Wade

Following the last 4 successful UK annual smokers meets in Lincoln we are now looking to start planning for the Smokers meet for 2018. For the past 4 years we have met in Woodhall Spa (near Lincoln) however the feedback from some has been that this is a long way to travel. From my own perspective I would agree as this year it took me over 5 1/2 hours to get there from Kent.

Whilst we are looking to fix a date for 2018 (it is usually the mid to end of July) we are also looking this year to see if there is a more suitable central venue.

Ideally this would be:

• Located somewhere around Birmingham and Northampton area
• Be a 5 star campsite or equivalent
• Be willing to allow a BBQ event to take place

We need it to cater for a variety of accommodation. Some members bring caravans or motor homes, others bring tents and others prefer to rent a cabin or Pod. We also need some creature comforts too, like clean toilets, hot showers, plenty of hot water for washing up and power to the pitches.

If you are interested in attending next years meet, or can suggest a suitable venue, then please let us know.

Thanks, Wade

New Members,

Steve (Smokin Monkey) and I would like to personally welcome you to the WoodSmoke Forum. We try very hard to make this a valuable resource for all information BBQ and Smoking related. There is a lot of very good information out there in a number of very diverse formats and it is our aim to help bring these together to make them easy for you to find and provide a “go-to” central reference resource for the UK BBQ and Smoking community.

Our number one goal is for you to be able to learn everything you need to know about smoking and preserving through here. A lot of good information will be found directly here on the Forum, however where it is more appropriate we also link to other sites and Forums to help you find the answers and advice you are seeking.

Another of our goals is to provide you with a sense of community and to help different regions and interest groups within the BBQ and Smoking community communicate to organise local discussions and events.

If you manage, or have found, an online resource that you think will be of interest to others them please tell us about it so that we can look to include it if it is appropriate.  A couple of things to get you started that may help you find your way around...

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Wade Nash and Steve Smith
WoodSmoke Forum Founders

When I was made aware of the Callow smoker I must confess to being a little skeptical. It is being sold for ~£85 and in the pictures it looked quite small. It is being marketed as:

Quote

We have taken all of the design flaws form the Brinkmann range of smokers along with their good designs and created our own, which is a fantastic cost and will suit new comers to food smoking and the experienced alike.

I ordered one and 2 days later it was delivered...

What was in the box?

The smoker was well packed and came in a surprisingly small box. Although it needs to be assembled there are relatively few components and the whole smoker can be assembled within about 20 minutes using only a cross-head screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

Unpacking

The build quality of the unit is very good and compares favourably with the  WSM and ProQ Frontier. The Callow only has a 14" cooking cooking grate though which may restrict using some of the larger cuts of meat. The smoker is only powder coated though and so is unlikely to last as long as some of the more expensive alternatives.

The fire basket has plenty of air holes which enabled an even charcoal burn and the bottom and top vents were of good quality which allowed for simple fine temperature control. The positioning of the bottom vents do appear to be a little higher than I would have expected as the top ones of these are above the holes in the fire basket.
 
The water/sand pan was a good distance above the coals with sufficient gap around to give a good heat flow into the cooking chamber
 
One possible negative point was the small air gap around the door when it was closed. However during the temperature profiling this did not appear to cause any problems.

Below are pictures of the smoker layers

Firing up the Callow

I used only 2 Kg of Heat Beads in Minion for the initial test, with hot water in the water tray. With all vents fully open the smoker took about 60 minutes to get up to temperature (100-110 C) by which time the bottom vents were 7/8 closed. Without any adjustments it maintained this temperature for over 8 hours. At one point there was a period of gusty wind that caused the temperature to rise slightly.

The following morning when the smoker was taken apart it was clear that the fire had burned evenly and almost completely.

Cold Smoking

The callow worked very well as a cold smoker using both the AMNPS and the ProQ smoke generators

Lid thermometer

This was the only part that let the smoker down - however this is a common weak point with many models of smoker. With the thermometer that was originally supplied with the Callow, when the smoker was up to cooking temperature (based upon the measurement from a calibrated Thermadata Smoke, the lid thermometer was indicating a temperature that was 35 C too low. If this thermometer had been used to regulate cooking temperature then this would have resulted in the temperature in the cooking chamber being much too high.

This was reported to Callow and they have now sourced alternative, more accurate, lid thermometers which will be supplied with new units shipped. The new thermometers are the same units that are supplied with Weber BBQs and the ones I was sent to test actually had the Weber branding still on them. These proved to be much more accurate when calibrated over boiling water.

Summary

I was really impressed with both the build quality and usability of the Callow Smoker and would recommend it to anyone starting out smoking or for established smokers who are looking for some inexpensive additional cooking space.

Great to see you Paul. Welcome to the Forum. We missed you at Lincoln. Are you settled in already? 

Great to see you Steve. Welcome to the forum. No... I think you got the right site 

LOL - Nice one Steve 

On my courses I often get asked by students about cold smoking as they would like to try but that they think it required a lot of specialist equipment. This is not the case and it can be very inexpensive to start. 

One of the simplest and cheapest cold smokers is a large cardboard box. These are easily obtained free of charge from your nearest supermarket or discount store.

Cut the lid flaps off the top of the box and ensure that the bottom is firmly taped.

Turn the box over so that the solid "bottom" is now at the top.

You now need to cut 2 holes....

The first at the bottom to let the air in

And the second it at the opposite end at the top to let the smoke out

Next we need to build the inside of the smoker. This is done by using 6 bricks and 2 or 3 wire cake cooling racks. The photo below shows a mixture of bricks and flower pots.

To create the smoke we need to make a smoke generator. This is made from a cheap kitchen wire sieve

Cut off the wire handle and push the mesh back through to form a circular trough

Fill the trough with sawdust, chips or pellets, leaving a small gap at one side. Using a candle or a blowtorch light the wood on one end and until it is smouldering and it about to produce a flame.

Place the smoke generator in the smoker. Here it is shown under the smoking racks but it is better if it can be placed at one end.

Add your food to the racks...

... place the box over the smoker and you are ready to smoke

Total cost - £4

• Box - Free
• Bricks - Free
• Wire racks - 3 x £1 = £3
• Kitchen sieve - £1

Smoked Salmon and Trout is one of the products that I produce in reasonable quantity in the Smokery. It has a fairly short shelf life (~10 days in the fridge) ans do must be produced on a regular basis. Smoked salmon can be frozen for longer storage but does eventually start to lose some of its texture whilst frozen.
I regularly get texts from local fishermen at the end of a weekend asking if I will smoke their catch for them. The smoking process takes about 2 days in total and turns the results of their day of sport into something very special to eat.

Making "traditional" smoked salmon and trout is quite straightforward and can be easily done in a home smoker. Bullet smokers are ideal for cold smoking multiple fish however individual fish can be smoked quite easily in most kettle BBQs.

What is "traditional" smoked salmon?

It is when the salmon is preserved in times of plenty for eating later when food is scarce using of a combination salt, smoke and drying as the cure. Historically the resulting salmon would have been expected to last for weeks or months and would have ended up being very salty and much drier than today's smoked salmon. It would probably have need to have been soaked to remove some of the salt before it was eaten.
Today though the smoked salmon we are used to buying is much less salty, but it does only have a chilled shelf life of about 10 days. 

What do we mean when we say we are "curing" salmon or trout?

We are altering the fish flesh in order to slow the growth of spoilage bacteria so that it is safe to eat over a longer period of time.This is achieved by using a combination of three different ways to control bacteria spoilage.

1. Addition of salt. By increasing the salt concentration the bacteria cells are dehydrated through osmosis and the bacteria are killed or their growth is inhibited.
2. Removal of available water. Bacteria need available water in order to grow and multiply. During the curing process we will be removing water that is between 15-18% of the original weight of the fish. This gives the smoked salmon its traditional translucent appearance and oily texture.
3. Addition of smoke. Wood smoke contain a number of substances that inhibit bacterial growth and it can act as an effective anti bacterial in sufficient quantity. Sufficient smoke to do this alone would be unpalatable and so in today's traditional smoked salmon it is predominantly there for flavour.

Do we need Nitrite when curing Salmon?

No we don't. Nitrite and Nitrate are primarily used to control the growth of bacteria spores (e.g. Clostridium botulinum). as the smoked salmon we are producing has a chilled shelf life of about 10 days these are not a problem here.

Step 1 - Preparing the salmon

When I get caught salmon delivered to my door from local fishermen it is whole, ungutted and is in bags.

Salmon bought from the local fishmonger comes looking much less daunting. It is important that you use the freshest possible fish when making smoked salmon so before you buy, ensure that the eyes still look clear and bright and that the gills are still a deep crimson colour

First the head needs to be removed. When doing this it is important to keep the bony gill collar in place on the body of the fish as this will help support it while it is smoking.

The fish then needs to be "split". This is similar to filleting - however the rib cage and pin bones are left attached to the fillets during the curing and smoking process.

Using a sharp knife cut along the backbone from the head end down the length of the fish - cutting through the rib bones at the top and then filleting as you move towards the tail. Repeat on the other side so that you end up with the two split sides and a backbone with the tail attached.

If the salmon is large then you can optionally cut away a couple of disks of the skin to allow easier drying. Smaller fish, like trout, do not need to have disks cut.

Wash the salmon sides under cold running water and pat dry with kitchen towel

Step 2 - Curing the salmon

The cure I use regularly consists of 50% salt and 50% sugar by weight. These ratios can be adjusted but the salt should always be at least 50%

• Salt. This can be any non iodised salt. Fine cooking salt works well and I often use this. I also use course sea salt, which you can see in the photos below.
• Sugar. I use standard granulated white sugar. Different sugars can be used but these will affect the colour and flavour of the resulting smoked salmon.

Mix the salt and sugar together well in a bowl and sprinkle on both the skin and flesh sides of each fish split. You should have more of the cure mid at the thicker head end of the fish and gradually reduce it towards the tail. With the fine salt you will see an even layer of white salt ans sugar on the fish but with the coarse salt (below) it is more difficult to see.

Place the salted splits on top of a wire cooling rack in a tray. The action of the salt will pull water out of the fish and it will drop into the tay below as brine. The cooling racks help keep the bottom fish out of the brine and prevent it from becoming too salty.

Salmon can be stacked up to 2 sides high for curing and smaller fish can be stacked up to 3 sides high

Cover in clingfilm and place in the fridge. For large salmon fillets allow 18 hours but smaller trout will only need 12 hours.

If you do not have room in the fridge for one of the large trays then you can use a standard roasting tray with a wire cooling rack placed over the top.

During the curing process the brine will fall to the bottom of the tray. The amount shown below was from 2 whole salmon (4 sides)

Once cured for the required time the fish should be washed well under cold running water and then patted dry with kitchen paper. You will notice that the fish will have turned a deeper orange colour and has become much firmer in texture.

Step 3 - Preparing for smoking

If using a smaller kettle smoker, or if using a cardboard box, the fish can be laid skin side up on a wire cooling rack inside the smoker. If using a bullet smoker or larger custom cold smoker then it is best to hang the sides vertically. To do this it is best to string them ans support them with a skewer.

You will need some non fiberous string (I use butcher string) some metal skewers and a large sack needle. If you do not have a sack needle then you can use the point of a small sharp knife to make the hole for the skin.

Using the needle thread a length of string through the fish side just underneath the bony collar. 

Tie the two ends of the string together to make a loop.

Push the skewer through the flesh of the fish underneath the bony collar but above the string loops. 

This will give the salmon sides plenty of support while they are smoked.

Leave the prepared salmon sides in the fridge, uncovered, for an hour to allow a pellicle (slightly sticky surface) to form.

Step 4 - Smoking

The salmon should then be placed in the smoker and left to smoke at between 20-24 C (the temperature of a nice warm summer day) for 24 hours.

I mostly use hickory when smoking salmon as it gives a nice sweet flavour, but Oak and most fruit woods are good for smoking fish too.

Whilst smoking it is essential that you maintain a good air flow through the smoking chamber. This ensures that the salmon continues to lose moisture as it is smoking.

Once it has finished smoking the salmon should be a nice shiny orange colour and will be quite stiff. 

Step 5 - Slicing the salmon

Remove the skewer and string and with a sharp knife remove any fins. When removing find cut around any small bones attached to the fins.

Cut away the bony collar removing as little meat as possible.

Using a sharp round ended knife slip the tip under the rib cage bones and gently cut along the ribs removing them completely.

The salmon in the photos below has has fresh fennel added to the cure for flavour.

Using a pair of pliers remove the pin bones along the centre of the salmon. The pin bones are usually easier to remove once the salmon has been cured.

Starting slicing at the tail of the salmon using  ~3mm thick slices

When the whole length of the salmon has been sliced, fold the slices back to their original position and remove them from the skin using a sharp knife.

Smoked Salmon and Trout is one of the products that I produce in reasonable quantity in the Smokery. I regularly get a text from local fishermen at the end of a weekend asking if I will smoke their catch for them.

Making "traditional" smoked trout is quite straightforward and can be easily done in a home smoker. Bullet smokers are ideal for cold smoking multiple fish however individual fish can be smoked quite easily in most kettle BBQs.

What is "traditional" smoked salmon?

It is where the salmon is preserved in times of plenty for eating later when food is scarce using of salt and smoke as the cure. Historically the resulting salmon would have been expected to last for weeks or months and would have ended up being very salty. It would probably have need to have been soaked to remove some of the salt before it was eaten. Today though the smoked salmon we are used to buying and eating is much less salty - but it does only have a chilled shelf life of about 10 days. This can obviously be extended further by freezing.

What do we mean when we say we are "curing" salmon or trout?

We are altering the fish flesh in order to slow the growth of spoilage bacteria so that it is safe to eat over a longer period of time.This is achieved by using three of the ways that bacteria growth can be controlled:

Hi Scott - Welcome to the forum