I’ve been learning how to cold smoke for decades. I thought it would be hard to understand initially, but one must see it as a craft rather than a recipe. I mean that it takes experience, observation, and attention.
Below, I hope to explain cold smoking and slightly demystify the subject. With some essential equipment and knowledge, cold smoking can be incredibly satisfying. I’ve got the how-to, different ways to make the cold smoke, areas to smoke in, and a step-by-step guide below.
Plenty of nuances when it comes to cold smoking, and that is where I can add more than their general knowledge approach, the inner workings of the craft.
Having airflow and ‘cold smoke’ creating a complex flavor from passing around the meat, which will assist in drying and taste. Humidity at higher levels also helps in the process, which is the theory.
Why Cold Smoke Meat
Here are some examples of various cold-smoking I’ve used and learned about.
Cold smoking is traditionally used for preservation but also for another complex angle of flavor.
Some, like Traditional Cold-Smoked Bacon, are often considered irresistible because of the salt, the sweetness of the meat (or the addition of sweetness), smoke, and fat!
To clarify, Hot Smoking, whether with direct or indirect heat, always involves cooking the meat to a finished internal temperature. Cold Smoking involves drying the meat with cool smoke around it for flavor and protection.
Covering many aspects of cold-smoking, I made this video below also.
The non-cured options for cold-smoked foods will be elaborated on another page here. Cold-smoking foods that aren’t cured meat are an excellent way to learn and develop a feel for the craft of cold-smoking food.
Ingredients
Salt without additives is the only base ingredient for cold-smoking cured meat, here is an article on what salt I wrote explaining more.
Optional ingredients like sodium nitrate/nitrite can also be used, I’ll link to a comprehensive article I wrote here.
Quality of the Meat
Fresh meat handled properly should harbor less unwanted spoiling bacteria.
You do not want dry/wet aged meat; fresh meat is always best. That has been handled with care and refrigerated.
I have used frozen pork belly for bacon, which turned out great. Other aspects of quality, traceability and care are what I seek in my meat.
Equipment
Cold smoking equipment has two aspects: a device for generating the cold smoke and an area/chamber for capturing it.
You have an area like a hooded grill that you could retrofit with a device. I’ll go over many of the options below.
Devices for Cold Smoke
There is a simple approach: You can use minimalistic materials, like a lump of charcoal or two sprinkled with woodchips.
Pellet Tube & Maze Style Smoke Devices
Pellet tube smokers work very similarly to each other. You light one end, and it starts smoking—pretty simple. However, because it isn’t a controlled form of burning, it can be a little hit-and-miss. For example, sometimes I find the pellets stop burning.
Simply use pellets or woodchips and let the flame get to 3″ or about 70mm for 3 minutes, then blow it out and place horizontally in smoking area.
I use a pellet tube smoker on my hooded grill, I’ll write some more about retrofitting a area for cold smoking below.
A pellet tube or maze might not generate enough smoke to fill a smokehouse or larger cabinet, depending on its size and design.
I made this video below with some tips on using a pellet tube smoker.
Smoke Generator
Using the Venturi effect, the air pump blows into the smoking chamber, and the air pipe sucks the smoke from the burning area.
It has a variable controller, so you can control how much smoke is generated and how it burns.
Depending on the wood you use, this means you have more control over the cold smoking project.
These can come in a range of sizes. I find they can create a good amount of smoke. I’ve extensively used them in my gas grill, vertical smoker, wine barrel,and kettle smoker.
Some smoke generators can handle larger chips and chunks of wood, while others are more suited to pellet wood fuels. I’ve tried using the unrecommended wood sizes a few times, but it becomes annoying because you must relight or clean out the tubes often. If I were you, I would avoid this experimental behavior.
This is a ‘cool’ (cold smoke) invention. I have been using it for many years. My smoke generator came with a drill bit. You can then make a hole and use a nut and thread to mount the smoker in many locations.
The smoke generator has an adjustable air pump to adjust the smoke level being pumped in.
Here is a review of the Smokai I did; it’s a solid, consistent, clean smoker. It’s a cold smoker, but it can also boost smoke for a hot smoker or low and slow smoker.
A small air
The key to smoke generators working effectively is to use good, dry wood that’s right-sized for the device. Some generators prefer chunkier-sized wood, while others prefer some dimensions or pellets.
If your looking for the 'ducks nuts' (that means a very good bit of equipment). A smoke generator can be used as a cold smoker, or adding smoke to indirect cooking which equates to a form of 'low & slow' bbq or making smoked ham and some much more.
The inventor of smoke generators was Smokai, it's a simple device that uses the venturi effect and a variable air pump to control the amount of smoke you are pumping.
I have a range of cold smoking options, and the Smokai is my favorite.
By far the smokai is the most efficient cold smoker I've come across because you have control.Â
It also burns very clean, which flavors the food exceptionally well. I've been using smoke generators for over 10 years, and this one is the ducks nuts.
Check out this review I did of the Smokai Smoke Generator here.
Expert Tips
For cure meat to be cold smoked, these are the most important points I can give you from what I have learned:
- Make sure you have fresh, good, high-quality meat
- Weighing before curing and working out the finished weight
- Make use of adequate refrigeration when processing meat
- Accurately salt cure or salt wet brine the meat
- Choose wood that won’t be too strong
- Have a smoke generator or cold smoking device for consistency
Keep Your Cold Smoking Out of the Sun—The sun can heat a chamber up, so I always try to find a shady spot to smoke cold on the porch. The sun will swing across the sky, so consider this when positioning your cold smoking session.
What I learned about cold smoking is that ‘less smoke is better than too much.’ Over the decades of making cold-smoked bacon, I’ve reduced the cold smoking hours, with 6-8 hours for many styles of salami or bacon.
I’ve experimented with long 30-50-hour cold-smoked meats and visited/tried Montenegrian-style cold-smoked dry-cured hams, which are 30 days plus of cold smoking. These are very well preserved, though there is a point where the smoke overpowers the meat flavor completely.
Weight Loss with Cold Smoking
It seems to vary between meats, especially fish like trout and salmon. As soon as fish are out of the water, they start losing weight, so the weight loss you want to achieve varies.
Since cold smoking is just another form of drying.
I aim for at least 15% less than before curing for fish. Many commercial smokehouses target 30% weight loss.
For Cold Smoked Bacon (I wrote an article about that here), I aim for at least 25% weight loss. I have generally seen 20-30% in books as a guideline.
When the humidity is high, the cold smoking will take a lot longer, but unless you’re using commercial equipment, weighing the meat is the next best thing to work out how effective and how long the cold smoking should be for.
This book covers all the aspects of cold and hot smoking, so I got the idea to think more about humidity from it.
What Does Cold Smoking Mean?
Cold Smoking preserves and flavors food. It is achieved through airflow and a temperature below 30° C/86°F. Humidity is also vital for cold-smoking meat. If meat is being cold-smoked, it must be fully salt-cured before cold-smoking.
Tom Mueller
For decades, immersed in studying, working, learning, and teaching the craft of meat curing, sharing the passion and showcasing the world of charcuterie and smoked meat. Read More