Cold smoking is fundamentally different from hot smoking in that products are processed with chilled smoke, bypassing the stage of hot heat treatment. As a result of such preparation, all dishes acquire a specific smoking taste, and the substances and elements that make up the smoke provide preservation for a long time.
In this article, we will tell you how a cold-smoked smokehouse looks like with your own hands, how to make it quickly and efficiently, and photo and video materials will allow you to understand thoroughly in the process of making such a simple unit. The only condition is that all work is carried out in an open area using special utility rooms.
Any products prepared by cold smoking can be stored for more than 12 months, even when it comes to fish, a perishable product. Each such product acquires a unique taste and retains it throughout the entire period, subject to the storage rules.
The basic principle of such smoking is to cool the smoke of the smoke. If, when hot, it is supplied directly and simultaneously with the smoke, thermal cooking is carried out at a temperature above 70 0 C, then when it is cold along the route, the smoke has time to cool down and processes the products at a temperature of no higher than 25 0 C. The route is a chimney with a length of at least 100 cm.
Any smokehouse, regardless of the processing temperature, is an assembly of two chambers - a combustion chamber and a chamber where products are located. But if in a hot device both chambers are in close proximity to each other, then in the cold distance between them there is at least a meter, or even more, which makes it possible for the smoke to cool to a certain temperature.
With cold smoking, the smoke enters the chamber with products already almost cold - no more than 25 0 C.
How to smoke food while fishing or hiking
Scheme of the simplest cold smoked smokehouse
Life-size smokehouses are usually much more massive than a schematic of them, as the smoke takes more than 1 meter to move to cool.
If we take, for example, the unit that is shown in the photo (see below), then here the chimney is a little less than 3 meters with a diameter of 0.3 meters. This is the simplest option, where the fire is melted in a stove like a potbelly stove, and the smokehouse itself is made of boards and wooden blocks. Both structures are connected by a three-meter pipe, through which smoke flows from the stove into the smokehouse directly to the products.
The second pipe emanating from the stove is necessary in order to remove excess smoke and pyrolysis gases released during the combustion of solid fuel (chips, sawdust, etc.)
The presence of an additional pipe for removing excess smoke and gases is necessary for uniform heating and smoking of products and to prevent the accumulation of carcinogens that can harm health.
There is nothing difficult in making such a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands, no. Used in the literal sense of the materials at hand, which the majority have on the personal plot. And if you wish, you can further simplify both the unit itself and the chimney, so that you can smoke products in the field - on a hike or fishing.
Experienced fishermen often make such structures to keep the catch fresh if the fishing is extended over several days.
An example of a cold smoked smokehouse for fishing
Such a structure must be made on a cliff so that the smoke passing through the chimney and lingering in the knee has time to cool down to the required temperature.
In the photo showing a cold-smoked smokehouse, it can be seen that instead of a chimney, a trench is used, which must first be dug. At the source of the trench, a fire is kindled from chips and sawdust, and the smoke from it is drawn into a kind of chimney and sent to the smokehouse. As the latter, a frame made of metal or boards is used, on which the fabric has been stretched (tarpaulin can also be used).
Before starting smoking, the fabric (tarp) should be thoroughly soaked in water to further reduce the temperature of the smoke.
The smoking time depends on the volume and intensity of the smoke, and this, in turn, should be regulated by the size of the trench. The larger, deeper and longer such a pseudo-pipe, the faster and more efficiently the product will be smoked.
What can be used to make a smoking chamber
The first question that interests those who decided to use a smoking unit is what the chamber can be made of, where the products will be placed.
- The simplest, one might say, primitive version of a frame made of boards, which is tightened with a cloth (see above) - this is most often practiced away from home, on a fishing trip, on a hike, etc.
- Simple - a barrel where you have to cut the grooves for the hooks and cut a hole for the chimney. Since the foundation itself is already ready, there will be no difficulties.
- From the refrigerator - in the case when an old refrigerator is "lying around" in the country, which is a pity to throw away. Remove all plastic elements and leave only the skeleton. Make a hole for the chimney. Refrigerator shelves will be used as a place for food - in the old Soviet models they were lattice, and not solid, as now.
- From planks - knock down the semblance of a house from planks and bars, you also make hooks for fish, meat, bacon, etc. From below you make an entrance under the chimney. This is already an example of a stationary cold smoked smokehouse.
- Made of bricks - not only functional, but also a beautiful smokehouse, which will become an additional decoration of the yard.
So, for example, if you plan to smoke food often enough and you have a plot, it is best to make a smokehouse from refractory or fireclay bricks.
A prerequisite for the correct functioning of the device will be the distance from the combustion chamber to the food chamber and the correct chimney. Correct means the diameter of the pipe (at least 30 cm) and its length (3-5 meters).
If we are talking about the professional organization of a smokehouse, then a special refrigeration unit is responsible for cooling the smoke in the system, and electric smokehouses are used to pump smoke.
The diagram shows an example of a cold smoked smokehouse using the above devices. The principle of operation is based on an electric motor with a screw-shaped metal nozzle, on which a wooden bar is attached. During operation, the nozzle starts spinning at a high speed, providing friction against the block, as a result of which a large amount of smoke is emitted. Dust settles in the additional chamber, and the bulk of the cold goes into the chamber with food. This allows you to prepare a large volume of smoked meats with minimal costs. To obtain a characteristic golden color, additional products are processed with liquid smoke.
This method is not popular with gourmets and lovers of really smoked meats, since the smoke from friction and smoke from fire are fundamentally different in composition and subsequent taste.
Why do you need a smoke generator?
To enhance the smoked taste, you can make a do-it-yourself smoke generator. On the one hand, the concentration of smoke will make the taste more characteristic, on the other hand, it will increase the shelf life due to additional preservation.
The smoke generator includes:
- frame;
- drum;
- fan,
- electric drive
- for electric models, you will need a heat chamber and a remote control for control.
Smoke generator drawing for a smokehouse
Manufacturing process
You will need a gland mandrel that can be closed with a canister cap or a custom made one. Connect a timer (ideal from an old washing machine).
The permissible pressure in the smoke generator must be within 1 atmosphere. You create pressure with a compressor.
If the distance between the smoke generator and the cooking chamber is less than 100 cm, it is imperative to install a smoke cooling device at the entrance to the cooking chamber.
How to make a smoke generator with your own hands - video
Whichever version of the home-made smokehouse you choose, if you do everything right and follow the useful tips during the smoking process, you can enjoy delicious delicacies of your own production every day.
General rules for smoking different products
Any food can be smoked in hot and cold smokehouses - meat, poultry, sausages, fish in whole or in parts, lard, cheese and even some vegetables.
When choosing between hot and cold smoking, it should be borne in mind that only fatty fish and meat can be cooked in a chilled way. For example, beef or chicken will become very tough - they will simply dry out after a few days in the smokehouse.
The bird, not only chicken, but also other species, is hot smoked, including for complete disposal of helminths and worm eggs.
Any waterfowl and river fish caught in open reservoirs are cooked in an extremely hot way.
When choosing fish to smoke, keep in mind that herring is cooked the fastest and mostly in a bitter way. It is better to cook sturgeon and salmon in a cold way, because in a hot smokehouse it looks more like boiled one, only with a taste of smoke.
