Andy Young

Yes I am very fortunate both with my job and where I live. Salmon sales are bit of a nightmare at moment due to Covid and Brexit so a lot of produce is taking a long time to get to the market. Freshest salmon you can buy is actually direct from the Super Markets as these get there's first and have huge amount of quality checks. Should also be relatively cheap at present so stock up now. I have done traditional cold smoking in past but really prefer hot smoked. Have actually gone for a bit of an in-between on last batches so the salmon stays a lot moister. I find the smoking part is the easiest, getting the cure right can make or break. I wondered if you have smoked any shellfish? I also Dive up here so get a lot of scallops and mussels are everywhere. Just haven't tried them yet. Ive eaten smoked mussels and they are delicious.

Hi Ripple and Wade. Thankyou so much for some good advice. I didn't even know these things existed so you learn something new every day. The feedback from the manufacturer has been exceptionally rubbish with no advice at all. I asked them for a part number of the element and they said it was a "food Smoker element"!!!! Im hoping they are going to send a new one but we will see? Ill definitely invest in a ITC purely for safety Still unsure why the power kept tripping but im hoping it was due to the faulty element. Im a salmon farm manager in Argyll so I can get my hands on Salmon quite readily. I also have pigs and chickens. I butcher my own pigs and make sausages and bacon so the smoker is vital! Thanks again and am sure ill be asking for more advice on different topics soon. Cheers Andy

I have added picture of the wood on fire in the smoker. you cant tell from the picture but the fire box sits directly on the element and was glowing. The other picture is the heating element removed but don't know where to find one. Could it have been a dodgy thermostat which didn't regulate the element or do they always glow red hot when getting up to heat?

Hi. I live on the west coast of Argyll in Scotland and have been Smoking fish and meat for about 10 years. I used to have a Bradley smoker that worked really well. Unfortunately things started to go wrong with it over time and is now out of action. I have now treated myself to a Royal Catering RCRO-1300 smoker and don't know whether I've made a bad decision. It seemed to work really well the first time but kept ripping out when I used it the second time round. I opened the door and the wood dust was on fire. It then tripped again and the element does not work. I have contacted the supplier (EXPONDO) on numerous occasions but they just have a generic response to come back to me soon with technical advice. I cannot even get them to tell me what the product code is for the element so I can get it in the UK! I was wondering if anyone else has had an experience like this? The wood tray sits directly onto of the heating element and actually started glowing. Could this be a thermostat problem as well as the element? Any help or advice would be gratefully received Cheers Andy