Things You Didn't Know About Cold Smoking Smokehouses
Cold smoking is fundamentally different from hot smoking.
Its main features are – no heat treatment And longer cooking process, caused by the need to completely saturate the products with smoke.
If you rush and shorten the smoking session, you can get poisoned by eating food that is half-cooked.
Content
Principles of the device of cold smoking smokehouses, photo
To understand how each element of the smokehouse should function and what it is responsible for, you need to know what happens to the products in the cold smoking chamber. They are impregnated "sterile" smoke, the carbon monoxide components of which settle as they pass through the chimney.
Photo 1. Cold smoking smokehouse made of brick. And this material will serve the device for a long time.
Uniform and continuous impregnation is extremely important, which will prevent fractionation (decay) products at the cellular level. Therefore, they try to make the smoke quite dense and stay in the smoking chamber for some time. A damper on the smoke exhaust and a special device help with this: smoke generator.
Photo 2. Wooden cold smoking smokehouse with a smoke generator. It makes the smoke thicker, which has a beneficial effect on the products being smoked.
Cold smoking does not require open fire. The main role here is played by the processes of smoldering wood chips, sawdust or wood chips. Their quality directly affects the taste of the finished product. Therefore, they choose wood varieties that have been tested by practice: fruit tree shavings, berry bushes, walnut shells.
Reference. When installing a smokehouse without a smoke generator, the smoking chamber and the firebox must be at different levels. The first is higher than the minimum by half a meter, the second one is below.
For this type of construction, there is one rule that must be strictly followed: the length of the chimney must be not less than 3 meters. The optimal length is 4-5 metersDuring this path, the smoke cools and gets rid of heavy combustion products.
Photo 3. Wooden cold smoking smokehouse, the firebox and chamber of which are located at different levels.
Materials for production: brick, stainless steel, boards
Basic elements of a cold smoking smokehouse — smoke cabinet (or smoke chamber), firebox, chimney, smoke exhaust, smoke generator (optional), internal equipment for laying and hanging products.
Since low-temperature smoke is used to process food, there are not such strict requirements for the design of the smoking chamber as in the case of hot smoking. It can be built from a variety of materials:
- bricks;
- concrete blocks;
- stainless steel sheets;
- DSB or OSB;
- planed and unplaned boards (caulking will be required);
- poles wrapped in polyethylene or polycarbonate;
- hardboard;
- cardboard.
The smoking chamber can be a depression in the ground.
A chimney is a must must be fire resistant. It can be dug in the ground. Then this trench is tightly covered first with boards and polyethylene, on top of which soil is poured.
The result is a sealed cavity that functions as a pipe.
The firebox must be directly connected to the chimney, and through it to the smoke cabinet. If there is a smoke generator, it is attached to the wall of the smoking chamber through a pipe of a diameter suitable for this device.
What to make a mini smokehouse with a smoke generator, its dimensions
A fully functional smoke generator can be made from improvised means available to every homeowner. The materials required are:
- two tin cans with a volume of 700-800 ml;
- car clamps for connecting two cans installed one above the other;
- a tin can of such a size that it can serve as a lid for the first two cans;
- threaded tee 1/2";
- threaded coupling 1/2";
- metal tube with an internal diameter 3-4 mm;
- a small piece of rubber thick 2-3 mm;
- union;
- compressor for aquariums;
- food box.
Stages of manufacturing a smoke generator
Connect the banks together car clamps. In the lower part of the resulting pipe, two holes are punched for igniting the shavings, one opposite the other. In the tin can-lid, in its bottom, a hole is made for the tee. Screw it with a nut. Screw the nipple into the tee.
Photo 4. Smoke generator made from tin cans. It is easy to make with your own hands.
A hole is made in the rubber for a metal tube and it is inserted; the tube is inserted through the nipple into the tee so that it comes out of it at 1.5-2 cm. The rubber is pushed towards the nipple, thus ensuring the immobility of the metal tube. A coupling is screwed into the other side of the tee. A tube from an aquarium compressor is connected to the nipple.
With the help of such a smoke generator and a regular food box, you can make a simple cold smoking smokehouse. Box pierced through with metal rods, Fish, meat, lard, etc. are hung on them.
Wood chips are poured into a pipe made from two cans, and a structure with a tee is put on top. A hole is cut in the box for the smoke generator coupling. The compressor is turned on and the wood chips are ignited. The coupling is inserted into the box and the products are smoked. One load of wood chips is enough for 2.5-3 hours.
Important! Fire safety rules must not be forgotten. The smoke generator is placed on fireproof material: stone, brick or asbestos.
Smoking meat, lard, fish
Cold smoking gives products a subtle, refined taste. During the smoke treatment, moisture evaporates from the food, but all the useful substances, fat and other ingredients remain. Cold smoke smoking Suitable for all products: fish, meat, lard, seafood.
Any of them require pre-salting. There are certain rules that must be followed in this process. So, 1 kg fish and meat products require at least 2% salt from the total weight of the food. It is impossible to oversalt lard. It will take as much salt as it needs for the best taste.
It is highly recommended to do this before starting smoking. dry fish and meat.
Do not use shavings or wood chips for smoking. resinous tree speciesThey not only give food a bitter taste, but also saturate it with harmful products of burning resins.
It is not advisable to serve food immediately after it is cooked. It will have a strong smoked smell, so experienced gourmets always let it “rest” in the fresh air for 5-6 hoursThis is how a subtle, pleasant aroma and taste are obtained.
It should come as no surprise that home-made smoked meats are less juicy than store-bought ones. The latter are supplemented with a variety of (not always healthy) substances to ensure that juiciness. Home-made smoked meats are completely natural product, which will not harm your health in any way.
Which is better: a smokehouse with or without a smoke generator?
There is no difference in the taste of finished products prepared with or without a smoke generator. But with it, the smoking process goes a little faster, as this device provides a stable supply of thick smoke.
Useful video
Watch the video, which demonstrates the process of making a cold smoking smokehouse in the form of a slide show.
I also really liked the idea of making a smoke generator from cans. I just doubt that such a product will last long and will not burn out after the first use.