Homemade Cold Smoker

[Pav]

I made a smoker a few years ago which I have used with some success. Its basically a metal box which I fill the bottom with wood chippings. It has a shelf for the fish. I then place the box ontop of the gas bbq on a really low heat.

Its best described as a semi warm smoker! , it does stay reasonably cool but it certainly isn't a cold smoker.

I want to build an improved version for next year. 1st idea was too build on an old wheeled bbq frame a fire box , and connect it to a cool cooking box with some foil ducting. The idea being to try and create something reasonably compact for ease of storage.

Then some web searching I found someone smoking cheese with a smoker that used a soldering iron in a tin of sawdust to produce the smoke. This was placed inside a bbq kettle and the cheese smoked. This would produce I think a very cool smoke without ducting. See youtube link.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sivMMDnUEpc]YouTube - Build A Cold Smoker[/ame]

Anyone got any views on this as an idea. My plan would be to build an Oak Box as I have access to materials at work and create a smoldering tray at the base with a fitted soldering iron heating filament. I'd also fit a temp gauge to monitor the temp of the smoking box. Can anyone see any flaws in this idea or able to suggest how long a fish fillet would have to be smoked?

Thanks.

 

[Pastor]

Very cool Mr Stardust

 

[foxfish]

That is a interesting way to smoke cheese!
There is a pic of my cold smoker in this thread - http://forums.deeperblue.net/recipes-cooking/73025-diy-smoker.html#post661823

 

[Mr. X]

Very topical, a guy a work was telling me about his plans for cold smoking last week. At least two programs featured smoking recently. River Cottage in Guernsey -- can't belive HFW went all the way to Guerney and got a Scot to smoke his fish, rather than the legendary SilverSmoker (Foxfish, you are claiming that as your trademark aren't you?). I think the other one was the Michelin 3-star chef with the laboratory equipment. He smoked something quickly with straw rather than wood chips. One of the programs used an old bread bin for the smoker.

My gas BBQ hood has a dial thermometer built in - probably bimetallic strip mechanism. I had one laying around the house for years, can't recall seeing it recently though. Will let you know if it shows up. My BBQ has a hole in the bottom with pan hung below to catch drips - maybe that could be used as a smoke inlet? I've also got(/had?) an old American Weber BBQ kettle (amazingly cheap in the US - good solid things too) somewhere which would be perfect for small quantities, it sits on a low tripod maybe 6" above the ground.

We had a bigger Weber for a while (free from a neighbour that moved) but never used it (lent it to a friend). We used to take the little one down to the local forest preserve instead. Looks like they make a smoker too:
Classic Fireplaces & Barbecue Centre

Or you could improvise:

Homemade weber smoker

The Barbecue Pit - Bakersfield.com