You occasionally need to venture outside of your typical comfort zone for barbecue.
A world of flavor possibilities becomes available once you learn how to cold smoke.
Before you rush out and buy everything you need to launch a world-class backyard cold smoking operation, a word of caution though.
Knowing that cold smoking requires accuracy and caution is important. Health risks are present, and they are very real. The good news is that these risks can be reduced by using the right setup and knowledgeable advice.
We have included all the information you need to know about cold smoking in the following article if you are eager to learn more. Whether you’re prepared to accept the challenge is up to you to decide.
Table of Contents
What Is Cold Smoking?
Cold smoking is a technique that, when combined with curing, helps preserve meat while giving it a distinct smoke flavor.
Some food items can be cold smoked, so they might not require curing like meat does. Products that have been cold smoked can be stored without refrigeration for months.
The fundamental steps to cold smoke meat are as follows:
- In order to remove moisture and stop bacterial growth, the meat is cured.
- Smoke is used to cure the meat, giving it its distinct smoky flavor. Depending on the product, smoking the meat can take hours or even days to complete.
The secret is to cook the food just enough to make it smoke, not much more. The food must be kept at or below 90°F. This is typically accomplished by keeping the food in an unheated chamber and pumping smoke into the other chamber.
Cold smoking has a long history. When food was otherwise in short supply, the method was frequently used to preserve meat for the winter. A “smokehouse,” a unique structure for smoking and storing meat, was frequently found on farms in western culture.
Perhaps you even remember your grandparents or great aunts and uncles cold smoking lox or something similar.
How To Cold Smoke
Cold smoking uses very little heat to give food that distinct smoky flavor we love. You are not cooking the food, as opposed to hot smoking. The goal is to turn fresh meats, fish, and cheese into delectable smoked treats.
Preferred Types Of Wood For Cold Smoking
> Food is more easily smoked when it is cold. As a result, lighter-smoking woods are usually used. Apple and cherry wood produce mellower, slightly fruity smoke flavors. Alder is a light smoke with just a hint of sweetness, and maple has a mild, slightly sweet flavor.
Grill Grate Cleaning
1. Use a grill brush to remove any food debris before adding food to your smoker to cold smoke.
2. Until you have cleaned the entire grill, move the brush in the direction of the wires on the grates.
3. After that, use a damp cloth to clean the grate.
> The grates on your grill and smoker should be kept cool. In order to give the smoker enough time to cool completely before adding food for cold smoking, if you prefer to clean your grates while it is hot, plan to do this well in advance.
Charcoal And Wood Set Up
> Wood produces the smoke, while charcoal provides the heat. Utilizing little charcoal helps to maintain a low temperature because the objective is to produce more smoke and less heat. Wood chips are preferable to wood chunks because they require less heat to smolder and are smaller. The fundamental configuration is as follows:
1. Center the firebox with three lit charcoal briquettes.
2. On top of the lit briquettes, scatter 2 cups of wood chips.
Temperature Control
Controlling the temperature is one of the most crucial aspects of cold smoking. Open the intake damper and chimney just half an inch to keep the smoker’s temperature below 110 degrees Fahrenheit. When the outside temperature is below 40 degrees, cold smoking is best practiced in the fall and winter. It doesn’t get too hot inside the smoker because of the cool outside air. If you must smoke now, do so at night or in the early hours of the morning when temperatures are at their lowest. Place a sizable aluminum drip pan filled with ice in the smoke chamber between the firebox and the food to maintain a cool temperature if the ambient temperature is higher than 90°F.
Hot Smoking Vs Cold Smoking
If you have spent much time on this website, you should be familiar with hot smoking. Burning materials at temperatures hot enough to cook the meat produces smoke. usually falls between 225 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
The meat is typically kept in the same chamber as the heat and burning fuel.
Most frequently, hot meat that has just been smoked is consumed.
The meat does not need to be first cured because hot smoked meat is cooked at temperatures above the danger zone of 140°F. The higher temperatures are scalding enough to eradicate any pathogens that might make you ill.
Of course, you might still want to marinate or cure hot smoked foods for flavor purposes.
For the largest cuts of brisket, hot smoking can take a full day. The quantity and type of meat you are smoking will determine the total amount of time.
What Types Of Food Are Best For Cold Smoking
When we think of cold-smoked food, salami or smoked salmon frequently come to mind. However, many different types of food, including cheese, can be cold smoked.
If you’ve never cold smoked before, it’s probably a good idea to start with a food that poses little risk, like cheese, and leave salami to the experts. This will let you practice the technique without having to be concerned about any potential risks.
Some other foods that can be cold smoked and carry a lower health risks include
- tofu (don’t laugh, it’s worth a go)
- nuts
- vegetables.
- hard boiled eggs
- olive oil
- garlic
There is also little risk associated with cooked meat, such as bacon. This aids in eliminating any undesirables that may have developed.
Although popular cold-smoking options, sausage and fish (like smoked salmon) pose a higher risk than other types of meat because, if not handled properly, they create the ideal environment for botulism to develop.
The Dangers Of Cold Smoking (or How Not To Die From Botulism)
One of two groups seems to encompass all the information on cold smoking:
- Cold smoking is the devil and if you try and do it your friends and family will all die of botulism
- Cold smoking is easy and anyone can do it at home
This, in my opinion, serves no one well. Any aspiring cold smoker is likely to give up on the habit because information either glosses over the inherent risks or is so focused on scaring you about the health risks.
By outlining the dangers and offering suggestions for mitigating them, we hope to be able to assist you in determining whether cold smoking is right for you.
Why Is Cold Smoking Riskier Than Hot Smoking?
Although there are some risks associated with smoking any kind of meat, cold smoking fish and sausages poses a particular threat.
The ideal environment for harmful bacteria to grow is created by cold smoking. Since the meat has not been cooked, any bacteria would not normally be present.
The salt will prevent the growth of bacteria if you cure your meat before smoking it (which you should do without a doubt), but it won’t completely eradicate it. And to top it all off, if the temperature is not closely watched while the meat is cold smoked, it may actually promote bacterial growth.
You may be contemplating the lengthy, ostensibly prosperous history of cold smoking meats in various cultures at this point. We would have abandoned the practice long ago if it were that risky.
As a result of consuming meat that had not been properly cold smoked, people have undoubtedly died and continue to die.
To our surprise, harmful bacteria are now more likely to contaminate our meat as a result of modern factory production techniques. The pathogens that cause botulism and listeria include Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes, respectively.
Even though listeria is more common, botulism is more dangerous, especially when it comes to home-smoked goods. You will still get very sick from listeria, which is also very dangerous.
It is important to remember that ground meats have an especially high risk of bacterial contamination. This is so that when the meat is ground up, the bacteria that typically reside in an animal’s gut are dispersed equally throughout the meat. If the meat is not cooked, the bacteria can easily grow.
Certain People Should Avoid Cold Smoked Meats At All Costs
Immunocompromised people (such as the elderly, the chronically ill, and pregnant women) are advised to avoid eating cold smoked fish products, even those that are manufactured commercially, due to the high risk of listeria contamination.
Raw smoked fish does not have the long shelf life that other smoked products guarantee because of the high risk of listeria contamination. Commercially produced smoked salmon only has a two-week shelf life.
Additionally, there is a risk of parasitic infection when eating cold-smoked fish. For example, runoff from the droppings of mammals living nearby on the land can introduce tapeworms into the waterways. Normally, cooking would eradicate these parasites, but cold smoking does not.
Summing Up The Risks
The dangers of cold smoking have been the subject of extensive discussion.
- Food that is cold smoked isn’t cooked and is essentially kept at a temperature that encourages bacterial growth.
- Cold smoking does not eliminate any potential parasites that may have been present in the meat.
- Cold smoking sausages and fish significantly increases the risk of listeria or botulism.
- Consuming cold-smoked meat products is not recommended for those who have compromised immune systems, such as those who are chronically ill, elderly or pregnant women.
There are many things to be cautious of. However, it is clear that you are still interested in cold smoking if you are reading this. And many people do it safely at home.
There are many excellent manuals and cookbooks that explain how to cold smoke safely.
The science and methods of charcuterie are effectively explained in this book.
