Smoker for Food.

[Erichalfbee]

I want to buy a simple smoker for Stans birthday. I know a few people experimented with one. I’ve looked up a couple of old threads.
Any ideas?
Cheers.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oops. I meant food smoker.
Silly me. I’ll edit the thread title.

 

[enrico]

I have one like this.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6062042It works well but you have to attend to it all the time so that it doesn't over heat the food. Doubles up as a BBQ too.

 

[enrico]

Well delete my contribution as it makes me look a real idiot at the moment!!!!!

It made me smile, leave it

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well delete my contribution as it makes me look a real idiot at the moment!!!!!

No. Leave it. I’m the idiot

 

[pargyle]

No. Leave it. I’m the idiot

Too late .. it went ... it will remain as a forum enigma, leaving people guessing at what went before .. a bit of mystery adds to the flavour !

 

[pargyle]

One of my woodturning friends has one of these ... they are cold smokers though ... depends whether you want hot smoked or cold smoked food. I've had some of his oak smoked bacon ... fantastic flavour - he claims that even cheap food can be made very palatable by smoking it but ... I'm rather inclined to think that the better meat/fish/cheese you start with the better the final product. I've long wanted to dabble in smoking food but time and 'er indoors are a bit restrictive. I have the book my daughter bought me ...

Fruit woods are apparently the best for flavour - apple and pear sawdust and shavings particularly good.

Turan T Turan is the goto author for all things smoking ... this is the book I have:

https://coldsmoking.co.uk/products/...19486&pr_ref_pid=5625640485022&pr_seq=uniform

 

[Erichalfbee]

One of my woodturning friends has one of these ... they are cold smokers though ... depends whether you want hot smoked or cold smoked food. I've had some of his oak smoked bacon ... fantastic flavour - he claims that even cheap food can be made very palatable by smoking it but ... I'm rather inclined to think that the better meat/fish/cheese you start with the better the final product. I've long wanted to dabble in smoking food but time and 'er indoors are a bit restrictive. I have the book my daughter bought me ...

Fruit woods are apparently the best for flavour - apple and pear sawdust and shavings particularly good.

Turan T Turan is the goto author for all things smoking ... this is the book I have:

https://coldsmoking.co.uk/products/...19486&pr_ref_pid=5625640485022&pr_seq=uniform

Ah. Thanks.

 

[Ian123]

So if he gets a smoker do you get the instant vap?………… women are indeed more intelligent

 

[Erichalfbee]

One step at a time.

 

[JamezF]

This is what I started with. The large cardboard box is actually the smoking cabinet. It worked well enough for me to try a few things out, but it's not really a long-term option as the cardboard won't last forever and there's no way to hang, say, a bacon joint, inside. It doesn't help that the box also gets a very smokey smell, so it has to be kept somewhere other than in the house meaning it can get a bit damp. It did the job to start with though and I made some very pleasant smoked cheese and salmon. The trickiest part of using it is getting the tea light in and out of the smoke generator to start the sawdust smouldering. Some people just put a screw through the side, but I ended up making myself a little tool to do the job:

For hot smoking I know quite a lot of people use a kettle-style barbecue.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

This is what I started with. The large cardboard box is actually the smoking cabinet. It worked well enough for me to try a few things out, but it's not really a long-term option as the cardboard won't last forever and there's no way to hang, say, a bacon joint, inside. It doesn't help that the box also gets a very smokey smell, so it has to be kept somewhere other than in the house meaning it can get a bit damp. It did the job to start with though and I made some very pleasant smoked cheese and salmon. The trickiest part of using it is getting the tea light in and out of the smoke generator to start the sawdust smouldering. Some people just put a screw through the side, but I ended up making myself a little tool to do the job:

For hot smoking I know quite a lot of people use a kettle-style barbecue.

James

Thanks James.

 

[Bettenham]

The ABU Garcia hot smoker is pretty good but I've really only used it for hot smoking salmon and trout which it does really well.

 

[Sutty]

I love smoked food, such a pity it's all a bit carcinogenic, but I'm not giving up smoked bacon!! Or kippers, or....

 

[Wilco]

This is what I started with. The large cardboard box is actually the smoking cabinet. It worked well enough for me to try a few things out, but it's not really a long-term option as the cardboard won't last forever and there's no way to hang, say, a bacon joint, inside. It doesn't help that the box also gets a very smokey smell, so it has to be kept somewhere other than in the house meaning it can get a bit damp. It did the job to start with though and I made some very pleasant smoked cheese and salmon. The trickiest part of using it is getting the tea light in and out of the smoke generator to start the sawdust smouldering. Some people just put a screw through the side, but I ended up making myself a little tool to do the job:

For hot smoking I know quite a lot of people use a kettle-style barbecue.

James

If you get it right, in Winter you can cold smoke on a kettle BBQ as well.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you get it right, in Winter you can cold smoke on a kettle BBQ as well.

I remember someone on the Trout and Salmon sharing the plans for a cold smoker made using an old kettle barbecue and some plastic waste pipe.

 

[Fellstoflats]

Depending on the scale you're after, I'd recommend one of these:

https://www.souschef.co.uk/products...pIowyPwmta9g17-yBjjig0j9skATXKIhoCk5AQAvD_BwE
Wife bought me one a few years back - epic for chicken breasts, tomatoes, and feta!

Highly recommended!

 

[madasafish]

I love smoked food, such a pity it's all a bit carcinogenic, but I'm not giving up smoked bacon!! Or kippers, or....

I would NOT smoke my own food. Too many people I know who loved good and rich food ended up dying of cancer or heart failure etc..

 

[Goran]

We smoke our meat on beech sawdust only.. Two turns of smoke and " on the air".. For smoking we use building just for that - low firebox ( there shouldn't be open flame), up open shafts with mesh - only in winter time we use it when we process meat for us. This one is older pic..
About cancerogenic.. everything is better than junk food from malls.. not to mention the air in big cities is a lot more cancerogenic..

 

[Sutty]

Sadly smoke  is carcinogenic, it doesn't matter what way it gets into you - eating or inhaling. However, all things in moderation, you just have to accept the small risk for the great flavour!
Incidentally as an anaesthetist I've anaesthetised 100s of patents for bladder and other urinary tract cancers, almost all of which are caused by smoking. Not well publicised! Basically the toxins are concentrated in the urine.
Smoking tobacco is probably a greatly higher risk than eating a moderate amount of smoked food.