Kiri,

Are you willing to share the secrets of the wonderful smoked loin you shared with us at Baldock?

I am thinking of building a smoker, both for hot and cold smoking.

quote:

Originally posted by DJM:
Kiri,

Are you willing to share the secrets of the wonderful smoked loin you shared with us at Baldock?

I am thinking of building a smoker, both for hot and cold smoking.

The secret is that Kiri buys it in from Germany, and then passes it off as his own!

Ewe really should try and be nicer to people around here Pete....

DJM, I'm sure we can sort that out. th question is how are you building the smoker? I'd be surprised if you could get a dual functioning system, but then your better at the design stuff than me.

K

A butcher here does it with wild boar, roe and deer, it is very tasty. He is not willing to share his secret recipee, though...

The problem is that apart from some small attention to detail, it is an incredible easy process, so by giving away the recipie you reduce your value!!

DJM, I will pass on the salmon recipe, venison and bacon too if you share the design for the smoker? I might fancy commissioning a stainless steel smoker.....


FB

Kiri,
don't break the code!Give nothing away!
you will never achieve "grand smoke master"if you do!

DJM, you come to me I'm not bothered about titles!

Are you hot smoking or cold smoking?
Are you eating the meat hot or cold?
Are you requiring a cured smoked meat?

regards
griff

The title of "Grand Smoke Master" is eluding me especially as my friends that go to Cuba only seem to bring back Cigars for themselves... The humidor is looking a bit bare but luckily I have a couple of bottles of Crimson Boobie whiskey on the shelf...

DJM,

If you trust a sweaty with your prime smoked Sika fillets then you deserve what you get....

Griff once gave me a recipe to smoke some king prawns. After brineing and boiling they never actually made it into the smoker!! I rekon that has to be down to him...


FB

I like it simple .Use a good wood .Here the popular ones are hickory, apple, mesquite and black birch makes a fine smoke.

i hav a Brinksman charcoal smokerin the garage
still in the box
if their are any recipes going i might give it a try
if you are pasing DJM
you could drop a few sika fillets in for me to test the recipes with and i can tell you how good they tasted

Richard,

A kind soul once donated me a brinkman in exchange for some sausage making kit. It is still one of the best bits of cooking equipment i have and from what I gather in the states it is an entry level smoker!!

Take the bowl from inside and place a couple of bottles of cheap red plonk in it, top up with weak stock or water and add a load of fresh herbs like rosemary/tyme and lots of bay.

Light the fire and wait till the coals are really hot. About 7KG of briquettes is best I find but they must be thoroughly alight all the way through.

Put a whole haunch of Fallow into the bottom rack and close the lid and the vent of the door. Go shooting or fishing for 4 hours and then return for a cup of tea. While there top up[ the bowl with water and stir up the coals to knock off the ash.) Then leave the whole lot there for another three hours and go shooting again.

When you get back you should have something like this waiting for you:

Carlsberg don't make dogs dinners but if they did....



The stock in the bowl can be strained and used as a gravy base or directly on the sliced meat.
I ccoked the Xmas Turkey in mine for the last two years and I'll never cook a turkey in a conventional oven again. This year I also had a fore-rib of 6 week aghed beef in there. It was simply excellent and the best thing is that if I can do it anyone can!!

Rgds,
FB

Right before I launch into the design stage I need to know some info.

What tempreature is needed for hot smoking and for what length of time?

What tempreature is needed for cold smoking and for what length of time?

Dave,

Hot smoking is exactly what it says, so in basic terms you are looking for oven type temps generated through the burning of charcoal or wood. This is usually an indirect heat source and the smoke part is an addition as a part of the cooking process towards the end. Ie; cook for 7 hours with an hour of smoke in the middle or end. Some of our american freinds will have a better handle on this as they had turned it into an artform in some cases.

The other thing you will need in a hot smoker is the water basin. There needs to be some kind of steam/moisture in the unit and also a barrier between the food and the heat source.

With the cold smoking I take it to the other extreme. The unit has to be absolutely as cold as possible especiallyin the earlier stages of smoking. Just apply the logic that if you would leave that bit of raw fish out for a day then eat it raw would it make you ill.... Hence I tend to cold smoke in the colder months when the ambient temp is more favourable to the process. However I have done a couple of other things when temps have started to rise. I've frozen the water bowl used to cool the smoke so thatthe meat or fish is hanging over a block of ice. Alternatively a couple of bags of party ice with some salt on it will do the job. I also always use the unit in a place where it is in the shade or in the garage. I've also had success with Salmon in smoking over night when the temp is cooler and them placing the fillets back in the fridge during the day. So I get the smoke into the fish over three days rather than one and that was very nice indeed.

If you want ot give me a call on it then feel free. I think you have my number?

Rgds,
K

Sorry I missed out the comment on the time.

For hot smoking I have done anything from minutes on fish fillets to 9 hours on a 22lb turkey boned out and rolled with 4lb of stuffing I mist say that this was the best turkey any of us had ever eaten by the way so when you get up and running I'll give you the recipe.

What you need to be able to do is add more heat if it is required but the basin for mine is about 16" diameter and 6"-8" deep which wioll run on briquettes for about 5 hours if it is in a sheltered spot.

Soem form of ventilation will help in controlling the internal temperature if you are able to rig it up. I just works on the principal of controlling air flow over or through the coals.

I have a design for a seperate fire pit that we built in cyprus for hog roasts that you could adapt for the purpose if you like.

With the cold smoking it will all depend on the way your finished smoker operates. High smoke densities will reduce the time required, and vice versa. Different dust will burn at different rates and allow for different smoke densities. the draw trhough the unit need to be strong enough to pull the smoke but slow enough to allow it to concentrate adn cool befor passing over the food.

I smoke Salmon in mine for between 20 hours and 36 hours. It smells terrible [like a bonfire!!]when it comes out but after being left to mellow for a day or three it tastes fab.

Other things you will need are non metalic brineing containers and a refridgeration unit. The old coke fridge worked great for me.

Again if you want to come round next time you are this way then you can look at mine and see how they work. That way if you improve an existing design you have a basis to work from.

Rgds,
K

Gentlemen, here is an outstanding source for information concerning smoking:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.c...rumdisplay.php?f=118

It and the links it provides will keep an interested individual supplied with useful information for years.

That is a beautiful dog. We had a weimaraner named Darb when I was a child and I've vowed that my next dog will be one.

Tiggertate,

Thanks for the link. I'll have a good look through that.

The Weimeraners are owned by a freind of mine who works them on my shoot. They are very good indeed and especially strong on cold scent trails. He recently picked up a roe buck 2 days after the shot. It had travelled over 2km when the dog found it.

He also runs the British Weimeraner charity with his wife, and does a lot for the breed here through rehoming and running training classes.

Rgds,
FB

DJM,
two ways with hot smoking!
1. Smoke and then cook
2. smoke and cook at the same time

the problem with the latter is that the heat tends to make the smoke very accrid..

By far the best way is to cold smoke and then cook.

Coldsmoking the temp should not exceed 21-24 degrees, to achieve this you need to use sawdust rather than shavings, sawdust burns cooler and if a remote burner is used then the heat will cool.
Aluminium ducting keeps it cool and if a remote pit is used then you can cool the pipe by spray when the ambient temp is above 21 degrees.

More important is the cure, you need to get the correct salt content especially when a cold smoked product is required.

regards
griff

Cheers FB
that recipe looks wicked

Griff
how do you get the correct salt content
will be using fallow shoulder or does it not matter to much about what meats i use
ATB

Richard
salt content depends on end product, hot
smoked products require less salt than cold smoked, and cured venison requires more than the other two.
Meat must have sugar in the cure or the meat will get a hard outer.
A fallow haunch will require a 40% brine and an overnight soak.
That would be the cure for a hot smoked product..

Cold smoked haunch would be in for about 3-5 days depending on size and smoke for a least 24hrs
With a further maturation in the chill.

remember to take the bone and the lymph nodes out on a cold smoke otherwise it will taint the meat..

regards
griff

Typical cure for meat:
1 gallon 40% brine
2oz sugar or molasses
1tsp ground black pepper
1tbsp mixed spice.
1tsp garlic granules
usually one day per KG

cheers Griff
really appreciate that