame when air flow through pot is too much.

The small smoke pot can give 25 minutes of smoke

Time producing smoke: 26 minutes or about 10 minutes per inch of can height.













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__ chuck2u
__ Jan 2, 2016


















IMG_20160102_090754.jpg



__ chuck2u
__ Jan 2, 2016


















IMG_20160102_090824.jpg



__ chuck2u
__ Jan 2, 2016


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