Best salmon for cold smoking?

[sotv]

10 minutes ago, Wade said:

For many things you do want to keep cool when smoking however for smoked foods where water loss is important then warmth/heat is beneficial. The EU regulations allow for the salmon to be smoked at up to 30 C for up to 20 hours however the US recommends limiting the temperature to 25 C. I smoke mine at between 20-24 C with a forced air flow (fan) through the smoker.

Do you know of an online guide for recommended internal temperatures of the smoker itself for Cold smoking.different food products as there seems to be a vast range of temperatures for different foods?

i.e. i use 4-5 C for cheese. which may be right or wrong and as you say it is recommended to 20-25 C for Salmon and then you have your meats and bacon etc

Edited October 1, 2018 by sotv

[Wade]

If you don't use a thermostat then it will be a case of trial and error to see which will give you the temperature range you are after. The biggest variable is going to be the outside air temperature which will change over the duration of the smoke. You are looking at a wide temperature range though and it would not be a problem to have temperatures range from, say, 15 C to 25 C through the duration of the smoke. You could start with a single 100w heater but also buy a 150w one as well in case you need it.

[Ruedeleglise]

I would definitely want to fit a thermostat to make things easier.

[Wade]

21 minutes ago, Ruedeleglise said:

So with this set up would you think I could put the heater in the void under the smoker, walling in the open sides and drilling holes in the existing base of the unit which has no vent holes in it?

Yes that should work and yes you would need some air holes in the base unit. Keep them low though to encourage the hot air to rise through the smoker and not out of the holes.

[Ruedeleglise]

Phew from a simple (much too simple) unit, it becomes increasingly sophisticated. I was thinking of putting the holes in the floor of the chamber where the smoke pipe comes in from the generator which is  under the smoking chamber itself. The thermostat will of course need to be in the smoke chamber....about half way up? So with a thermostat you can get the higher 150w heater.

[Wade]

9 minutes ago, sotv said:

Do you know of an online guide for recommended internal temperatures of the smoker itself for Cold smoking.different food products as there seems to be a vast range of temperatures for different foods?

i.e. Cheese 4-5 C for cheese to 20-25 C for Salmon and then you have your meats and bacon etc

I have not seen any official consolidated guidelines like this for cold smoking however the general rules of thumb are:

• Anything that will melt/sweat would need to be smoked cool.
  Cheese is fine to smoke at room temperature (15-20 C) however butter needs to be kept cooler (<15 C)
• Cured meats and fish where the smoke flavour is the reason for smoking it is best to keep cool when smoking (8-15 C)
• Traditional smoked salmon or jerky where smoke flavour AND water loss is important then smoke at warm temperatures ( up to 25 C)
• Uncured meat/fish/poultry must continue be treated as if it is fresh meat and so must be smoked at temperatures <8 C and the smoking time limited to no longer than 4 hours
• Other items (like veg, oil, nuts, salt etc.) can be smoked at any temperature though the higher temperatures are best avoided for veg that are likely to dry out (e.g. garlic)

[Wade]

29 minutes ago, Ruedeleglise said:

I would definitely want to fit a thermostat to make things easier.

I used to use PIDs and make my own however a great little temperature controller is the Inkbird ITC-308 Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat Regulator. For ~£30 it takes away all the hassle of having to build it.

It has two sockets - one that become live when you need heat and the other when you need to cool.

[Wade]

14 minutes ago, Ruedeleglise said:

Phew from a simple (much too simple) unit, it becomes increasingly sophisticated. I was thinking of putting the holes in the floor of the chamber where the smoke pipe comes in from the generator which is  under the smoking chamber itself. The thermostat will of course need to be in the smoke chamber....about half way up? So with a thermostat you can get the higher 150w heater.

Yes, holes in the floor would be fine.

[Ruedeleglise]

Visited the reptile shop yesterday and got myself a bulb, bulb holder, thermostat as suggested. Installed the bulb below the smoke input part of my “growing like topsy” unit and walled in the sides. Test run seems fair so far. As the unit is thermostatically controlled I bought a 200w ceramic bulb. Ah well I think off to the fishmonger for another side of salmon. Lucky friends and family like smoked salmon!

[hasnatmahmud]

I do simple also , all ingredients during a large food-safe plastic container and a few of pieces of clingfilm over the highest of it and a weight on top for up to 3-5 days depending how big it's , wash and dry it off then just cold smoke it for 12 hours. Works for my tastes.