Cold smoking

[coloradoclyde]

Other than meat, What can I preserve by cold smoking?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You can "help" some types of cheese..., like a smoked gouda...

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Smoked cheese is good....But I'm trying to think "outside the box"...

I don't think smoking actually "preserves" cheese does it ?.....As most it wrapped or dipped in wax after.

Things like smoked salt and smoked almonds are more for flavoring....
I'm interested more in the preservation aspect.

 

[Black Hand]

Fish...?

 

[coloradoclyde]

Other than meat

That's the other "white" meat... :haha:

 

[Black Hand]

So many meats, never enough time....

 

[Claude Mathis]

Cold smoking can flavor anything, but I don't know of (can't find) anything that is preserved by cold smoking other than meats?

 

[zimmerstutzen]

some fruits lend themselves to being dried and smoked. There is even a of
variety of apples for smoking as schnitz. Although very little has been preserved this way in the last century.

I had heard that in Virginia, where some large plantations had underground smokehouses, (cool all year) they hung Christmas hams in the smokehouse the prior Christmas and let them hang there all year.

 

[coloradoclyde]

underground smokehouses,

That's interesting.... :thumbsup:


I have heard of tomatoes being smoked to preserve them. but most things seem to be for flavoring....

 

[satx78247]

Pardon my ignorance but at what temperature is a typical cold smoking of foods done??

yours, satx

 

[Claude Mathis]

Pardon my ignorance but at what temperature is a typical cold smoking of foods done??

yours, satx

Depending on who you talk to, 65-100 degrees. At least below 100f.

 

[Black Hand]

Pardon my ignorance but at what temperature is a typical cold smoking of foods done??

yours, satx

Depending on who you talk to, 65-100 degrees. At least below 100f.

Ultimately, the point is to smoke the food for preservation, in many cases used in conjunction with curing/salting. In some cases, the food may need to be cooked further (such as country ham and bacon).

Hot smoking flavors & cooks the food, but must be eaten in short order or frozen.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I think also, in some cases dehydration is also a factor that aids in preservation....By both hot and cold smoking.....Although, I can think of only fish that might fall below the critical 3% water mark.....No proof, just thinking out loud....

 

[Black Hand]

I think also, in some cases dehydration is also a factor that aids in preservation....By both hot and cold smoking.....Although, I can think of only fish that might fall below the critical 3% water mark.....No proof, just thinking out loud....

Only if you actually dried or salted the food (both of which dehydrate the food).

 

[coloradoclyde]

You're right...Now that I think about it....Once dehydrated, Smoke simply becomes a flavoring. as it the case with things like jerky...

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'm planning to build a smoker next summer....I find myself captivated by this simplistic yet elegant smoker.

https://youtu.be/vOVny-pwvVY

 

[Black Hand]

I've read of a cold-smoker made from a cardboard box, dryer tubing, a hot plate and a frying pan. Nothing too complicated.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Yes I know, I've made them out of gas grills and 55 gallon oil drums in the past as well as wooden ones with a small stove under them....I just wanted something for the yard....This would be even better, but is way to extravagant for me.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Ultimately, the point is to smoke the food for preservation

I don't think so. The point is to dry the food to preserve it, and that is accelerated by heat, and when first developed, the only two methods were either by heat from fire or by sunlight.

The salt ******* or prevents the bacteria from forming in warmer months before the meat is dry enough to prevent bacterial growth. The smoke keeps insects at bay during the drying process, and as an added bonus, flavors the meat.

Freeze drying is simply removing the moisture at a temp too low to allow bacterial grown AND was developed after being observed, and during winter freezing temps, no flies to infect the meat with maggots.


LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Freeze drying is simply removing the moisture at a temp too low to allow bacterial grown AND was developed after being observed, and during winter freezing temps, no flies to infect the meat with maggots.

Not exactly....Freeze drying is the removal of water in a vacuum, Freezing/thawing in a vacuum allows the water to go directly from a solid to a gas...It works with cooked or raw foods.

Quality of the dried product is greatly improved as less cell damage occurs.