Cold smoking times practical in Smokette?

I had an idea on cold smoking but afraid to try. Could you put a big cheap pan turned upside down on top of the smoker vent hole drill some holes in it for the smoke to get out. Like 3 or 4, 3/8 holes. If you set the 008 at 150 deg, just use the CS to make the smoke, I think you would have a cold smoker in the pan. Has any body ever tried

I do something similar when smoking cheese. A grate propped up with whatever's handy, covered by a cardboard box that fits on top of the smoker. I just make sure that the cheese is arranged on the grate so it doesn't sit directly over the vent hole while smoking.

Do you have any trouble with temp still to high?

BigAl,

Just a helpful hint in case you haven't done any cold smoking of meat products before:

Make sure it is properly cured. "Old World" style dried sausages like, salami, that hang for days at low temps have to be cured using nitrates and nitrites.

I'd get a good book on the subject or else use a trusted friend's recipe who's finished product you have lived through to tell about!

I don't have the facilities to do any of that type of smoking, so I dont have any practical experience or tried and true recipes. I only knowwhat I have read, but below is a link that may be of some use to you:

Read through This entire page then scroll down to the "Summer sausage, Salami, and Beersticks" link.

Hope this helps

I just finished cold smoking some beef bacon that has been curing for about a month. I will post that information with pictures in a day or two.

Cold smoking in a smokette is a process that requires much more effort than people have come to expect with a CS. As you say turning up the thermostat every few hours for a half and hour etc.

I have a cold smoking attachment for my CS105 which uses an independent smoke box that is charcoal fired that alleviates most of that hassle. With the beef bacon I tried that box in my smokette. The short of it is that I had to use an ice tray in addition to keep the temperature within cold smoking range, generally less than 90 degrees. But I did not have to continually tend the the smoking operation. So I would say that this is the direction to head.

As described in the old books, cold smoking is a combination process of drying and smoking which takes days or weeks. With a CS you can separate the two. I have made it a practice to combine CS smoking and drying in a '70s dehydrator which runs at about 85 degrees at its lowest setting.

After I take the meat out of the cure, I temper it for a few hours in the dehydrator, then transfer it to the CS for a couple of doses of heavy smoke, then back to the dehydrator until I think it is where I want it dry wise, which still is more moist that the old fashioned way, but I have a refrigerator and a freezer, and it is really the cold smoking flavor and texture you are looking for as opposed to a typical hot smoke.

The big smoke box just barely had room in the smokette and produced too much heat for the space, so I shall attempt to build a similar but smaller unit out of a tin can or something. Once I do that I will also post the results.

Give it a shot cold smoking is an art that gives you flavor and texture results you cannot achieve any other way.