Smoking bacon either with the cold or hot smoked method can both lead to some excellent outcomes. There are quite a few differences and remember, pretty much all the bacon you buy will be cold smoked. I have tried both hot and cold smoking using various different techniques and equipment. So I thought I would share what I’ve learned over …
What Does Cold Smoked Mean? (Sausage, Bacon, Cheese Yum!)
The meaning of cold smoked has really changed in our modern commercial times, with a focus on flavor – hey that’s a good thing I think. Cold smoking is an ancient form of preservation and nowadays a way of flavoring instead of preservation – since we now have modern refrigeration to take care of our foods. Cold Smoked experimentation seems …
How Long Does it Take to Cold Smoke – Meat, Vegetables & Cheese
The time it takes to cold smoke, will, of course, depend on how much smoke flavor you want and what food your cold smoking. I have experimented using a whole bunch of different food types and kit. So I thought I would quickly give a rundown below on cold smoked meat, vegetables, cheese & of course bacon times. I recently …
How Much are Cold Smokers? Easiest & Thrifty Equipment
It’s actually quite surprising how cheap a basic cold smoking setup is, There are some variables for cold smoking, generally, doing it at home is easy. Hopefully, I can highlight the best options depending on what you want to cold smoke and where you are at on the cold smoking journey. I started cold smoking about 15 years ago, talking …
How to Match & Pair Smoking Wood for Flavor to Meat
Matching wood to meat can be really simple, I like to use the universal smoking woods as a first choice. Some flavors are better suited to the stronger types of smoking hardwood available. From my experience, I think they all lie on a spectrum light to strong. Light to medium wood has worked amazing for most meats. Strong woods which …
Is Salami Ready to Eat? ( Uncured, Genoa & Beef Salami)
Ready to eat salami is found all over the world, there are some variations that I thought need to be clarified. It seems a few marketing/packaging people have confused quite a few people including myself at times! I have been making and buying salami for decades and I thought it would be helpful to breakdown the confusion around ‘ready to …
Does Cold Smoking Preserve Food? (How Does it Work?)
Cold smoking food is a passion, the preserving effects on the food I have experienced first hand for quite a few different foods. It’s been amazing cold smoking various meats and also different types of dairy & vegetables. It’s one of those questions that so many people ask when I tell them about cured meat, “is it cold smoked?”. Dry …
The Delicious World of Cured Meat, but is Cured Meat Keto?
Cured meat has many forms and some of my friends are ketoers and wanted to know whether cured meat is keto-friendly. So I thought I’d answer that question for anyone online because probably a lot of people would ask the same. Is Cured Meat Keto? A ketogenic diet is defined by a low carbohydrate diet. All whole muscle cured meat …
What is Dry Cured Meat? Dry Cured Bacon, Ham, Sausage
One of my passions is dry curing meat it an old craft that can create amazing results, I get asked a lot about what is dry curing meat, many people think it has something to do with smoked meat. Sometimes it does get smoked, most of the time it doesn’t, depending on the recipe and outcomes one desires. Traditionally, dry-curing …
How to Cure Wild Game Meat (Know How, Pictures & Tips)
When I first started curing wild game meat, I based my ideas on the techniques used for lean, dry curing and Italian recipes. The results were fantastic! At the end of the day, meat is meat, and wild meat is generally just leaner. Curing the meat allows a whole other level of appreciation from what you harvest in the wild. …