Has anyone built a (cold) smoker?

Years ago (about 1990 I think) I built a great cold smoker out of an old electric oven - the old stand-alone type).

From memory I just removed the elements and inserted a tube approx 2" in diameter in the back at the top.

The oven already had racks for the fish. You salted the fish quite heavily and sprinkled on a bit of brown sugar, then spread medium sawdust about 15mm thick on the bottom of the oven, lit it in one corner so it started to smolder, and threw the fish in on the racks.

It would smolder away for about 6 hours and when you took the fish out it was absolutely melt in your mouth delicious :)

The trick was to get the vent hole just the right size so that the sawdust got enough oxygen to keep smoldering, but not enough so that it started to burn.
Thinking about it I may have ended up with one tube at the top of the oven and one at the bottom to induce some airflow.

Years before that at school we made the hot smokers that look like a metal box with a lid that you put sawdust into and put a dish of metho underneath.
Only takes about 20-30 mins.

Completely different taste/textures. The cold smoker fish was very smoky and soft, whereas the hot smoked fish was more steamed with slight smoke flavour.

SteveG

Yes, My family do hot and cold smoking for a living, I have adapted one oven and made another two.
Some tips for cold smoking, keep the temp below 28 deg C.
Curing the meat is best {salt and curing salts}
Cold smoked meats need refrigeration to keep well because if you use the amount of salts to not need refrigeration as they did in the old days it tasts awful .

Cheers
Rob

Hi Rob,
Yes, I think you are right about the "old" ways.

IIRC, Mum used to boil the bacon (to remove excess salts) before frying.

Best Wishes,
Peter

My FIL was a greater fisherman/hunter, loved the thought of living, catching and killing only what you needed, no trophy hunting etc. Plenty of hot and cold smoked fish and rabbits, also used the pickle and brine mix sold at sports stores (the type of sports store that provides for the hunter fisher folk) I remember the mix was placed in a tub, added some salt and sugar as well as hot water to help dissolve/mix the solution, when we caught lots of fish they would be soaked in this solution before freezing freezing to provide some variety. At times we tried the pickling stuff used by the butcher to make corned beef. Much of my wifes diet as she grew up was different to most. Where others may have had fish on Fridays, at her place it was most days of the week. Getting fish from the fish and chip shop was not the done thing although the chips (patato) often were.

Cold smoker. Take one refridgerator which has passed its serviceable life, this provides a large cavity in which you can place your meats either on the racks or hanging from the racks. Strip motor and frezeer compartment. (old fridges where frezeer was internal were good for that) Raise the fridge to allow access to the underside, cut hole to insert pipe (metal down pipe from house guttering) into bottom of fridge. Place one metal tin (large) under fridge to hold/burn wood chips or saw dust connect metal tin to fridge via down pipe. Need to organise appropriate seal and small door on tin via which to place wood inside and set fire to start smoke production, old kero tins were used when kero tins were about. Cut exit hole for more down pipe or flue pipe towards top of refridgerator cabinet. One cold smoker. Can be located outside or inside garage as long as you have means by which to provide exit for flue pipe.

Sorry no pictures FIL passed away a number of years ago and I miss my fish and rabbits.

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Originally Posted by isuzurover

What about citrus??? We have plenty of that.

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I've never tried citrus but try a test batch with any wood you try.

I made a smoker out of a 44 gallon drum and a buried drainpipe when I was 14. The pipe was about 1.5m long and buried about 20cm deep, one end poked up into the bottom of the old drum and the other end went to a small pit (about half a metre cubed) with a fire in it. I'd get a fire going in the pit and then lay a piece of sheet metal over the top to choke off the oxygen supply. Left a small gap, just enough air to keep the wood smouldering but not enough for flames. Drilled holes in the side of the drum (with a .22!) to poke hanging rods through the middle of the drum and another loose piece of tin on top for a lid.

It looked very crude but it worked a treat, I could hang up dozens of fish in that and put enough wood in to go overnight. I used mango wood because that's what we farmed. I even shot the odd roo and made smoked jerky, it was good stuff. Well, the first batches were horrible (used eucalypt wood) but later on I found a good mix of salt, spices, time, heat and the right wood. Unfortunately that was over a decade ago and I've forgotten the ratios.